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Scaling the heights of a financial career

Debra Martin

IN HER SPACIOUS office in Central, Teresa Au, HSBC's Asia-Pacific head of service and sales for personal financial services, has an impressive vantage point.

She overlooks Statue Square and Victoria Harbour and oversees 6,000 employees in Hong Kong alone. In the region, she is responsible for 11,000 employees in 19 countries.

However, authority and rank were never her ambition. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong with a degree in business and economics, she opted for banking.

'I gave myself five years to try it out,' Ms Au said, who recalls that banking was a fashionable option among local graduates when she was starting out in the mid-1980s.

Two decades later, she has held 10 positions in HSBC, including stints in the credit card division, corporate banking, trade finance, marketing and planning, and employee development.

'I stayed with the bank because I had a lot of exposure and never had a chance to get bored,' she said.

Ms Au said her climb to the top was partly the result of good timing.

'It is essential, though, that we take the next step when we are comfortable and can meet expectations. Each role became more interesting, and I was inspired by being able to have an effect on the results of the whole organisation.'

Ms Au's style of management is to be supportive, which has helped her to build successful teams throughout her career. She has a strong belief in people and wants them to feel they can achieve defined goals.

'In a few years, I can help an average team realise its potential. The power generated by a team is really incredible,' she said.

Ms Au said that corporate plans would fail if employees saw nothing in it for themselves.

Therefore, her focus is on developing individual performance and pride in the team, to create a winning situation.

'When I look around at work, I do not see hierarchies. I just see a variety of strengths and weaknesses. I want each person to reach for a star,' Ms Au said.

Despite the tough standards she sets, her staff respond to the challenges and some even ask to be transferred to her department.

She leads by example at work and at home, and believes that actions speak louder than words. This philosophy is displayed in bold characters on her office wall.

Travel and long hours at the office have become the norm over the years, but weekends have remained sacred. Her husband and two children have always been a tremendous source of support.

'I try to reserve time for family, friends and my own well-being. Exercise, like tennis and swimming, and relaxation are important because they renew us,' she said.

Although the aim is to have a good work-life balance, Ms Au said it was becoming more difficult to achieve this in Hong Kong due to heavy workloads, increasing competition and technology, which enabled people to stay in touch with work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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