MEET OUR PROFESSIONAL MEMBER

Wendy Tan, CSP

A near death experience in my thirties led me to see life differently. From a to-do list person organising life in blocks of 15 minutes, I was forced to slow down to find alternatives to a fragmented life. In this journey, I discovered the ideas of wholeness. I drew from the wellsprings of Eastern philosophy and Western management science. I define wholeness as a sense of completeness within ourselves and the world around us. I conceptualised the ABC pathways towards wholeness – Anchoring, Balancing and Clearing. To share these ideas, I published my book, Wholeness in a Disruptive World: Pearls of Wisdom from East and West. Then I realised, a book, like a baby, needs nurturing, so I learnt keynote speaking to share these ideas on large platforms.

To date, I have shared these ideas with thousands of people. My book is also a recommended reading in organisational change masters programs in the USA. I have also become a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a designation conferred by the National Speakers Association as the international measure of professional platform competence. I love to connect with my audience, even through Zoom or Teams screens. My speaking style is authentic, inspiring and thought-provoking. I love it, in the course of my keynotes, people have a new balloon of thinking pop up in their mind, see a different possibility and are inspired to act, so they thrive and contribute in their work and lives.

With wholeness as a foundation, my curiosity shifted to learning. I ask myself, “In times when machines are getting smarter and faster, what about human beings? How are we learning?” This led me to return to my first love, psychology, a doctoral program with the Nanyang Technological University. Not only was I researching on learning, I am the experimental subject in learning as I sat through hours of, let’s just say, stimulating statistical analyses lectures. I proudly tell my children that I have 5As out of 6 subjects. More importantly, I found the levers of learning agility – Motivation, Attitudes, Process and Workplace learning conditions and have published some of my findings in TD, Human Resources, OD Practitioner, with another book in the works.

As an entrepreneur, I seek to build the next generation learning ecosystem to help professionals thrive in the future of work. I am grateful my work has won the InnovPlus Spark and HRO Today Thought Leadership Awards. People ask me how I can be a PhD student, grow my business in Flame Centre, be a mother for three school-going children and contribute to various causes. The simple answer is wholeness, it continues to be a foundation for my life to thrive in today’s disruptive world. And also a love of learning with a sense of purpose to contribute to the problems confronting the world in today’s uncertain times.

Look forward to partnering with you!