Chen Najia: Women should be like water

Entering 2013, Chen Najia is busier than ever. The Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong, which she is in charge of will celebrate its 85th birthday, and she has a lot to do in preparation for the birthday celebration.

This is the oldest hotel in Hong Kong, once ranked first in the "Top 10 Hotels in the World", and is known as "The Lady of the Far East". For 85 years, it has been silent on the shore of Victoria Harbour, watching the changes of the situation. It is a proud landmark of Hong Kong people. This is also a place where celebrities gather. Lin Qingxia wrote a column for the newspaper after she retired from the movie, and once mentioned the good times of "sighing afternoon tea" with friends at the Peninsula Hotel more than once. The Peninsula Hotels Group, to which it belongs, is famous for its philosophy of building only one top-level luxury hotel in each metropolis—currently there are only 9 Peninsula hotels in the world, which are limited editions of five-star hotels.

Chen Najia is tall and thin, and her wheat-colored skin gives her a Southeast Asian style. She wears a black and white professional suit, neat and capable. Like all female professional elites, she can firmly grab people's attention as soon as she appears. But the aura she exudes is a bit complicated: in addition to the composure and elegance of the female workplace elites that people are accustomed to, she sometimes laughs like a little girl, looking like she has no heart. Her answers were mixed in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, occasionally grimacing because she couldn't remember the Mandarin way of a word. The new PR intern came up with the word she wanted to express, and she sincerely applauded :you are awesome! Many employees in the hotel call her "Ajie".

In the workplace, people are often happy to see elite women lashing out at Fang Qiu and women's domineering men. It makes one wonder how such a woman who seems neither aggressive nor deliberately mysterious has earned respect at this world-famous hotel.

This girl of courage

In 1989, a Hong Kong girl in her early 20s, Chen Najia, hoped to get a job as a front desk clerk at the InterContinental Hotel in Hawaii, but when recruiters asked her to take a typing test, she But she said, "I've never typed." Then she asked the other party to give her two weeks to practice. Two weeks later, she still failed the test, but was unexpectedly accepted because the recruiter had "never seen someone as persistent as her."

The girl who "couldn't type" was promoted to lobby manager after spending less than 9 months as a front desk clerk. In 1994, she joined The Peninsula Hong Kong, becoming the first Chinese woman in the hotel's 65-year history to be the front desk executive, a position previously held by a white male. Afterwards, like migratory birds, she worked successively at The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago, The Peninsula Hotel in New York, and The Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok. Now she is the Vice President of Hong Kong and Thailand of The Peninsula Hotels Group.

When referring to The Peninsula Hotel, someone said: Stories about hotel management techniques may not suit it, cold numbers and matrix management graphics are not its style, history is. It seems that as long as there is a splendid reputation, as long as there are smiling doormen, and afternoon tea that makes people feel unsatisfied, this hotel will run automatically without management. Did fate really favor Chen Najia too much to create a shining resume for her through the hand of time?

The answer is probably no. Chen Najia was born in an ordinary family in Hong Kong and is the eldest among the five sisters. Since her parents could not afford the school expenses of her five daughters, she started working part-time after school since she was a child to support her parents' family. She earned tuition for her sisters, but never went to college herself.

But for those who really learn, the best place to learn is not necessarily the classroom. When working in Hawaii, in order to master all the skills needed for the job as soon as possible, she once put forward a bizarre request to her boss: work as usual on vacation days, and no overtime pay. This surprised her boss, who could be convicted of breaking the law.

Chen Najia's professional experience has also met many important historical moments. Work in Hawaii coincided with the outbreak of the Gulf War, 9/11 when I was the resident manager of the Peninsula Hotel in New York, and SARS when I was the hotel manager at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. In 2005, he served as the general manager of the Peninsula Hotel in Thailand, and encountered a century-old tsunami. Almost every time, it will bring a fatal impact to the hotel industry. It's not that she has never been worried, but she is always full of energy and has the courage to deal with it. She promises employees that they won't be laid off lightly, show them the positives, and send them to training or tinkering. When disaster strikes, employees prepare for the future, only to wait for the rain to pass.

