24 Hours With… LinkedIn’s Roger Pua
24 Hours With... spotlights the working day of some of the most interesting people in Asia’s marketing and media landscape. Today, we hear about a day in the life of Roger Pua, the senior director of corporate communications, Asia Pacific, LinkedIn
1.30am. Time for bed. It’s not what you think – I rarely need to do late night conference calls / video meetings with HQ in the US, as my boss really gets time zone differences. As a ‘night bird’, I am more effective in the evenings so I try to get as much productive work done as possible during the wee hours. Plus, this is also my ‘me’ time.
7.15am. Get out of bed to make coffee (if I am unsuccessful cajoling my partner to do it) while quickly checking my LinkedIn app for the latest news and developments among my network. I squeeze in a couple of push-ups and squats and make it a point to sit down to have coffee with my partner before heading our separate ways.
8.00am. If I have virtual meetings scheduled at this time and I am chairing, I’ll do it from home. Otherwise, I am on the train to work or chiding myself for driving and getting stuck at traffic lights.
9.30am. A few more cups of coffee at the office, amid meetings, email time and thinking time.
My favourite meetings are the weekly one-on-ones with members of my team, from Sydney to Mumbai to Beijing, in person or via video. These typically take 30 minutes, which is about right since we also communicate via calls / email / messaging apps all the time. We discuss things that are occupying their minds, things that are either happening imminently, in a few weeks or months. For example, we could be reviewing the creative concept for LinkedIn Power Profiles, which is launched in August across APAC, or a campaign to help our members get more out of LinkedIn, or fine-tuning a media/ employee engagement strategy for a public announcement.
Sometimes, we discuss career development plans, and things that are important to us personally. Sometimes, they challenge me or politely teach me things I don’t know much about.
My one-on-ones with my boss are similar.
“Do you have a minute” is something I hear a lot, when people pop by my office. My response is usually “No, I don’t. But I may just have 10 minutes if it’s fun or important.”
I try to block out 30 to 45 minutes, close the door, take a step back and reflect. Or, I concentrate on getting a piece of work that requires more thinking, done.
1.15pm. I like late lunches as I can avoid the queues at our LinkedIn café. Usually, it’s with my work best friend who runs our largest business in the region, and a key advocate for the marketing and communications work we do. We chat about anything and sometimes give each other advice or a different perspective on work.
1.45pm. Take a short walk around the office block, often getting a cup of heavenly ‘teh si’ (local tea with evaporated milk). My friend comes along if she feels like it.
2pm. Scan LinkedIn again and attend to personal WhatsApp messages. Then, continue with meetings and emails.
I like to go around the office and ask colleagues if they “have a minute”. They almost always say “yes”.
Once in a while, if I do get invited to speak at an event or participate in a media interview, I take some time to prepare, psych myself up and tell myself the audience is really interested about what LinkedIn can do for them, not me. Easy.
4.00pm. I tell myself this should be my last cup of coffee for the day.
This is also the time when I try not to get too carried away reviewing/editing drafts of documents sent by members of my team. They produce great work, and I’ve asked them not to send me things to review unless they feel it is necessary. I take requests to review stuff very seriously, and I like to think I offer them an alternative perspective. They probably have a nickname for me along the lines of ‘edit freak’ but no one has admitted it so far.
Time to also think about what I need from my boss and/or colleagues from round the world, and drop them emails so that I get a response later in the evening or overnight.
I still aspire to hit our office gym for a yoga/Pilates class.
6.30pm. Try to leave the office and play some tennis (most times unsuccessfully). I also try to go see my mum – quick visit to check in on her and remind her what a good son I am.
8.30pm. Dinner’s usually at home as my partner think he’s the next iron chef. While he whips up something, I catch up on some work or emails.
10.00pm. After arguing about which TV series we should watch, we glue ourselves to the couch and let our minds wander.
11.30pm. Say good night to my partner with a promise to come to bed soon. He rolls his eyes because he knows it will be some time before I crawl into bed and whisper “sleep tight”.
Roger is one of the nicest guys in the industry in Singapore (even if he tends to edit documents with a very heavy hand)!
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