Tell me about your role now and the path you took to get here

 I have had the good fortune to work in one of the most dynamic and competitive industries in China – the automotive industry – for more than a decade. Perhaps somewhat less fortunately, my roles in PR and communications require 24-hours a day, seven days a week dedication.

Nevertheless, I love what I do. Most importantly, through my work I have had the opportunity to grow, to find myself and define to myself who it is that I really am and want to be.

Like many women, it took me some time to discover what it is that matters to me. It wasn’t until I joined Daimler AG at age 30 that things started to fall into place. As green and naive as it is possible to be, I started my corporate life not really knowing much at all.

One of the key lessons that I take from work is as much as we may have lofty ambitions for creating positive impact in the world around us, we must always stay grounded in the details and minutiae of the task at hand. Having a vision to aim for is important but having a plan to execute is vital.

What does this mean? This meaning success in a PR job (as it is for many other jobs) requires tireless dedication to getting the work done. To letting nothing slip by unconsidered. From social networking, to creative content, to tapping the public mood, to being a good and gracious host, to scrutinising the choice of a word or the positioning of a comma, PR is all-encompassing.

Keep learning, set yourself the highest standards, achieve your goals (and sometimes fail – because if you always achieve your goals you are not setting them far enough ahead of you) – all of these are lessons I have learned through my own experimental experience growing up.

Change will come from first changing her mindset, allowing her to unleash her potential, growing her confidence and keep learning throughout her life

Who were your role models and why?

I am inspired both by the “ordinary people” that surround us in our day to day lives as well as those who have achieved success on bigger stages. There are many ways to leave your mark in life. The older I get, the humbler I get.

While there is one woman in particular who has been a mentor to me, she is too modest to allow me to mention her by name. She has been a role model to me through her achievements in her professional life. In a world as complex as the one we live in today, in which commitments erode quickly, passions fade and dreams evaporate, she is the living embodiment of the true meaning of “persistence”.

Over the 13 years we have known each other, I have seen first-hand her diligence, her dedication to perfection and her commitment to her job above all else. She is the greatest inspiration I have ever been given. I take her presence in my life as a “life blessing”.

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers: The Story of Success repeatedly mentions the “10,000-Hour Rule”, claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours. I have watched her example, tirelessly dedicating herself to diligently honing her skills for her whole professional life.

What challenges have you faced that you think are particular to women and how did you deal with them? 

Unconscious gender stereotypes might be the most difficult challenge we face today. Although in the cities Chinese women work after marriage, there is an unspoken rule that women don’t need to pursue their careers or to continue to strive professionally in the ways that men are expected to after marriage.

The fundamental way to deal with this challenge is to live life just like a man. This may sound like a joke but it isn’t. Today’s women should expect and certainly deserve to enjoy a long, exciting and fulfilling life just like men do, and this includes a professional life. Despite the constraints that society might place on a woman, change will come from first changing her mindset, allowing her to unleash her potential, growing her confidence and keep learning throughout her life.

What do you think the benefits of gender diversity would be to business?

No matter whether it is gender diversity, racial diversity or age diversity, all forms of diversity are important and necessary to the business world to allow for all perspectives to be included. As a result, businesses can have the most unbiased and complete understanding possible, allowing them to in turn take the smartest and most sophisticated business decisions possible.

However, none of us are reducible to a single characteristic or factor. We are never just one thing. We are all different and all have our own contribution to make to the success of a business.

It is too simplistic to address the business benefits of diversity solely from a gender perspective. However, in my experience and in studies it is shown that female business leaders tend to be more resilient, caring and act as better listeners and communicators.

It is also about changing the mindsets of parents who may themselves often not have benefited from a thorough education

 What do you hope to see change to make gender diversity possible?

I am proud that China has set a good example in terms of gender equality, even among developed countries. According to a study by Grant Thornton, the proportion of Chinese women in senior management reached 51 percent, outpacing the global average of 21 percent.

However, in many rural areas, gender inequality still exists, starting from elementary school or middle school. Whether through enhanced educational policies or through the involvement of NGOs, the education of girls can be further reinforced and elevated. Financial constraints are not the only issue here.  It is also about changing the mindsets of parents who may themselves often not have benefited from a thorough education.

Any advice you would like to share with other women contemplating chasing senior roles in business?