Nowadays, under the leadership of Chen Najia, The Peninsula Hong Kong has begun to change the low-key style of the original British aristocracy and conduct large-scale roadshows in mainland metropolises to attract mainland guests with gradually bulging wallets. The practice of "body" was simply unimaginable before. In addition, she oversaw the hotel's refurbishment, launching a new generation of technology-enabled guest rooms. Under the bold innovation, the "Far East Lady" has added a dash of modernity.

Twenty years ago, when Chen Najia joined The Peninsula Hotel, there were few female practitioners in Hong Kong, but now, there are more and more female employees around her, and four of the nine Peninsula hotels around the world are headed by women. manager. "Men may be a little scared because their territory is taken over by us." Chen Najia joked.

She still remembers when she was interviewing for her first job, Front Office Manager, at The Peninsula Hong Kong. "The general manager asked me: 'Najia, we've never tried a woman for this position, do you think you're capable?' At that time I thought, this is what I want."

In Najia Chen's view, although The phenomenon of inequality between men and women has changed, but many women will step into a vicious circle set by themselves, thinking that some things are not women's ability, and sometimes this even becomes an excuse for women to shirk and escape. "I don't think there are jobs where men can be women and cannot be," she says often. From Chen Najia, we may see that those female managers who can keep moving forward in the workplace often do not have too many gender considerations. Whether it is in terms of work mentality or work requirements, they regard themselves as Same with male managers.

I am not a strong woman

In China, the title of "strong woman" is often given to those women who focus on their careers and achieve success. Many women are also proud of it, and think that getting this title is a good thing. is recognized by the society. Although Chen Najia has not taken a day of sick leave in the 20 years of working for the Peninsula Hotel except for one illness and admission, she does not like being called a "strong woman" by others, and even has a strong sense of rejection of this term. She believes that women should be like water, not losing their qualities at any time, such as delicate, such as soft.

In addition to becoming "strong", many "strong women" also tend to become "cold". They are high above and reject others thousands of miles away. When Concubine Long Yunfei, the public relations manager of The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, saw Chen Najia for the first time, she was passing by the hotel lobby. At a glance, she felt that the female boss was a bit unattainable. But then, the facts shattered her stereotype.

"I remember when I got married two years ago, she kept asking me: 'What do you do with your clothes? Have you already? Have you booked a hotel yet?' I told her 'not yet', she said, 'It's only two months, why haven't you made clothes yet? Would you like me to introduce another tailor shop to you?'" , the two let out the pleasant laughter that only close friends in the boudoir can have when they share the topic of private room.

“We have more than 800 employees in our hotel, although I can’t name every one of them, but to me, they are like family.” Chen Najia can always detect “family” with the sensitivity of women where help is needed. The family life of employees is often outside the boss's perspective, but Chen Najia asks training companies to provide relevant training for male employees because they often don't know how to communicate with their children.

Due to the financial turmoil in 2009, the hotel business was sluggish, but Chen Najia could feel that the employees were still working hard. Due to the excessive pressure, some colleagues even fell ill, and the older colleagues often have old diseases such as backache and leg pain. Chen Najia set up membership cards for employees at the fitness center near the company, and 40% of employees can go for free every day. fitness.

"One morning, an employee who was almost 50 years old asked me: 'Miss Chen, do you see any change in me?' I said: 'I can't see it', and he happily said: 'I have lost weight , I lost weight, can't you see?'" It turns out that this night shift employee had always had bad habits before. After finishing work at 8:00 in the morning, he went to have morning tea with his friends and then went home to sleep. But after the company gave him a fitness card, he started going swimming after get off work. "I see him smiling so happily, and I think everything I do is worth it."

"strong women" are often reluctant to reveal their inner weakness in front of their subordinates, lest they be considered "little women" because of this. And lose the admiration and trust of subordinates. But Chen Najia, the boss who urged employees to buy dowries, would go to colleagues to "talk" when she was unhappy and stressed. She said, "Although I am much older than them, everyone has weak moments. , their encouragement is very important to me."

