Feb 6, 2017
You have to buy a ticket to win the lottery — Sandra Leung, COO of Market Development and Head of Issuer Services, HKEX
Former banker at Goldman Sachs, Le Cordon Bleu graduate, restaurateur and avid charity supporter, on the key of getting to where you want to be.
Sometimes the most meaningful and inspiring conversations happen over casual meals. The Time Auction Blog is a snippet of our meetings with people who have found passion in their life and career, where we get a glimpse into their mentality and attitude behind their ventures and stories.
We met with Sandra Leung — COO of Market Development and Head of Issuer Services at HKEX, restaurateur and avid charity supporter, who donated a lunch and raised 91 volunteer hours.
What are the most important experiences to get out of your 20s?
“Many of you after you graduate, you feel like you are already a very mature adult. You have so many responsibilities, on life, on work, on starting a family, and you put a lot of pressure on yourself on doing ‘what is right’.
Try to look at the bigger picture. If you really want something, you will always get there — it’s just a matter of time and determination.
Don’t do anything that you will regret, but don’t ‘not do’ something that you will regret.
In your 20s, don’t miss out on opportunities. Sometimes opportunities only come to you once. If your heart tells you to do it, even that’s something that may deviate from your ‘path’, go for it. Ask for things and meet new people. You can go travel, or work at an NGO for something that you care about, take a year off or start a business. It’s much harder to take a gap year after your 20s. Open up new doors, learn new things, which can also help you in making decisions and assessments of your path and end goal, whether or not that is something you really want.
If you do one small thing wrong, or if you try something that doesn’t fit in with your path, that’s okay. As long as you are passionate about what you want to achieve, and you work hard towards it and persevere, you will always get there because there are often many paths towards the same end goal. Listen to others but more importantly to yourself, take the path YOU want to take, so you’ll have no excuses to regret.”
What’s your life motto?
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
If you want to win a lottery, you have to buy a lottery ticket. If you want to take time off, you have to ask. If you are a mother who wants flexible working hours, you have to ask. There is an art to asking of course but I very rarely say things like — I want to do this, but I haven’t even taken a baby step towards it. It’s okay to take small steps but always move forward.”
If someone is applying to work for you, how can that person impress you?
“There is no one type of person that impresses me. I like to look at the good side of all people. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.
Ultimately, whatever industry you are in though, attitude is the most important thing. You need to have a positive and ‘can-do’ attitude. At work, I tend to end up with multiple hats. That’s because whenever people asked me to take on more, I always said yes since I looked at it as another opportunity to learn.
I also care a lot about why the person is applying for the job so my first interview question is always — why do you want to work here? I don’t want those generic and prepared answers. I look for people who are truly passionate and have done a lot of ‘homework’ and have a good understanding of the company and the role.
When I am going for an interview myself, I always ask myself whether or not I can use the same answer for another company — if yes — that’s a bad answer.
Lastly, whatever you do, be a good person. Stick to your values. Those who can still be themselves and remain uncorrupted even in political and competitive environments I have very high respect for.”
What is one action you want everyone to take away from meeting you today?
“I want everyone to try taking one small step in 2017 towards their bigger dream or ‘end goal’.
Don’t just talk about it, do something. If you want to be an entrepreneur, sit down and think about some business plans; if you want to be a photographer, try submitting a photo to the National Geographic, to see if that’s actually something you enjoy or are good at doing.”
Thank you Sandra for donating lunch and raising 91 volunteer hours to Teen’s Key, The Sovereign Art Foundation, Food Angel, PathFinders, Oriental Connect International Volunteer Association and more.
Join us at our next event? Visit Time Auction, a platform that connects you with inspiring mentors while encouraging volunteerism.
The volunteers would like to say..
Jacqueline Leung, University of Hong Kong Student
Thanks Sandra for the targeted career advice to each of us after listening to our background and goals, as well as the practical tips on how to present ourselves confidently to others. I also treasure the interaction with other volunteers who are working or studying in different fields, which made this meeting a truly fruitful and empowering one!
Rui Wang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Student
It was such a great meeting. Learning about Sandra’s experiences and advice really help me on my future decisions. Without Time Auction, I can’t think of another opportunity to meet such a wonderful mentor. I sincerely hope to stay in touch with her and learn more about her. Great job and thanks again, Time Auction!
Anne Wong, Working Professional, Ex-Private Banker
Thanks Sandra for all your sharing today. As a and risk-averse person, my thinking process is just as long while my scenario analysis always tilt with a conservative bias that result in inaction for most cases. I like your advices specifically to take small (but not baby though) steps in doing big things. So once it’s kickstarted, momentum will grow and lead to unexpected new treasures.
Mandy Lai, Human Resources Professional
It’s a great session to meet with Sandra Leung. I still remember her motto — Don’t do anything that you will regret. In my age, sometimes I am still afraid of taking risks and feel insured when facing uncertainty. But after this session, I am more confident to find out what I want and how can I get there. Thank you Sandra for encouraging me to step out from my comfort zone.
Bryan Kwok, Chinese University of Hong Kong Student
I am really impressed by your passion towards not only your job but towards life: keep asking, and keep trying. Your reminders are of paramount of importance to me when choosing which path I would like to take a baby step in my career. More than honoured to have you as my mentor. Keep in touch, Sandra.
Jessica Leung, Working Professional, Compliance
This is Jessica and it was a very enjoyable experience for me. The three hours went by very fast. Thank you Time Auction for the nice arrangement, wish I had known about this very meaningful programme earlier in my school days. I would strongly recommend this great platform to everyone to meet and learn from many amazing and successful people while giving back to the society. Also a big thank you to Sandra for spending her time with us and generously sharing her stories as a student, as a banker, and most importantly, as a dream pursuer who is always motivated and determined. Sandra is a very encouraging mentor, and she makes sure she has attended every question we had. She has also shown us how we can all get to where we want as long as we have the right attitude. So thank you again Time Auction and Sandra, for giving us this memorable and inspiring session.
