As part of our Leading Women series, we want to highlight the professional challenges and career aspirations of the women we work with here in Asia.  

In this feature, Pia Arellano, President and CEO at TransUnion Philippines, shares the key leadership traits that embody the leader of today, the best strategies to empower your employees and strive in a male-dominated industry  

Q: How do you set the tone as a leader?

I think when it comes to setting the tone, clarity of communication is really key. So as a leader, I really do my best to effectively communicate our vision, mission or business objectives so that, as a team, we can come together and collaborate as one unit. But just as important as the “what we must achieve” is also the “how we are to achieve them”. And, you know, this really underscores our values and beliefs as an organisation.

And as a leader, I do my best to model the way so that my people can adopt and mirror, you know, the work ethic and the behaviour that I want them to adopt. I also tried to foster a culture of curiosity and constant innovation; I challenged my people to always, you know, challenge the status quo, I reinforced the fact that there’s no such thing as a stupid question, and really encourage them to speak up and to speak out. So, ultimately, by creating a safe environment, I feel that I’m able to inspire respect and trust and confidence, which allows them to achieve, you know, great things.

This is an abridged version of the full interview with Pia Arellano. For the full version of the interview, click here.  

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