Executive Interview
Executive Interviews
An Interview with
Victor Li
Business management Expert
Leadership & Management
CsuiteXchange Leadership & Management
Special Interview 2021
Check out these interviews with experts on topics such as business, marketing, sales, social media and more. Learn from their experiences and expertise.
Publish Date:
16 September 2021
Tell us about your background, and what are you most passionate about?
My name is Victor and I currently serve as the head of business management in a foreign bank. I have been in the banking and finance industry for around 10 years. My main role is to spearhead different key projects to improve the overall financial performance and make the company a better workplace to everyone! I feel quite lucky and thankful that in my career path I meet a lots of good leaders and good buddies who were inspiring me to the boundary to achieve some result beyond what my years of experience would suggest. I always concentrate on how to continously enhance my leadership skills, ability to manage multiple complex projects and enjoy using create business solutions to optimise productivity output. I enjoy taking on leadership and responsibility roles in order to improve current processes and make a lasting impact on my workplace and the wider financial industry. Some of my recent projects have included managing the banks green initiative, staff retention and training program, installation of end to end operation system and a company wide performance tracking project.
Describe a time you had to make a tough decision (e.g. budget cuts, organizational restructuring, market withdrawal, etc.). What did you do and what was the result?
I would take the departure of the team I built as a tough decision to made. The team was built for acquiring the new business and it mainly consisted of youngsters with 1-2 years of working experience. They were a strong and passionate team with loads of energy to come up plenteous creative marketing strategies and plans. We managed to perform consistently and remarkably in a way that we earn company trust and confidence. My firm offered me a chance to expand the scope and cover an area I have never engaged before. I knew it is an impactful decision to make, both to myself and the team. Eventually I stayed open to the team and they gave me courage and determination to move on. This was a tough call to make but now I still feel thankful for all the laughters and tears.
How would others define your communication style? Do you prefer to be close to your employees or maintain a healthy distance, and why?
I think other would define me as clear, direct, and honest about thoughts and emotions while ensuring that feelings are expressed appropriately. I would stand up for my own rights but are also sensitive to the rights of others. I am confident to communicate in whatever situation I may encounter. Also in a discussion I stay comfortable with the idea that bkth parties have different but valid opinions.
And I think it is quite dependent on how each individual employee would be to choose bwtween staying closed or maintaining a healthy distance. We simply cannot apply one rule to all. The role and responsibilities of the employee would also be one judgement reason. By the way I have natural tendency to stay closed because I enjoy human touch and people interaction.
How has the industry been changing in recent years? What do you think are the biggest challenges your industry will face in the next 5 years?
The industry has been evolving over the last couple of years with escalating focus on the substainable finances, including the environmental, social and governance （ESG) impact to the society. ESG criteria is becoming a set of standards that the investors and general public use to evaluate and justify a company overall performance and investment potential. This shall be one of the key changes in the industry and believed the relevant standards would be continously impacting the business. The companies would pay more attention in reviewing the internal policy, guidelines, operation workflow and so to see how to add the ESG colour in different dimensions.
Covid-19 has structurally revised the banking landscape and generate stronger urgency for the digital transformation. I think the competition on how to conduct digitalisation would be the biggest challenge. The market players would unavoidably enter the race to build new or better digital experiences for their customers and enhance the system configuration to cope with the everchanging need. The customers would have higher expectations on banking behaviours such as faster onboarding, instant loan approval or real-time payments and receive. Also the regulatory authority would demand high level of governance on the data usage and protection.
What personality traits make a good leader?
I think in this question we can readily come up with a lots of thoughts and comments. I believe a good leader should live by strong values and belief which serves as a foundation for the decisions, behaviors and thinking logic. They should be so clear on what is right from wrong and with strong sense of self-awareness. And I want to quote a saying that 'the strongest lion has most scars' - A good leader should not be afraid of making but brave enough to embrace the challenge and change. It is exactly the failures making the leader a better one.
What does the future hold for your company?
I enjoy work that makes a difference in my community as it benefits everyone. I have a strong passion for environmental sustainability and support the green initiative program in my company. The projects includes application of solar technology to drastically reduce carbon emissions and improve the environmentally impacts in Hong Kong. I am also very passionate about training and mentoring staff that work with me. I believe that it’s everyone responsibility to pass on knowledge we have learnt so that the next generation can continue to thrive.
I will continue to be passionate about the banking industry and think of ways that we can improve with the implementation of smart and effective financial policy. I continue to increase my learning through industry associations and qualifications and have a strong focus on international dealings that will allow me to achieve even greater success in the years to come.