Leadership Roundtable - Levelling up: Inspiring Others, Leading Impact

On 12 April 2025, YWLC hosted its Leadership Roundtable titled “Levelling Up: Inspiring Others, Leading Impact” at the BCG office. Designed for first-time leaders, aspiring managers, and individual contributors, participants explored key leadership capabilities such as courageous communication, emotional intelligence, and relationship building.

Building Leadership Confidence and Emotional Intelligence

The event opened with a dynamic panel featuring Adele Hung (Global Marketing Director, GSK), Amy Tan (Head of Innovation Economy APAC, J.P. Morgan), Debbie Yong (Founder, Atypical Media), and Han Chen (Strategy Lead for Governance and Experience, TikTok Shop SEA).

When asked to define leadership in one word, the panelists highlighted foundational traits such as confidence, impact, empathy, and reflection. They emphasized that leadership is not just about personal achievements, but about creating meaningful change, aligning people around shared goals, and being intentional in every interaction.

On the topic of building confidence, a recurring theme emerged: leadership begins with self-acceptance. Adele noted that imposter syndrome often quietly undermines potential, while Debbie emphasized the importance of preparation and having intentional clarity around personal branding. Amy added that confidence is situational, requiring us to read the room and respond thoughtfully before speaking. Han Chen reminded participants to maintain perspective, noting that what feels daunting to us often matters less to others than we think.

When discussing personal branding, the speakers encouraged women to take a more proactive approach. Amy reflected on the importance of belonging in traditionally male-dominated spaces—not by having the loudest voice, but by offering unique perspectives. Debbie stressed that visibility matters: doing good work isn't enough if no one knows about it. Adele framed presence as a leadership brand in itself—advocating that we should champion ourselves with the same energy we use to champion a friend.

Participants also gained practical advice on building trust and authentic networks, shifting perceptions in the workplace, and finding their voice—even when they are the youngest in the room. Across all discussions, intentionality, authenticity, and self-advocacy emerged as critical leadership traits.

Deepening Leadership Learnings

To build on the panel insights, each breakout session offered participants a hands-on opportunity to explore what leadership looks like in practice.

Han Chen led the session “Leading With Heart: Why Emotions Make You a Stronger Leader.” Participants explored the concept of radical candor—balancing empathy with directness—and the importance of pausing before reacting. She introduced the idea of a "default-to-curiosity" mindset, encouraging leaders to ask clarifying questions and seek intent before passing judgment.

Debbie Yong facilitated “The Brand Called You: Building Your Personal Brand Through Strategic Storytelling.” She shared two core frameworks to guide participants in building an intentional, authentic personal brand:

The 4Vs of Personal Branding: Vision, Values, Voice, and Visibility - offering a lens to define what impact you want to make, how you want to show up, and where your presence needs to be felt. 

	Resume	Personal brand
Vision	Past-oriented	Future-facing: Shows where you want to go and why
Values	Career achievements	How you make decisions, and what gives your work meaning
Voice	Conventional	Distinctive and authentic voice
Visibility	Recruiters	Collaborators, clients, communities

The S-T-I-C-K-Y storytelling framework:

S - Signal: Say what you stand for

T - Twist: Offer a fresh lens or reframe 

I - Insight: Share a moment that shaped you 

C - Celebrate: Name your win, and own it 

K - Keep it real: Be honest and genuine about what you’re still figuring out 

Y - You too?: Create meaningful connections through shared emotions 

It encourages attendees to anchor their brand in purpose and create meaningful emotional connections through their story. She urged participants to start small, be consistent, and show up intentionally in daily interactions, from 1:1s to group chats. 

Amy Tan hosted the session “Advocating For Yourself At Work”. Drawing from her own journey navigating male-dominated spaces, she guided participants through the M-A-D framework to empower participants to speak up with confidence: 

M - Mentors: Seek out mentors who can offer honest feedback, challenge blind spots, and push you to step out into your impact. 

A - Allies: Identify allies who can amplify your work in rooms where you're not present and help position your contributions in the right situation.

D - Drip Feed: Practice consistent, intentional communication by sharing regular updates that link your work to organisational goals. Drip feeding helps shape the narrative of your value over time.

Adele Hung led the discussion “How To Build A Successful, Impactful & Fulfilling Career”. Through her personal journey, she encouraged participants to define success for themselves by reflecting on their aspirations, values, and sense of purpose. Key strategies shared include: 

• Exploring who you are: Self-discover through deep reflections to uncover personal values and strengths 

• Meaningful networking: Build broad and diverse networks to open career opportunities 

• Reflect on success: Success can come in the form of fulfillment, impact, balance, or freedom which can be personally defined 

• Career planning: Think about personal aspirations, invest in yourself/financially, and align the choices you make with what you value 

• Practical career moves: When gunning for bigger titles, demonstrate strategic capabilities, invest in personal branding, focus on few high-impact projects, and consider further education like an MBA if aligned with goals 

• Resilience in stretch roles: When you are the minority, stay authentic and grounded in self-knowledge is the key 

Adele also shared career planning worksheets which allowed participants to map career strategies, meet with a mentor or shift conversations from perceived gaps to demonstrated strengths. 

Leadership is a continuous journey 

It’s about presence.The event closed with a call to lead intentionally, act with self-awareness, and create impact through influence, not authority. Adele recommended The Leader You Want to Be by Amy Jen Su, a guide to shifting from reactive leadership to intentional impact.

"Leadership isn't about being the loudest in the room. It's about making your voice - and the voices of others - count."

YWLC’s Leadership Roundtable serves as a platform for the wider YWLC community to gather and glean insights on leadership competencies from speakers representing diverse industries, backgrounds and experiences.

Speakers: Adele Hung, Amy Tan, Debbie Yong, Han Chen

Partner: BCG

Author: Phoebe Liew

Organising team: Samantha Halim, Alicia Yoon, Cheryl Choy, Ng Hwee Keng, Phoebe Liew, Rachel Koh, Sin Jia Hui