The Power of Following your Intuition — Dinner with Adam Gregory, Sr Country Director, Hong Kong & APAC Talent Solutions, LinkedIn

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.

As one of the first representatives of LinkedIn’s APAC region, Adam Gregory has assisted the preeminent networking platform to expand all over Asia-Pacific. Currently Senior Country Director of the APAC region, he oversees the company’s various operations in Hong Kong and leads a team of sales specialists spanning five countries to help connect professionals around the world.

Adam leads his teams with a fundamental ethos of helping others discover their true potential whilst building trust and transparency. Holding strongly to these core values, he ultimately strives to inspire and grow highly efficient teams of bright professionals who are motivated by making a significant impact on their clients and community.

Over dinner, Adam shared with us how trusting his gut instincts have driven his career immensely and led him to where he is today.

What is your philosophy in life?

I think that as I’ve become a bit older and as my career has progressed, the requirement to continue to learn as a leader and as an individual has just become greater. Now something that I’m quite passionate about is trying to consume as much as possible.

I don’t know a fraction of what I would like to know, so continuing to read and learn is a great way to develop and a big part of what I like to do these days.

A lot of it is specific to my career — sales leadership, business leadership, a lot around entrepreneurship. There are so many people who have done amazing things and it’s great to be able to learn from them. And the access to that now is being able to listen to a 20-minute podcast or a learning course on the bus just on my phone, on my way to work — it’s a great way to start the day and I always take something away from it. It’s a great way to use time that would otherwise be you staring out at a window.

What is one habit that has significantly improved your life?

Proactively seeking feedback. I think everyone is great at giving feedback but it’s actually a lot easier if you ask for it. People are a lot more willing to provide it.

It’s not always what you want to hear, but it’s quite often what you should hear.

Professionally, that would mean proactively seeking feedback from people who report to me, my peers, and my managers. But even personally, everyone’s got their own experiences and there are gems that you can take and apply to. Whether it’s the decision to move to Hong Kong, or decisions around my career, I think that actively seeking feedback is a really healthy thing to do. It keeps you grounded and self-aware.

Do you have any advice for young people just stepping into society?

The number one thing is to trust your instincts. It’s something that I’ve always done, and I think it stood me in fairly good stead because no one knows you better than yourself. Trying to seek happiness in a career is not always easy. We always say, “if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life”, but that’s a difficult thing to do and I think that most people don’t experience that.

But if you are doing something that you trusted your instincts to go on and do, then you can give it a hundred percent.

Another thing I would encourage is to be an observer of your own actions. I think that it’s very easy to forget about the implications of the things that you say and do. Just to stop for a moment and think of how you’re being received, what you are saying, and how you’re coming across.

Are there bad recommendations you would advise people against?

In terms of bad advice, as long as you are learning as you go, I think any experience is a good experience. Richard Branson talks about learning to walk by falling over, so making mistakes is fine as long as you are learning from them.

If you are making the same mistake or taking advice from people who aren’t in your trusted circles or have proven to give you bad advice, trust your instinct to stop taking their advice.

What’s one ask or action you want everyone to do after meeting you here today?

Connect. The value of networking is that we can help each other. If there’s something I can help, then that’s great — there could be an introduction, a piece of advice, a follow up on something. And one day I may have a question to ask you.

So, connect and become part of the network if you’re not already.

It’s been a powerful vehicle for me and my career and for so many people around me. I’d encourage you all to do the same.

Thank you Adam for raising 72 volunteer hours to HER Fund, Hands On Hong Kong and more!

Big thanks to The Hive for offering us their cozy space in Wanchai!

These awesome photos are brought to you by Henry from KaChick — a marketplace where you can book a photographer anywhere, anytime, for anything!

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