This leadapreneur chooses to get chummy with change

Ivan Lee Cheng Tat

“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” Yes, it is a popular quote from Batman, one of Ivan Lee Cheng Tat’s favourite superheroes.

When asked what inspired the 35-year-old Penangite, Ivan simply said it was Batman, because the caped crusader was always inspiring people to stand up to their fears and do the right thing.

So, when Ivan was nominated by his management to attend the AXA Leadapreneur Accelerator Programme, he thought it would be the perfect avenue for him to face the fear of moving out of his comfort zone. Ivan understood that people were generally uncomfortable with change, but he was also convinced that change is an important aspect of life that would enable him to learn, adapt and grow.

The AXA Affin General Insurance Bhd Branch Manager then made good use of the accelerator programme to not only learn about his abilities, but also test his limits of innovative, critical and strategic thinking, and learn a thing or two about becoming the master of his own destiny, as he had to manage a solo project worth over RM45,000 to prove his prowess as a leadapreneur.

As an account manager previously, Ivan knew how tedious it was to deal with stakeholders, particularly in managing quotations and sales. As he was responsible for business development, he also knew the importance of an efficient and errorless invoicing process to smoothen the business transaction.

To simplify this process, Ivan created a tool that will standardise and simplify quotations to make it easier for marketing staff to work on them. Using this as a basis, he rolled out the Simplified Quotation Tools to six business units within AXA.

Apart from saving a lot of time, Ivan’s idea helped the divisions minimise errors and encourage more people, especially the younger staff, to be efficiently involved in quote preparations instead of dreading the task.

According to Ivan, Leadapreneur truly helped him to think out the box to create solutions that will enhance the business process at AXA. With the Simplified Quotation Tool, he had not only helped AXA achieve a faster TAT (turnaround time) but also improved collaboration among stakeholders.

Based on his experience and feedback, the AXA’s SME Property business turnaround time was reduced by about 50% and with this simplified tool, the seniors now had more time to source for new businesses, as well as encourage or train junior staff to start quoting for their client, SME Property Insurance. 

He also received favourable comments and feedback on areas for improvement from the six divisions he engaged with, giving him the push that he needed to achieve a sound business sense.

Based on his overall involvement, Ivan gained a tremendous amount of confidence that it was necessary for him to aim big no matter what his position or role in the company was.
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At the same time, he was also convinced that dreaming big would help him discover great possibilities that not only works in his favour by discovering his true potentials but also contribute positively towards the growth of his organisation.

Leadapreneur, for Ivan, was a great platform that pushed him to create new ideas of great value to the company, taught him to get people’s buy-in and eventually get rewarded for all his hard work.

Congratulations Ivan for becoming a Champion of the Accelerator!