Leading Women: playing to your strengths as a team

As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.

In this story, we speak to Rosa Lee, Executive Vice President of Bosch China and our first interviewee from China for this exclusive content series. As the first female executive board member from China in an international and historical giant group, she shares how strength-based development lies at the heart of diversity and team management, how she stands out in a male-dominated world and motivates over 55,000 employees in China with empathy. This is the first of many Leading Women profiles to feature female Chinese leaders, so stay tuned for more! 

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Q: Since there tend to be more male leaders in industrial companies, what have you done over the years to stand out as a woman?

To be honest, in a male-dominated industry, the reason you stand out has nothing to do with gender. Fundamentally, for both men and women, the most important thing is to perform the current job. You must try your best to finish your work perfectly and exceed expectations that others have for you. The second thing is to go the extra miles. When an opportunity comes along, don’t say ‘No’. Make sure you’re fully prepared. Thirdly, and this is gender related, women should help women at the workplace. I firmly believe that, in a male-dominated industry, the economic term of ‘30% Club’ still works. You will be able to change something once you have women taking up 30% of your team. Therefore, it is not enough to stand out alone. You should also help other women stand out. In short, you need to first perform extremely well at your current job, be willing to go the extra mile, then help other women get to the same place too.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Rosa Lee. For the full version of the interview, click here.