James Yuann has been working in China for nearly 30 years. He built several high-tech ventures before joining Honeywell Specialty Materials as President, Asia. Today he is the Managing Director for international HR firm Boyden and the IMBA professor of MITFudan University and the author of the popular book, ‘SuperTrends in China’. Network HR asks James how he got to where he is today.

1.What made you decide that China was the place you would spend your next 30 years?
The first reason was the opportunity I saw in China, and the second was the personal confidence I had in the drivers to grow China. For thirty years, the drivers of China’s success have been globalisation, China’s policies on economy reform (FDI for example), and the peoples’ determination, They were less obvious. Today it’s clear. Back in the 80s I also had my own confidence that China would really shine in the future.

2. What is the biggest leadership challenge that China will face in the future?
How will any company build up a quality leadership team? Vision, strategy and execution can only be achieved with people. What it really comes down to is, can we get the quality people, who can think out of the box, and people who can align the strategy from different groups in an organisation, and finally, can they execute? I started doing business in China since 1984, but the problem is that many companies try to transfer the HR model from the West, and that doesn’t always work. The challenge is the culture factor. For example, often Chinese employees are not independent enough and they also don’t take criticism well. They often take performance appraisals too personally, and that’s got to change for Chinese and China to reach its potential.

3. How would you describe the ‘talent’ in China compared to when you first arrived 30 years ago?
Thirty years ago In China there was a tiny percentage of leaders in an organisation, certainly less than 5%, who could fit well in an multinational organizations. That is changing quickly. Training can certainly help to accelerate the change.

4. What advice would you give to new graduates starting out on their career today?
When a new graduate chooses their career they need to be more focused on the long term development, and not short term financial rewards. They need to grow with the job, and that means finding a job in an organization that they can grow with. To find a good mentor definitely helps. The first few years after graduation is very important as you develop your own work style.

5. Have you had any mentors along your journey, and how have they helped you?
I had mentors when I was developing China business, and later on when my responsibilities expanded in China. I had a coach for my leadership and presentation skills, who refined my skills, and another who helped me open my mind to new ideas, to think more about how my counterpart was thinking.
6. Do you have a motto for the way you lead?
Ownership, Passion and Urgency