Cindy Hook

CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific

Cindy Hook has twice adjusted to different business cultures: first when leaving her native America in 2009 to lead Deloitte Australia’s audit and assurance practice (in 2015 she was promoted to Deloitte Australia CEO); and then last September when she moved to Singapore to become the first Asia Pacific CEO, after the firm brought together 45,000 staff across Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and South-East Asia. In both cases, she’s had to moderate her behaviour to match the local environment.

In Australia, it was about learning not to use the sentence, “‘In the US we did it this way.’ While Australians are always open to new ideas, that just rubbed them the wrong way.”

Australians, on the other hand, surprised her by being more innovative, adaptable to change and globally minded than she expected, adding that another early lesson involved coming to grips with the evershifting political environment. “I left the country once for a few days and came back to a new prime minister – and there hadn’t been an election,” she says, laughing.

In Singapore, what Hook describes as her “American-nurtured boldness and assertiveness” is less accepted than it was in Australia. “Initially I would push to get to quick decisions in my drive to deliver short-term outcomes,” she says. However, her Asian colleagues tended to prefer consensus over compromise. “Our board, which has representatives from across Asia, will often discuss topics multiple times before action is agreed on. I’ve seen that spending the extra time upfront saves time overall – execution is much easier with full commitment.”

There’s also a greater focus on the longterm. “Asian countries, especially Singapore, play a long game in politics and business,” she says. “They drive activity with a deep eye on the future. It’s not just about the next generation but the one after that. Patience is something I’ve needed more of here.”

The surprises in Singapore – apart from the humidity – have included the sheer number of opportunities for growth and investment. Hook has also been impressed by the ease of doing business; of government investment in long-term, sustainable growth; and how challenges seem to be navigated more quickly than in Australia. “From immigration to taxes to health care to banking to drivers licences – the systems are all linked to a single personal identification number that makes the user experience much more seamless. And I just imagine the data asset the Singapore government must have – the possibilities would be enormous.”

“ASIAN COUNTRIES DRIVE ACTIVITY WITH A DEEP EYE ON THE FUTURE. IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION BUT THE ONE AFTER THAT.”