What I'm working on, thinking about, and talking about with leaders around me.

Last week, I co-hosted a session on Cross-Cultural Collaboration for DutchCham with Dr. Catherine Wu (not the one making headlines in Singapore!). It was an informal, very Dutch-style discussion where Dr. Catherine showed us that storytelling done well is truly a superpower and where she inspired us that cultural intelligence is something we should actively develop in others.

I then grabbed a flipchart and sketched some of my favorite frameworks - Adam Grant's Rethinking Cycle, Dunning Kruger's Mount Stupid, the Confident Humility matrix and the 3 Types of Mistakes. The last one is critical to encourage a growth mindset in your team. Just saying 'make more mistakes' won't get you there. We don't need more preventable mistakes; we need more intelligent mistakes.

Last Wednesday, I worked with 50 leaders from a major Singaporean enterprise on leadership communication. We started with the essentials—know your audience, set realistic goals for each interaction, and plan for real impact.

We then practiced Barbara Minto’s SCQA Framework and the Pyramid Principle, the foundation of top-down communication. I also shared my “Could this have been an email?” thoughts and my strong belief that update meetings shouldn’t exist. And of course there were slides; we explored how to transform appendix-style data dumps into insight-driven visuals that actually tell a story.

Just yesterday I joined a panel about gender parity at PropertyGuru Group. Skillfully moderated by their Director of Talent Acquisition Amanda Dew, we spoke about the need to double down on diversity, especially now. I loved listening to the stories of my fellow panelists Phan Thuc Anh, Director of Technology Strategy at PropertyGuru and Norman Chua, HR leader.

I shared my views on mentorship versus sponsorship and the paradox of skill, which argues that in situations where skill levels are high, and relative skill differences are low, luck not skill is the defining factor.

One of the questions from the audience built on that: How as an ally can you make sure you are a sponsor instead of mentor. My answer, which I hope you all put in practice: When you walk out of a conversation with a talented individual that you'd like to see advance, make sure the To Do's are added to your list, not to theirs.

A data point that caught my attention - curious to hear your take.

of workplace conflict is caused by poor communication.

Communication keeps proving to be the root of many problems at work, and here are a few reasons why. First, we assume we're clearer than we actually are - because something makes perfect sense in our heads, we expect others to just 'get it'. But the knowledge bias is real: as a sender you know all the context, but we often forget that the receiver is hearing it for the first time.

Second, we need to repeat things far more than we think before they stick. Our marketing friends know that it takes at least seven repetitions for a message to fully land, and psychology tells us that without reinforcement, new information fades fast (aka the Forgetting Curve). Yet people still say: "I wrote this in an email two weeks ago - why don't you know this?"

Third, in multilingual and multicultural workplaces (like many of us in a globalizing work environment), communication gaps widen even more. What's obvious in one culture or language can be indirect or unclear in another.

So, just remember that the responsibility for a message to land always lies with the sender, not the receiver. Reiterate. Rephrase. Repeat.

Words that shifted my perspective and thoughts worth keeping close.

Questions I ask myself, reflect on, and sit with to keep growing as a leader.

A tool, habit or trick I picked up that's been making things easier for me.

Resources I created or came across that I found valuable.

A great HBR article by Amy Gallo with the foundational approach to resolving conflict at work. If you're new to conflict resolution, this is a great place to start. Read it here.

I've found it quite challenging to find articles about that meeting in the White House that go beyond the polarized views in politics and instead analyse and reflect the leadership communication principles we saw at work. While this article isn't conclusive and doesn't attempt to be a complete view, I did find that it offers perspectives that made me think and reflect. Read it here.

The first time I learned about the work of Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett was when I listened to this podcast with Adam Grant. She's been a guest to many other podcasts, but this is a good, shorter one to start with. Listen here.

In-person and online events, conversations, talks I'm looking forward to.

A bit last minute but pushing this out one more time: Come join me for this morning session on wellbeing in the workplace. Living fully is about purpose-driven work, personal growth, autonomy and flexibility. I'll be joining a panel with Clarissa Choo from Huggs Coffee, Sophia Ng from Kidztropic, Tulika Tripathi from Snaphunt and Trasy Lou Walsh from Fluid, moderated by Sharon Li from CHOYS.

Sign up here.

A sneak peek of ideas, projects and launches I'm working on before they go public.

I’m building a network of affiliated facilitators to help deliver leadership programs and workshops in local languages. Through recommendations from my network, I’ve already found some fantastic facilitators, but I’d love to connect with a few more. If you are (or know) a facilitator based in Thailand, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Indonesia or the Philippines - especially the first three countries - and can deliver leadership programs proficiently in the local language, please reach out! I’d love to get to know you.

Last year, I raised over USD 20,000 to support my 33-year-old caregiver through her surprise advanced kidney disease diagnosis by running masterclasses on using GenAI as a thought partner. Fast forward, she is preparing for her kidney transplant surgery and soon, I’ll be launching a second initiative to raise more funds for her upcoming medical bills. This time, I’ll focus on AI Agents and Custom GPTs—how to tailor them to amplify your leadership effectiveness. If there’s anything specific you’d like covered, now’s the time to let me know as I finalize the masterclasses. Please do spread the word and let me know if you're interested to join, sign up will start soon.

I’m preparing to launch a podcast with CEOs and executives who are ‘in the lead.’ We’ll explore what it’s like to sit in their chair, make high-stakes decisions, and navigate rapid change. I’ve already got my first guest confirmations and will start recording Season 1 soon. If you have suggestions for guests I should invite or topics I should address, let me know—I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The first few months of this year have been all about experimenting with online learning formats. Now, I’m taking what I’ve learned, refining the approach, and putting together online learning programs that fit my unique style participants know from my in-person sessions. The plan is to launch in April and May, so stay tuned! If there’s a specific leadership challenge you’d like to see covered, let me know—I’m shaping these courses with real needs in mind.

Hey, I'm Anna. I'm a leadership expert based in Singapore, helping leaders worldwide get ready to lead next. Over the past six years, I've worked with thousands of leaders across tech giants, MNCs, and hypergrowth startups. Glad to have you here. Let's figure this out together!