I think the requirements for success for a female leader in business are the same as those for a man. However, in reality, a woman has more work to do to balance her different roles as a mother, a wife, a daughter, and a female leader. It is often said of the great performer Ginger Rogers that she had to do everything that Fred Astaire did, backwards and in high heels. This is true today for my generation of professional women too.

As a mother of two, I am keenly aware that organisational, managerial and communication skills are also highly required in my personal life. A home-based ecosystem with clear priorities, rules, and operational details is needed, so as a female leader, your frequent required absences from home won’t be a real problem.

This article is part of a series profiling women leaders in our community, to share experience and create awareness about gender diversity and what it can bring organisations. It is part of the British Chamber’s Women’s Initiative led by Tracy Driscoll, Head of Coaching at the Leadership Group and Chair of the HR Forum for Britcham.

The post Priscilla Zhou Ray of JLR talks about gender diversity appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Tell me about your current role and the path you took to get there.

 I am the anchor of the “Global Business” show for CGTN (formerly CCTV-News).  My working life started back in 1995 in Australia. My parents pressured me into studying accounting, which is how I started my professional career.  After six years of boredom as a corporate zombie (read Scott Adams’ “Dilbert” books), I chanced upon a job to relocate to Jinan in eastern China for a Sino-Australian joint venture.

Thus began an adventure that took me around power stations and coal mines, as well as dodgy KTV bars with bureaucrats. When that ended, I took a 90 per cent pay cut to start as an intern with then CCTV-9, the state broadcaster’s English channel.  In the first month, I learned the strange behind-the-scenes stuff of TV (there are 24 frames to a second), failed my first TV interview miserably, and performed a rap song for ten Chinese ministers who were learning English.

Two months later, I was asked to anchor a 15-minute weekly show called “Financial Review”.  After 18 months I was approached to work for the biggest business TV network in the world – CNBC.  Whether it’s door-stopping officials, schmoozing with billionaires, geeking out on economic data or – more often, enduring the one thousand and one pains of the TV industry – never for one minute do I think, is it Friday yet? When can I retire? Because I already have the best job in the world.

I’d like to see less objectification, less double standards in societal norms

Who were your role models and why?

My parents, who’d been through the great famine and the Cultural Revolution, then took me to Australia. Through their example, I learned to work hard and be nice, be grateful, smile in the face of disaster.  My mother is a feminist in her views and never set gender boundaries for me.  I am also inspired by every strong and talented woman I’ve met – be they my ayi, CEOs, TV producers, lawyers, anyone who has stared down crises and shoved aside barriers.

What challenges have you faced that you think are particular to women? How did you deal with them? 

Pumping milk while doing a phone interview with the foreign ministry?  Weighing up important coverage with important milestones in your kids’ lives?  Going to work the next day after domestic violence?  I work harder, plan better, remind myself for every sacrifice, there is a reward.

What do you think the benefits of gender diversity are to business?

More women political leaders mean less wars. More women in the boardroom mean better corporate citizenship, and higher returns. The 2012 Credit Suisse Research Institute study shows companies with women on the board had higher average returns on equity and higher net income growth from 2005 to 2011. A more recent Reuters study found that globally, boards with female members tend to see better returns and less volatility compared to a benchmark index.

Gender diversity means better connection with consumers.  Promoting women leads to more women motivated to go into senior leadership, otherwise men are more likely to promote men, because they are familiar.

What do you hope will change that will enable gender diversity to be possible?

In China, sexism awareness is still low. The old roots of patriarchal society are deep.  Media stereotypes are often one-dimensional: “tough boss lady” with a sad personal life or the “mistress” or “house-wife” whose homely looks mean she loses the man to the former.  I’d like to see less objectification, less double standards in societal norms, less recruitment discrimination, more portrayal of real women in the media, more girls’ education that “strong” is not a dirty word.  In areas like banking and politics, perhaps initially quotas are necessary to empower women.

Is there any advice you would like to share with other women contemplating chasing senior roles in business?

Work out in your twenties what you don’t want to do.  Be as ambitious as you want. Stop “guilting” yourself for society’s double standards, revel in being called “tough lady” or “bitch”.  Money will come, if you love what you do.

This article is part of a series to profile women leaders in the community, to share experience and create awareness about gender diversity and what it can bring organisations. 

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