Cindy Hook shares her vision as Deloitte AP CEO

Earlier this month, Deloitte Asia Pacific (Deloitte AP) CEO Cindy Hook was featured in an article in Acuity magazine, the official publication of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand.

In the article, she explores topics including the purpose behind Deloitte AP, an amalgamation of firms with 2,900 partners and 48,000 staff across 19 countries and regions, its areas of focus, and her own leadership philosophy.

According to Cindy, who became Deloitte Asia Pacific's founding CEO in September 2018, the firm presents a wealth of opportunity across the region, particularly in consulting as businesses throughout Asia Pacific transform via technology.

Explaining the creation of Deloitte AP, she says, “The driving force was we felt Deloitte needed to be a much more global organisation to break down the silos we have within geographies.”

Deloitte's clients in the region now operate across numerous jurisdictions, and require the same consistent quality wherever they operate.

“Asia is so diverse, and you start to admire different things about different countries and different teams,” Cindy explains. “You go to Japan and they’ve got this proud heritage and deep relationships. Then you go to China and they’ve got this competent determination. And in South-East Asia you have young upstarts and there’s this momentum building.”

For Deloitte AP to thrive, she believes, the firm needs to seek out the best talent wherever that may be, drawing on their diverse strengths to address knowledge gaps and challenges.

Turning to business opportunities for Deloitte AP, the article cites the firm's planned US$321 million investment in the region over the next three years.

“Our technology practice in Australia and New Zealand is very strong but we are under-scaled in that practice in the rest of Asia,” Cindy says. “A very big focus for us is to scale up our capability in that regard.”

The region's US$22 trillion of private wealth in Asia is another focus, according to Cindy: "They (private clients) are acquisitive, they need multi-jurisdictional tax advice, family office support, help with succession planning, all things Deloitte is great at.”

Turning to her leadership philosophy, Cindy says, "In Asia-Pacific I’m managing almost 50,000 people and the decisions I’m making are making them feel better or worse … People know when you care about them, and it brings a sense of commitment and loyalty. To me it makes so much business sense.”
 

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