Jerome Tan: How candid should you be in bankruptcy

The stigma traditionally attached to failure is enough to make people who have seen both ups and downs shun the media limelight.

Not so Jerome Tan, Founder of PIP Holdings.

His candid appearance on Money FM 89.3 to share details of his bankruptcy illustrates how honesty about a chequered career builds credibility faster than just talking about your successes, which is why he is our shortlisted nominee for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018 this week.

Mr Tan starts his interview by sharing how he went bankrupt during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and how he managed to pick himself up and rebuild his business and his career.

The lesson is, your audience is more likely to believe you talking about your successes when you are willing to acknowledge your failures.

Of course it helps to have turned things around, and going by his website he certainly seems to be successful now. But in an era when all authority is questioned, when nuance has given way to binary simplicities, when any corporate message is labelled as fake news and dismissed almost by default, a message that's too rosy is not likely to resonate with your audience. If you offer solutions, you must be prepared to talk about the problems.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018 is well into our second round of nominations in Singapore and Malaysia in these categories:

• Best Broadcast Interview
• Best Online Interview, in association with Shootsta
• Best Conference Presentation
• Best Live Webcast

We launched the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards to recognise senior local leaders for their communications skills, and to showcase authentic and credible home-grown communicators.

These are shining examples for other local business leaders to follow, and to build a culture of excellence in communication, to maximise the potential of Asian companies in the Asian Century.

Each week until October 31, 2018, we are shortlisting a local corporate figure who has demonstrated excellence in a media appearance for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2018.

Click on the link below to enter yourself or another Senior Business Leader.