Nice to meet you, Thomas. Would you please introduce yourself?
My name is Thomas and I'm a senior manager of the Product Compliance Operation team. I joined CPLB in 2020 and have been in charge of the team for almost a year. Our team reviews the product's compliance during onboarding. Product compliance-wise, you can say we are the first line of defense.
What was your experience before joining CPLB?
Before joining, I was an independent compliance consultant and one of my clients was CPLB, which I helped with some import licenses. Before that, I worked for an insurance company's reinsurance operation team in Sydney and Singapore. I oversaw contracts maintenance, audit preparation, and risk & compliance management.
You are currently leading a large team. What do you think is an important quality needed in order to be a manager?
I have 70 team members and their background vary vastly: from artists, dancers, engineers, fresh graduates to individuals with 10 years’ work experience, some who studied in the US, UK, and China. Managing a large team is a challenge but it is an exciting and awarding experience.
I believe that a people manager should love people from the bottom of their heart. You have to be a good listener, understand them and find where the team members can perform the best. In addition, you have to have clear goals to be able to persuade team members and motivate them. Being a multi-player is also a skill that can be useful as you will have multiple requests at the same time.
If I can add one more thing, an enjoyable workplace is another key element. The manager should recognize their team’s good work and offer various learning opportunities. You spend 8 hours a day at work and it should be a fun place. I believe that people managers should play a critical role to make the workplace fun.
What is your wish for your team in 2022?
In 2022, I want my team to build their teamwork even further. Last year we more than doubled our capacity while most people were working from home. Even in this situation, I saw many talented people helping each other and becoming friends. Now it's time for them to step up and propose bottom-up initiatives. These will bring tremendous synergy and it will move the team to another level.
What is your favorite leadership principle, and why?
My favorite leadership principle at Coupang is 'Hate Waste'. Coupang, including CPLB of course, is a very flexible organization and we have numerous exciting projects. Everyone is laser-focused on the projects according to the agreed priority and they work hard together to achieve them. I believe the key to these successes is 'Hate Waste'. We thoroughly review current processes and cut all unnecessary steps. To survive in this fast-changing e-commerce industry, we constantly evolve ourselves and 'Hate Waste' surely helps us stay agile.
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