How to bring your A-game as a business leader

A good HR leader knows there's no instruction manual for handling business challenges. Still, there are certain factors that can amplify one's impact. After all, longevity and success entail self-care, commitment to growth, and team spirit when you're leading from the front.

In the latest episode of People Matters Unplugged, we take a look at the best moments from Season 1 in our interviews with Peck Kem Low, Sunil Setlur, and Krating Poonpol. The three talent leaders share a candid snapshot of what it takes for leaders to bring their A-Game.

Peck Kem Low, CHRO & Advisor (Workforce Development) at Singapore's Public Service Division, firmly believes in the value of self-care: "Start investing in yourself. Take time to exercise, take time to rest, take time to grow and take time to smell the roses along the way."

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A highly respected name in the technology sector in Asia Pacific, Sunil Setlur commits to growth and works to empower people to become a force for good in their own community.

For Sunil, who once led as Gojek's chief people officer, employers need to give their people as much voice, freedom, and agency to author their own story. He believes in the power of a listening culture and taking action on employee feedback as part of the decision-making process.

"I always say to my people: Wouldn't it be exciting to say we initiated some action in our function that led a few hundred people to think differently within organisations? And these actions led them to create solutions for hundreds of millions of people? We just happen to enable and empower all these people," Sunil told People Matters CEO Ester Martinez in an exclusive interview on Unplugged.

READ MORE | Impact at scale: The story of Gojek with Sunil Setlur

Krating Poonpol, Group Chairman of KBTG in Thailand, is also a champion of mentoring by listening. The role of leaders, he said, is to inspire teams to co-create and lose their fear of error; test new initiatives; and incorporate them into processes if they work. Bringing one's A-game is about inspiring people, rather than giving orders and instructions. 

"It's not just about saying, 'You know, I am going to do an HR transformation,'" Krating said. "They need to know what is in it for them. What is the reason for them to work on it? Share the vision and be part of that purpose."