and what impact does culture have on the Chinese value system? In your opinion (or based on your experience), do certain characteristics and traits have a greater impact than others on a person’s leadership style? Justify, or argue for, your opinion
Leadership in Action
Zhang Xin: The Humble Chinese Billionaire
Close to half of the world’s self-made female billionaires are Chinese (Forbes, 2013). This does not come as a surprise to Zhang Xin, who ranks fifth in that list. She believes: “China is so entrepreneurial . . . there are no glass ceilings” (Financial Times, 2011). “We all grew up with parents who both worked for equal pay. There was no such thing as a lady of leisure” (Foster, 2010).
Zhang’s story is not unusual for her generation. Born to well-educated parents who were forced to work in the fields during Mao’s revolution, Zhang is not a stranger to hardship and hard work. While working in factories and living in poverty with her mother in Hong Kong, she saved enough to buy a ticket to the United Kingdom where she attended Cambridge University. Her intelligence, hard work and perseverance landed her a job with Goldman Sachs. However, while quickly rising in the organization, she did not feel that she fit in: “I think investment banking environment was very competitive and cutthroat. I was always looking for opportunities to leave” (Stahl, 2013). She returned to China and married a budding entrepreneur, Pan Yishi, after a four-day courtship, and together they founded Soho China, the largest commercial real estate company in China. After a short stint as a stay-at-home mom to raise her two sons, Zhang quickly returned to the company to lead its international efforts.
Even with all her wealth, Zhang retains the values of thrift and humility that she learned as a child. She still does not fly first-class—“It’s not about affordability, it’s about conscience,” she says – because she thinks about the hardships her family endured (Foster, 2013). Being named as one of the richest people in the world makes her “cringe,” a feeling she also attributes to her upbringing. She wanted her 14-year-old son to work at McDonald’s or KFC, and she tries to raise her children as normally as possible (Chiou, 2013). If being grounded and unpretentious are part of her, so are hard work and initiative. “I don’t do evening business dinners and I don’t do weekends” (Foster, 2013). She believes in cooperation. Talking about the challenges of working with her husband, she says: “When you have two people trying to figure out problems together, one brings out new things in the other and vice versa. Aren’t human beings meant to be inspired in this way?” (Zhang, 2008).
Zhang is the first nonarchitect to be awarded the “Bold Personal Initiative” by the prestigious Italian organization La Biennale di Venezia, in recognition of her vision and creativity in the building of China, particularly Beijing (Li, 2006). Ingrid Li, who wrote a biography of Zhang, says: “What makes her stand out is her enormous drive to make a difference, her awareness of her strengths and competencies, and above all, her international outlook and unfailing vision for the coming of age of her homeland” (Li, 2006: xviii). Describing her vision, Zhang says “revitalizing Beijing’s street culture is my job” (Li, 2006).
Questions
- What are Zhang’s key personal characteristics?
- How do they each contribute to her success?
- What role does culture play in who she is?
- Based on the case, in your opinion, how do Zhang’s values affect behaviors, and what impact does culture have on the Chinese value system?
- In your opinion (or based on your experience), do certain characteristics and traits have a greater impact than others on a person’s leadership style? Justify, or argue for, your opinion.
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