Chen Najia's only sick leave in 20 years was spent in the hospital, and many colleagues visited her. "After I came back to work from the hospital, my colleagues often reminded me: you need to eat more, you don't have to do so many things. When I get off work at night, they will also urge me to go home early." Her water-like qualities , catalyzed the affection and trust.

The famous female leadership expert Li Xiujuan's research found that this society has different standards of success for men and women in the workplace: for men, people pay more attention to their career path and leadership style; for women, people tend to Being curious about how to balance work and family means that before you can be a successful working woman, you must first be a successful mother and wife.

Chen Najia, who is single so far, obviously does not meet people's expectations for this role. She also often feels "pressure from her mother". "She often asks me worriedly, who will take care of you when you are old?" Even when visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year, they will be asked: "Why are you still not married at such an old age?" But if it is an unmarried male of the same age, people may not be surprised.

Although people may look at you one way or the other, Najia Chen believes that when you make a decision, accept it bravely and happily.

Management is like making cocktails

Watching the bartenders make cocktails is fun at the Delicate Lounge located on the basement level of The Peninsula Hong Kong. Wines of various colors and flavors are put into the shaker, and after being thoroughly shaken, the wine poured out will have a different flavor. Although the different liquors have distinct layers, they are integrated together to achieve this flavor. They have an artistic conception that can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words. It is no wonder that some people call cocktails an artistic wine.

Chen Najia's work is sometimes as artistic as making a cocktail.

She had the idea to launch a chocolate buffet at a hotel she was running at the time. But the unprecedented concept was opposed by the stubborn chef at the time, who expressed doubts about the project's popularity and disagreed with the PR director who was determined to pursue it.

As their boss, Chen Najia stayed out of the argument and invited them to bring their family to dinner. During the entire dinner, no one talked about work, not even the chocolate buffet. "Everyone is just talking and getting to know each other's lives." That dinner was very important, and the two people who were arguing began to realize how vivid the personality of the colleague outside work was, how he was a father, and how she was a wife. of. Both parties begin to understand each other as a "person". After that dinner, although they still have different opinions on work, they will respect each other more, they will understand each other when they encounter problems, and try to find the best neutralization point. In the end, the chocolate buffet plan was also a complete success. .

Chen Najia skillfully mediates disputes between departments like making a cocktail, the secret is: "When there is a problem, I will also solve it, but what I want to know more is, why? When such a problem occurs, does it require a longer-term solution to solve this problem?" In the chocolate incident, Chen Najia could of course tell the two subordinates directly what they wanted and let them implement it. But for the two people who have to work together in the years to come, this is obviously only a temporary solution, and Chen Najia needs to take a longer view.

She also has a time to make a hard drink. "As a leader, I can't just think about how to make my employees happy. Sometimes I need to make less popular decisions. Because I have a responsibility to the shareholders, to the board of directors."

After the hotel refurbishment A new generation of technology-concept rooms was launched, and young employees cheered for it, but old employees were afraid and even resisted those high-tech devices. They may not operate interactive touch consoles or even how to introduce 3D Blu-ray LED TVs to guests. However, Chen Najia changed her friendly style and insisted that all employees participate in the two-day training until they fully understand these things.

Leadership experts often work to identify differences in leadership styles between male and female leaders, and often come to some specious conclusions, such as women being more democratic in decision-making but easy to conform, not shy of taking risks but lacking in decisiveness, Delicate and sensual but difficult to control their emotions... It seems that women are always swaying, while men are always tough. These rhetoric are often confusing and become part of women's self-identity. In fact, there are women leaders with tough styles, such as Dong Mingzhu, who ranks 9th in the world's most influential businesswomen. She once said, "I never admit I'm wrong, I'm always right." And there are also many male leaders with a style like gentle wind and drizzle.

When asked to point out the differences in management between men and women, Chen Najia said: "I'm not a man, I don't know what they think, but I know I'm like this." She told others in her own way, Please don't label me, I'm soft or firm, but that's who I am.