When He Met Mrs. Right — Dinner with Keith Wu, Executive Director and COO of Tsit Wing Group
Sometimes the most meaningful and inspiring conversations happen over casual meals. The Time Auction Blog is a snippet of our meetings with people who have found passion in their life and career, where we get a glimpse into their mentality behind their ventures.
Being the Executive Director & Chief Operation Officer of Tsit Wing Group, Keith formulates the corporate strategies for the development of the Hong Kong leading B2B coffee and tea provider which rooted in the city for over 80 years.
Over dinner, our conversation went beyond his successful career. Keith shared his stories in thoughtful and unexpected ways from how his Mrs. Right motivates him to how he makes the best use of time to balance his life outside workplace.
What’s your life motto?
Focus on family and work-life balance. Family support is very important to me. I thank my wife for her support.
It is very important to fall in love with your another half so that you have the motivation to pursue your life goals and a positive career life.
Is it something you believe in after meeting your wife?
It happens without noticing. When you find your Mrs./Mr. Right, and you would want to form your own family. You would need to be respectful and trustful to each other. People always talk about sense of security, in which both men and women need it. But how do we give women a sense of security? It is not solely based on wealth, but also let her know that you are transparent to her. If we’re happily married, we are reducing the work for the Social Welfare Department [laughs], this is vital and is part of the social responsibility.
Do you have a habit that significantly influenced you?
I take the fourth sector in my 24-hour day which refers to 5 to 8am.
I recommend everyone to do that. You will not be disturbed within this period of time for example work and family. So you can do things that you genuinely like and balance your life. When your career starts to grow, you do not have sufficient time for yourself. You don’t understand why people said time is precious when you are young, but I now understand.
Another ideology is that time is fair as everyone has 24 hours in a day. There is nothing fairer than the concept of time, when life and wealth can be unfair. If the management officers have the ability to motivate subordinates to contribute their time, they are successful.
Do you mean that you will use your personal time of 5AM to 8AM everyday?
The frequency has reduced in recent years. But I strongly recommend the youth to take up this practice everyday. However, it is important to adjust your habit when you get older. Meditation is all about calming down yourself. When a person is very busy, there is a problem of him failing to calm themselves down as their brains keep operating. The management officers are to a certain extent tougher than those who work with their hands as the later group can stop when they reach home, however, such situation is not applicable to the former group. Therefore, it is important to keep up with some habits that can calm oneself down. You can clear your thinking through meditation, especially when you have loads to do. I also learn from my friends. Some of them who are bankers also share that they will meditate for half hour everyday.
When you are working in the management level, your journey is lonely. However, you should not be afraid as you are near to success.
If you have a lot of companions in working on a specific thing, it isn’t a successful case. You must be lonely if you want to walk your own path. I experienced it for several times before in which I had to handle things that I have no knowledge of, or I shed a tear for myself after completing it. So you should never give up when you feel lonely. We always face problem such as what should we do in the face of such situation. I guess you cannot seek advice from anyone. I hope you can enjoy the scenario as you are near to success.
If you have to teach a lesson unrelated to your career, what’d it be?
Farming. I love growing plants. Everything I grow is edible as I love that joyful feeling. Most Hong Kong people in our era have limited chance to plant.You feel how real things get when it grows from seed to fruits. You learn how to treasure and many more. It’s also relaxing to sit in the balcony and take care of the plants.
I also enjoy travelling to the gardens in Yuen Long and talk to the uncles and aunties there and discuss farming. I learn a lot from them and respect everyone. If we do not have food industry in the world, we have got nothing to eat. I saw a lot from my industry that you will never want to eat the beef if you saw how slim they are. Therefore, I want to share the life of being a farmer.
What’s an action you want us to take away from meeting you today?
Have a clear goal. I set my clear goals for each year. I evaluate and review every half year. I include four sectors in setting goals - Individual, Family, Work and Society.
We change a lot throughout the year. When you read the goal sheet again, you will realize that how good you did in each aspect.
Also, I ask my wife to hand me her goal sheet to be as a present to me. She become happier after doing that. I motivate her to take up various roles in the society. Of course, I fully support her from behind.
Thank you Keith for donating dinner and raising 50 volunteer hours to Faith in Love, Community Business and more!
