Rachel Poon was a participant in the Salesforce BizAcademy (SFBA) programme, which aims to equip youths with leadership and entrepreneurial skills. She shares how her experience inspired her to reevaluate her perception of leadership, and further her journey of self-discovery.
Hi, I’m Rachel! I was from Republic Polytechnic when I was introduced to Salesforce BizAcademy. During this programme, I got to learn about Salesforce knowledge and self-development and realisation skills from Halogen.
What is one highlight of your SFBA experience and how has it shaped your current approach to life?
We had a project-based challenge during the two-week SFBA programme where we learnt leadership and presentation skills with Halogen. The programme provided a good foundation for students to better understand what leadership is, and what makes a good leader. We were assigned into two teams to work on the challenge as a friendly competition and had to present our project to a Dragon panel at the end of the programme. Though my team did not win, I was offered an internship position in Salesforce and eventually joined Salesforce as a full-time employee after I graduated from Republic Polytechnic. The SFBA experience helped me to discover myself – it enabled me realise what my strengths and weaknesses are and differentiate the things that I am good at from the things that energise me.
Now that you are a mentor, what are your thoughts on when it comes to leadership?
Leadership is a skill – it is not about your own success or showcasing yourself, but about helping your team to succeed together. It is heartwarming to see new batches of students going through this programme, and seeing them grow as a person. Some of the students also put what they learn into practice during the programme and take up the leadership role of their team.