Max HenryFounder & Executive Director, Global Supply Chain Council (GSCC) · Founder & Executive Director at Global Supply Chain Council (GSCC)

Leadership Secrets: People & Numbers Drive Success #shorts

12 Jan 2026 · 2 min

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2:14

In this interview segment, the leader of Plaza Premium reflects on the early experiences that shape his current leadership style. He emphasizes two core pillars: data and people. First, he stresses the importance of reading and interpreting operational numbers, especially as leaders move up the hierarchy and become distanced from day‑to‑day activities. Numbers tell a story that helps diagnose performance, but they must be complemented by direct frontline observation to capture real‑time insights. Second, he highlights the centrality of people—both staff and customers—in the hospitality and F&B sectors. Happy staff are essential for delivering happy customer experiences, making people the true driver of value across the supply chain. He traces these principles back to his early career at Pacific Coffee in Hong Kong, where informal coffee conversations served as a gateway to understanding staff and customer needs. By integrating rigorous data analysis with a people‑first mindset, he outlines the essential attributes that guide his leadership at Plaza Premium.

Chapters

looking back, what early experience most shaped how you lead today? What do you think, what part of your previous experience has been really, you know, critical in the way that you manage and lead today with Plaza Premium?
I would say first, definitely, it's the number, because when you climb up the ladder, you are further and further away from the day-to-day operation because you've got so many meetings, You have so many things to talk to different people, and then the only thing you missed is going to the frontline to download what happened over there. So for those numbers, in the early days of my working experience, reading the numbers to tell the story from those variants, from those exact numbers, it helps for me to understand what happened. Instead of— you need to— for sure, we still need to spend time at the frontline to Download what happened. And more importantly, which is the second point of the answer, is the people. Unlike— I can't say— I can't put it back to F&B or hospitality. At the end of the day, our customer is the people, which is one of you. It can be our customer someday. And then we need to know our staff, because if our staff is not happy, it's hard for them to be— you to be happy as a customer. So along the value chain of procurement or supply chain in a QSR or F&B hospitality industry, people is always the major— I can't say question, but more like the topic because we are in a people business. The part that when I was started in Pacific Coffee, it's one of the coffee chain in Hong Kong 20 years ago, I would say the coffee culture or the way that we talk to people. I think nowadays we always— it's easy to talk to people saying that, hey, let's catch a cup of coffee. And this is the window, or it's an opening line to talk to people, to download from them what's happening. I think adding the people and the number together, they equate to the essential attributes that helps me these days to lead in Prasa Premium.