Cracking the leadership code: Feon (LinkedIn)
MD (APAC) @ LinkedIn
Feon Ang has been at the heart of LinkedIn's transformation in APAC. As Managing Director (APAC), she’s helped scale the business, navigate new markets, and evolve how leadership, hiring, and GTM are approached. In this conversation, Feon shares the leadership principles and market strategies that have defined her journey.
Q: What qualities do you prioritize most when hiring regional leaders?
Feon: I look for what I call "the three Cs":
Conviction: Leaders must deeply believe in what they’re doing. Passion can’t be faked. When someone talks about a topic they care about, their body language changes - their eyes light up, they lean in. That kind of energy is critical in a leadership role.
Clarity: Especially during uncertain times, a leader needs to communicate clearly and consistently. If you're not clear, you create confusion. Teams need to know what’s expected of them and what the priorities are - otherwise, they lose focus.
Courage: Leaders often face moments where the easy path is tempting. But real leadership is about making the hard call. Courage is about choosing what’s right for the team and business, een when it’s uncomfortable.
I also look for people who are constantly striving to grow — both for themselves and their teams.
Q: How do you assess conviction and courage in interviews?
Feon: Conviction is something you can see in how someone talks about their past work. I look for signals like enthusiasm, preparation, and body language. For example, when I ask, “Why do you want to join LinkedIn?” I expect a candidate to be excited - not just give a generic answer. If they can’t tell me what LinkedIn has done recently that excites them, or if they haven’t explored our product or culture in depth, that’s a red flag.
Courage is harder to surface, but you can ask candidates to talk about a time when they had to make a tough call, challenge a team norm, or take a stand. Their reflections and the emotional tone they use often reveal their true mindset.
That said, interviews are imperfect. You don’t get many hours with a person - so you won’t always get it right. That’s where learning to correct mistakes fast becomes essential.
Q: You’ve said before that it’s okay to make mistakes - just fix them fast. Can you share an example?
Feon: One example that stands out is from right before COVID. LinkedIn had acquired a business with a separate GTM structure. We saw an opportunity to integrate the teams, streamline operations, and serve customers better - by reducing overlap and confusion.
My team and I worked on the re-org for months. But when I presented it to internal stakeholders, their reactions surprised me - they looked confused. It made me realize something important: just because I had spent countless hours thinking through the change didn’t mean others understood it right away.
That moment reminded me that clarity isn’t just about what’s in your head - it’s about how well it lands with others. I had to go back, rework my narrative, and create an FAQ with anticipated concerns. I practiced the messaging over and over. Eventually, when we rolled it out to the broader team, it landed much better. But it was a tough and humbling experience - and one that taught me a lot about over-communicating during times of change.
Q: When entering new APAC markets, how do you prioritize and sequence GTM efforts?
Feon: Market prioritization starts with identifying what I call the "sweet spots." For LinkedIn, our mission - creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce - becomes real only when we have member engagement. So we first look at where member growth is strong.
Markets like Australia and Singapore came naturally - they had high levels of professional activity and digital adoption. India was also a key market because of its scale and the population’s strong desire for upward economic mobility.
Once we identified Tier 1 markets, we looked at where companies were headquartered and where it made sense to place our teams. Then we moved to Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets based on opportunity, complexity, and resourcing.
Q: Does the GTM playbook change across markets?
Feon: There are both common threads and real differences. You need some consistency in your GTM strategy to scale effectively - if everything has to be reinvented for each market, it slows you down.
That’s why we started with English-speaking markets like Australia, Singapore, and India - it made alignment and execution easier in the early days. But of course, cultural differences still matter.
For example, in India, job change frequency is much higher. Candidates expect fast responses and move quickly, so our engagement model there differs from that in Singapore or Australia. That’s why hiring local leaders is so important. People who’ve grown up in the market often understand these nuances instinctively - and that can be a huge advantage.
Q: What excites you most about AI’s potential for hiring and career development?
Feon: AI has enormous potential to improve how we hire and develop talent. One of the most time-consuming parts of talent acquisition is reviewing resumes and shortlisting candidates. With AI, recruiters can write smarter prompts and drastically cut down the hours spent on manual filtering.
At LinkedIn, we’re rolling out a tool called AI Coach. It helps employees rehearse difficult conversations - like giving feedback or navigating performance reviews - in a safe, AI-assisted environment. This kind of practice builds confidence, especially for leaders who are still learning how to manage tough conversations.
More broadly, I believe large organizations will increasingly use AI to scale their operations. Those that don’t adopt it risk being outpaced by more agile competitors. But AI should be used to enhance human performance - not replace it. That’s the mindset we need to take forward.