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| Special Reports 專 題 報 導 |The Roller and從 擠 牙 膏 看George Hongchoy, CEO, The Link REIT, and wife DannieHongchoy, Executive Director, Headstart Group Ltd,Hong Kong, have been extremely successful in their careerand family lives. They seem to effortlessly achieve a perfectwork-life balance.Speaking at the WEC Summit, they allowed the audienceinto their private lives to share how they maintain their veryclose and affectionate relationship, as well as being there fortheir kids. George explained that it is no good trying to changethe other person into something that you want them to be.“In every relationship, there is always a squeezer and a rollerwhen it comes to how couples use a tube of toothpaste,” heexplained. “Dannie is the squeezer and I am the roller. I usedto feel frustrated about why she did not press the toothpastefrom the bottom of the tube up, but she just didn’t care.Overtime you learn to accept such things, which helps us tocommunicate more on more important things.”Dannie, a successful executive in her own right, said whenshe has a difficult decision to make, she likes to bounce ideasoff George, who is happy to share his experience.Removing Gender LabelsSuccess and likeability tend to correlate positivelyfor men, but when a woman works herway up the career ladder she is viewed negatively,even disliked.Agnes Chan (left), Regional Managing Partner(Hong Kong & Macau), Ernst & Young, thinksthe stereotypical roles that women should beworking hard on taking care of their familyrather than building a career is lodged deepwithin our subconscious.Even women view successful femaleexecutives negativity, as they perceivethat successful must have come at theexpense of her family to achieve apersonal ambition – regardless ofwhether they know she is single,married or a mother.“Let us start to change thiswith ourselves, from the waywe look at ourselves and fellow women,” she said at the WomenExecutives Summit on May 11. “We cannot be liked by everyone,so let’s be ourselves, and earn respect, rather than changeourselves to accommodate people.”Caroline Mak (right), Regional Director, North Asia, Dairy FarmGroup, believes part of the problem lies in the way we label people.“There is a bit of blame in ourselves for the way we treat otherwomen. Why can’t we just call someone an executive? We don’tsay a man executive, so why do we have to say woman executive?If we do that, then we are self-defeating,” she said.Perhaps such negative connotations are partly why so fewwomen hold senior positions in companies. Chan said thatdespite women’s rights being protected by law, and more than50% of the population being female, only 22% of all seniorpositions in Hong Kong are held by women.Perhaps another piece of the puzzle is that female executives,compared to their male counterparts, are often too humble.They work hard and wait for their efforts to be recognized,whereas men have no qualms about marching into the boss’s38 June 2012 The Bulletin 工 商 月 刊