Today I am speaking with Emily Chang and I highly recommend that you get a pen and paper ready as Emily has an amazing outlook on both business and life in general.
Emily has more than 20 years‘ experience, holding senior executive positions focused on Customer Experience, Business Strategy, Cross-Cultural Team Leadership, Change Management as well as Brand Building.
After spending 11 years at P&G, Emily moved Apple to establish the face of the brand in China, and was promoted to Head of Retail Marketing, Asia.
Emily then joined the Intercontinental Hotels Group - IHG Greater China - as Chief Commercial Officer to lead Organisational Renewal, create a High Performing Organisation, and shape the Sales & Marketing Strategy. With a core focus invested in people & culture development, there was an increase Employee Satisfaction of nearly 40%, and a material improvement in Guest Satisfaction.
Emily moved to Starbucks in 2017 to look after the branded customer experience, first as Chief Marketing Officer of China, then as Senior Vice President Marketing based in Seattle.
Now Emily is back in Shanghai as CEO China for the McCann Worldgroup, and we discuss her current focus and approach to leading the business.
Now, If that wasn’t enough, Emily has also gone on to write a book sharing her own experience and those of others based on her concept of The Spare Room. Emily believes that we all must lead with authenticity and purpose, understanding that it’s tough to lead a socially responsible business if we aren’t socially purposeful leaders.
The title of the book comes from the fact that her family's spare bedroom has become a way to serve the community in which she lives, where over the last two decades, she and her family have cared for sixteen hurt or vulnerable children and young people. A fact that they have come to see as their Social Legacy.
I truly appreciate Emily's openness and authenticity as she highlighted the importance of feedback, working as a team, listening to the people around you, and finding that intersection of what offends you and what you have to offer. It really hit me, as we discussed this concept, how often I see and experience conversations in which people, including myself, can be happy to point out what we see or feel is wrong, but not explore what we can bring to the party to work on being the change we are hoping for. Of course, as we discuss, this is not about being perfect. Far from it. It's about observing what's going on around you. It is about working out how you can be part of a solution, about taking action, and about creating change. It's about making a difference.
I'm sure that you agree that I could have taken this conversation in so many directions and explored each of different elements further, as whole episodes in themselves, which I believe is a great testament to who Emily is. So, if you want to know more about Emily Chang and how she is making a difference, then you can follow her on LinkedIn and you can also head to social-legacy.com where there are some cool videos of her talks, great blogposts and of course information about her new book The Spare Room.
I took a lot from this conversation and it's made me think about what I do, how I help and where I can make a difference. I'd love to hear what you took from it.
And don’t forget, If you want to hear more great stories from remarkable people, or find out more about our coaching, consultancy or new audio services and how they can help you to improve your performance and make a difference both individually and organisationally, then head over to infinitepie.co.uk and get in touch.
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