Don’t Stall In Your Career. Advance Your Leadership Skills At VA. We’re Here To Groom Talents Into Leaders

When Robin was in the air force in the early 90s, he bore the callsign “Giant”. 

The irony was that he was small in stature and relatively low in rank. Yet, he was appointed personal assistant to the base commander and given huge responsibilities.

His early aptitude set a bearing for the rest of his life. 

Over the next few decades, he would take on leadership roles in his personal and professional life. 

He held various positions on the residents’ committee of his condo building before eventually serving in the capacity of chairman. 

He also took the lead in an en-bloc sale, which included going door-to-door to coordinate the efforts of approximately 200 home owners, on top of liaising with the marketing agent and lawyer.

As a manager of VA, Robin has led financial consultants of different career stages. 

From rookie consultants to experienced migrating consultants from other agencies, even a former GM of an oil and gas company.

Also on his team is a successful banker turned rookie financial consultant who made his fortune in his previous career. 

Another member of Robin’s team, Alvin, is an experienced fund manager who is a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) — qualifications that are notoriously difficult to obtain. Robin’s role with people like Alvin is to complement their already proficient skill set. He supplements Alvin’s professional perspective with his own business–owner outlook.

In fact, Robin enjoys working with consultants like Alvin who already network with leaders — business-owners, decision-makers, or senior management of their organisations who are focused on the bottomline of the company. These business leaders look to Robin and Alvin for advice on the role of business insurance in succession planning.

At the same time, Robin also mentors young consultants, especially those with aspirations to lead. 

He can spot talents and endeavour to groom them, even if they are not the traditional cookie-cutter leader type. 

He discovered that the secret to uncovering hidden talents is to have lots of patience and know when to dispatch timely nuggets of wisdom.

Robin is involved in the education and training platform of VA. The training includes sessions by various fund managers, insurers, and successful producers. 

Indeed, Robin is a firm believer in effective training. He was head of the AFA (Associate of Financial Advisors) task force that organised conferences for financial consultants from all over Singapore. 

Before he left the task force after 12 years of service, he trained a leader so that she could succeed him. 

Ultimately, Robin is passionate about raising leaders.

When Robin first joined the financial services industry, his goal was to make a difference. 

And he discovered the best way to create positive change is not to merely be a leader himself, but to raise leaders. 

He is thankful that VA has provided him with a platform to do so.