Employee Engagement, Razer Inc
Corporate Volunteer
What does influence mean to you?
Influence to me, is impact that supersedes emotion and time.
What are some memories/experience of influence being exercised in your life? (Can share a halogen memory if applicable)
I remember when I was 17 and it was finally hitting me that I was struggling to find friends that I felt truly connected with. I had become quite cynical about the people around me and easily bored with the conversations I found myself caught up in with the peers my age. It was in a conversation with a lady who I was working for who took the time to sit and talk with me that I realized what it was in me that made me so uncomfortable – I was a teenager who had grown up in a city of wealth (Singapore) that had a heart for the marginalized, and the people I was with did not share that heart.
“You should not judge your peers because they don’t share your passion, but rather seek to be with like-minded people to support this part of you so you do not find yourself lonely in your calling. Differences should not interfere with the opportunity to build relationships.”
This was something that sparked a journey of growth for me, right even to this point of my life where I’m working in an industry that I would have actively stayed away from 5 years ago, and learning all the amazing things about technology and its impact and opportunity to strengthen the world.
How has your time with Halogen impacted the way you see/exercise influence in our youth?
My experiences with Halogen and its team have consistently encouraged my heart and challenged my thought processes in the way we activate our youth in their journey of self-discovery and growth. It’s easy to fall into the pattern of feeding them the ‘you are the only one who can make a difference’ message, but in a generation that has been labelled selfish and superficial, I’ve seen how the Halogen Team actively breaks that barrier through conversations and intentional communication of how we all gave a part to play in making the world a better place together.
As someone who personally has never had a preference for working or interacting with teenagers, I am grateful for the opportunity to interact and engage them in a way that has grown me to understand and embrace my part to play in developing the youth of today as builders of tomorrow.
What do you think is the potential of influence?
As I said at the start, influence is impact that supersedes time and emotions of the present. When someone has been influenced, they move through life and decisions anchored to the beliefs they carry as a result of this influence.
When you carry influence, you have the power to impact a life in accordance to that.
