I Learned To Understand My Strengths And Weaknesses

Jing Chang Never Thought He Could Manage More Than Three People. Today, He Serves as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Sensata Technologies Asia – an Entire Regional Division of Sensor Company Sensata Technologies.

- Sharon Masige

When Jing Chang began his professional career, he never saw himself as a manager. “I thought leading a team was difficult,” he laughs. “Managing more than two or three people was a struggle for me.”Today, Jing stands tall as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of sensor manufacturer Sensata Technologies Asia. But what was the trick to overcoming his fear?

“I learned to understand my strengths and weaknesses,” Jing explains. “I never thought I could lead people. But then I realised a management position was more suited to my personal profile and character. So, I started with project management, not directly managing people. You really get involved with different people who are part of the project and that challenged me. It helped me learn how to communicate, how to influence and how to get everybody aligned to one goal. I also learned how to understand different people’s strengths and weaknesses and how to motivate them. That process developed me – sometimes in a hard way, sometimes in an easy way – into someone ready to take on a leadership role.”

Jing grew up in the Zhongguancun area of Beijing, also known as China’s Silicon Valley. Both his parents had a science background, which helped him to understand aspects of research and technology. But living in that area served as the catalyst for his interest in technology.

“It used to be the research valley of China,” Jing comments. For many years, individuals would just do research but wouldn’t bring anything to life, he says. Eventually, the researchers began to interact with various industries, particularly tech companies, sparking several new applications and a boom in industrial change. “As I grew up, through elementary school, that research valley – my neighbourhood – eventually became China’s Silicon Valley,” Jing says.