On the Journey of Lifelong Learning

When you’ve been in the workforce for two decades, it’s easy to remain within a career comfort zone instead of taking new risks. However, that’s not quite what veteran HR practitioner Tan Chee-Wei did. Instead, she chose to pursue a Master of Science in Communication Management (MCM) at the Singapore Management University (SMU) Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), as she strongly believes in “lifelong learning” as an essential survival skill, and a prerequisite for standing out. 

Her efforts paid off, of course, as she was named the Global Head of HR for Shell Energy last year.

“As a mother of two girls (now 10 and 13), I am acutely aware that as they get older, I become less of a care-giver and more of a role model,” she says. “My bigger purpose is for them to know that we can always improve ourselves, stay curious and be motivated to learn, regardless of age.”

Even though her previous experience was always in consulting and human resources, Ms Tan chose to study communication as a way to stretch herself and broaden her knowledge base, while learning something completely different. After all, mastering communication management would help her both as a leader and as a strategic partner in her organisation. She adds: “I am also passionate in developing talent, and strong communication is critical to enabling great leadership and successful organisational transformation.”

Before she embarked her on successful career, Ms Tan completed her undergraduate Economics degree at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK. In addition to being curious about life at a local university, she was drawn to the fact that SMU is located right in the heart of Singapore – mirroring her undergrad career in LSE, where she was immersed within the hustle and bustle of the London financial centre. Coupled with the fact that SMU ranks well globally and prides itself on offering an international learning experience, her decision to study at the LKCSB was an easy one.

“I valued the opportunity to test my ideas and application of learnings on real projects that had the potential to deliver tangible value to organisations. One of the highlights was a group project we did as part of the storytelling module, to develop the Star Wars franchise in the Asian markets,” she says.

Another memorable experience for her was learning media skills first-hand from seasoned journalists and producers at Mediacorp as a part of the media skills module, as well as a summer stint at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Anderson School of Management where she has the opportunity to interact with renowned academics and share on the Asian and Singaporean perspective.

It was a completely different experience from her undergraduate studies, where she says: “I felt that my focus then was to do well in exams so I could maximise my chances of landing a good job upon graduation. The undergrad studies were a means to an end at that time.”

With the MCM however, she describes her learning as more of a privilege as it is grounded in real-life experiences and the opportunity to learn from and relate to her fellow classmates.

“It was refreshing to learn from the experiences my peers brought into the classroom. I also enjoyed the thought-provoking insights that instructors brought, and the ability to relate the learnings from the programme to my own professional context and experiences,” she explains.

Ultimately however, Ms Tan reiterates that she didn’t take on the programme just to improve her chances for a promotion – and she hopes future students won’t go down that path.

“Humility and openness in learning from others, curiosity about just everything and courage to stretch beyond one’s core competence and comfort zone are what would make you an attractive candidate for any job,” she asserts.

“We are all more than the current job or position we hold. It is the desire to go on learning that will keep us growing as a person and this attitude is what I believe aspiring leaders need to embrace to stay ahead in a fast-changing world.”