Article

My life journey to success

D.cisions magazine - Issue 4

Our Tax Partner Lee Siew Ying shares her biggest motivator at Deloitte and the defining moments that has guided her path to success.

My biggest motivator

"My mentor, See Jee Chang, who is Deloitte Singapore Transfer Pricing Leader, was and still remains my biggest motivator. He is not just a boss – he is my counsellor and my “shifu”, who taught me not just principles of transfer pricing, but also the principles of life. He is brilliant man who remains humble and leads by example. He brings out the best in me and I am forever grateful to him.

He taught me that a true leader stands by his team and does not point fingers. I remember on one of the first few projects he handled after he joined Deloitte from IRAS, our team (only less than a handful of us then) made a typo on a mathematical formula which was spotted by the client, who was not too pleased. But Jee Chang readily took responsibility for it during the client meeting, and back in office, he did not start a search to find out who made the typo and which reviewer did not spot it: in fact, he rounded us up to assure us that he was not interested in laying the blame. He told us that as our leader, he bore ultimate responsibility for the project. He also emphasized that we are a team, we should support one another and we should take this as a learning opportunity for future projects.

This first encounter opened my eyes into his management style and also how he stayed true to his word, as he has stood by us many times over the years when we have faced challenging demands from our clients. That is not to say he allows poor performance – he is a very well-read, sharp and intelligent person with extremely high standards, but he chooses not to play the blame game and instead work with the team to remedy the underlying reasons for the below-par performance (such as lack of guidance / job exposure, overload of work). I have always strived to emulate his collaborative approach to managing a team.

I left E&Y Corporate Tax back in 2006 to pursue a career in Transfer Pricing as I wanted more international exposure. Deloitte was my first choice as its Global TP service line is internationally renowned and I heard good things about the TP team at Deloitte Singapore. I am still here after 10 years so that says something! My fellow colleagues are also a great source of support and strength. We are a close-knit team where we work hard and also have loads of fun through various team bonding activities."

- Lee Siew Ying, Tax Partner