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As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of women we work with here in Asia.
In this feature, Julia Chen, Head of Supply Chain at Avon Taiwan, shares how having clarity on your career goals and life priorities will guide you professionally, navigate the risks and opportunities in your career, and make you feel fulfilled in life.
When I think about my past experiences, I would like to talk about them in three stages.
The first stage is when we have just started working. What is the most important thing now from my view? The first is discipline. We talk about discipline and self-discipline. You must do your best, know your work division, and deliver it on time with quality. These are the pillars of discipline.
Second, cultivate your professional skills. When you begin your career, no matter the work function, try your best to learn as much as possible and do it well. I went through this and found that the most critical and challenging aspect is having a sense of self-awareness. Understand yourself, and know your advantages and shortcomings. Deep dive into your capabilities.
This was also a time of self-transformation. If you are where you want to be in your career now, it would be because you know what you bring to the table as a professional, the pitfalls to avoid, and the best way for you to manage others.
The third stage is when you reach the senior manager level, where the next step is to work towards the global leadership team. You have accumulated 20 years (or more) of work experience professionally, and you know how to navigate the risks and opportunities in your career.
Another one is being willing to share your learnings and experience because we would have considerable abilities by this career stage, and we should help guide new hires and young people in their careers. The happiness that comes from helping others is pure joy, and that makes you feel fulfilled in life.
This is an abridged version of the full interview with Julia Chen. For the full version of the interview, click here.
