Ep 142: I've Done Something Many Haven't Had the Opportunity to Do | Lucas Lu (Head of Zoom Asia)

Meet Lucas Lu - Head of Zoom Asia.And also a fellow Sarawakian!Lucas has had an illustrious career going from GM of Systems Technology Group at IBM Malaysia where they closed large deals within the first 6 months, leading to Lucas winning ASEAN Rookie of the Year - his first big recognition.He ended up staying at IBM for 10 years and won 2 Global Golden Circle Award before moving on to become:General Manager, AstroGM (Tech Sales Malaysia), OracleSenior Director (APAC Enterprise Commercial Sales & Industry), MicrosoftPrior to his current role heading the Asian arm of Zoom, covering ASEAN, South Korea, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan.While at first glance, Lucas appears to have had a very varied career, he has also been very intentional about every career move he’s made. And has had no zero regrets with how it has turned out.So we dive deep into this episode into all things career development:❓ How has Lucas chosen the roles that he has? ❓ What is his secret sauce to climbing the corporate ladder? ❓ How should one find mentors/career sponsors? ❓ How does he plan his career & life (he has a plan for everything, including for his family members!!)?Please do listen & leave a rating & review!Highlights:1:50 My first 15 years2:27 Shell City4:22 No one leaves Shell, but I did…5:26 Getting the call from IBM6:05 Switching to tech6:59 Lucas’ unfair advantage over other people7:50 Lots of planning & reflections11:55 What should you do when you first take on a regional role?14:06 Career sponsors14:41 Secret to landing career sponsors15:22 The first time doors opened for Lucas?16:15 Moving on after 10 years17:14 Bringing a corporate mindset to the startup world?19:09 Measuring returns for media projects19:41 Moving to Oracle21:01 Kilimanjaro22:55 Element of luck24:16 Dealing with failure25:55 No regrets?27:37 Moving to Microsoft29:14 Takeaways from being fully immersed in a country 32:00 Did hiking change how he approaches sales and work?32:25 Why Zoom?33:43 Checklist for Lucas’ next career move (no compromise)34:24 How to determine if someone is the right person to work for?35:33 Most influential person in Lucas’ career37:28 Managing the strawberry generation39:15 What Lucas hopes to achieve at Zoom43:58 The second act in Lucas’ career46:45 What STIMY listeners can help Lucas with🙊 Like STIMY? Buy us a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/142 💌 STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442