Ong will be talking on ‘Rising to the Top of My Career‘ at Menara Star on July 15.
WHILE there might be many self-help books out there providing tips on climbing the corporate ladder, the most important lesson to learn is that there are no shortcuts to success.
“No matter how brilliant you are, nothing comes without hard work and staying the course despite initial setbacks or perceived roadblocks. Talent alone is not enough to succeed,” said OCBC Bank (M) chief executive officer Ong Eng Bin (pic).
“It is important for the younger generation to prepare themselves for the roles and challenges which they will face in their career path.
“It is also important to persevere, be passionate and develop a perfect portfolio to achieve success. If an individual is eager to succeed, he or she should be patient to acquire knowledge in the field of their choice.
“Patience and perseverance are the vital keys that unlock one’s success,” said Ong.
He said advanced technologies and innovations have resulted in more career opportunities for the younger generation, though it also means that the younger generation has to learn to deal with a wide array of options.
“The greatest challenge the younger generation faces today is losing focus. Almost everything is in their hand-held device. They could spend their entire life reading and respond to social media messages.
“Similarly, in their careers, they must guard against jumping into anything that is placed before them simply because ‘it is there’. Selectivity is crucial in order not to end up with a total loss of direction,” said Ong.
He added that while it was understandable the younger generation tends to change jobs more frequently, it needs to be a well-thought-out decision, not something decided on a whim or because you feel that you have exhausted your usefulness at the company after three years on the job.
“After 29 years with OCBC Bank, I am still learning entirely new things almost every day,” said Ong.
On that note, he said one of the worst things a young person could do to their career is to stagnate by refusing to take on or seek out new roles or challenges that are aligned to their strengths.
“An engineer should not try to be a doctor after learning basic first aid. It is fine for him or her to have a limited understanding of this field. But the engineer must, on a daily basis, try to be a better engineer than he was the previous day.
“Refusing to improve by taking on new challenges can make life supposedly easier for the younger generation, but it is only a matter of time before one degenerates. The good news is that learning has never been easier with the advent of the Internet,” Ong said.
