The CEO Magazine Asia — December 2017

step, and along the way you can prove your
worth and win the trust of your European
colleagues, which is very important.
I should emphasise that a lot of support is
necessary in my role. Support is more than
just giving orders and saying, ‘Okay, we
should do this and that.’ The support only
comes because you’ve been in the system for
a long time and know how the company
works, because you know who to talk to at
the right time, and understand people’s needs
and what their concerns are.

What approaches do you take with
regard to your personal relationships
with your clients and suppliers across
all the different products?
There are three areas of the organisation
that I watch out for when it comes to
communication. First, is there internal
communication between colleagues in the
different divisions so I can synchronise and
coordinate accordingly and not have to
reinvent the wheel? Second, what are the

external relationships we have with customers

and suppliers? In the Crane businesses, we’ve

had very close relationships spanning around

50 years. The customers or dealers of other

divisions I don’t know so well, but sometimes

we do meet up or have some other kind of

arrangements. Another area I really focus on

is the communication between the factories.

Since Liebherr is a big group, I need a lot

of support from Europe and also from the

managing directors of all the various factories

manufacturing products for Singapore’s

seven divisions.

Now that you’ve been a managing

director for the past six years, what

do you think is most important in

creating effective leadership?

For me, a lot of it has to do with

accountability. My approach to leadership

is that my colleagues who have reached a

certain level should know what they need

to do professionally. I don’t coach them

or watch what they do on a daily basis.

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