Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s Spotlight on Asia Week. We’ll be featuring profiles of successful business women working in Asia all week long!
By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
“To be very candid,” began Maan Huey Lim, Tax Partner at PwC, Singapore, “Early on, when I started I was very much focused on the technical work. To be a good tax advisor, you need to spend a lot of time going though the legislation, and deciding how it would work in the real world. I spent a lot of time doing the work, but as a result, I spent less time on soft skills.”
But over the course of her career, her focus has expanded. She continued, “Don’t get me wrong – my clients loved me because I was doing top notch work. But as I progress, I find my focus changing. I’m spending my time really talking to people and engaging with the team around me. It’s such an important part of the business. I could not see as much when I was starting out. As an associate, a lot of your focus is on getting a good foundation, learning tax laws, and writing good advice. But it’s also important that you are really connecting and engaging with the team and clients you are working with.”
“You get so much more out of talking to people. You learn useful information, and the more you get to know people the more business comes to you along the way,” she added.