Managing Director AOL Asia and ANZ

What is the most surprising thing about you that most people don’t know?

The most surprising thing would be that I paid my way through university by working at night clubs as a doorman. I used to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights and do football training Monday, Wednesday and then play football every weekend. So I made money from both door-work and playing football.

What are the most important decisions you made in your career?

I am not afraid to move sideways in my career. In some cases, you need to go backwards in order to go forwards. It is important to make the decision that suits you and not the decision that people expect you to make. Ultimately you don’t live to work. You need to ask yourself: What’s good for my life at this stage or if you are with a partner, what’s good for us as a family at this stage of our lives? I think some people take jobs, roles or make decisions because they are peer-pressured into it rather than taking a career step that is right for the stage of their life that they are in.

What will be the most valuable skill for your profession in the next 3 years?

You’ve got to stay flexible and you need to be consistently willing to learn and able to adapt.

Our industry is constantly evolving from a technology point of view. The Asia Pacific region is now the fastest growing region for smartphones. You need to be a combination of many things. You must be a media person to understand the dynamics behind the content. For example, what content works? What ads work with what content? What is a medium a user is going to consume that content? So you need to understand the tech as well as the media side of the industry. I guess the key thing is to never stop learning.

Tell us about your worst professional mistake and how did you overcome it?

Many years ago instead of attending a meeting myself, I sent a peer who was new to the company. It was a fairly big meeting with a well-known computer online seller looking at a Europe-wide advertising campaign. And the opening question by my colleague was: “How many shops do you have?”, which was a bit of a mistake considering they only work online. It took several months and a huge amount of extra work to restore the equilibrium.

What’s your biggest ambition now?

To have a balanced life. The older and the more successful you get, you realise you need to find a balance between the career or the job that you like and the environment that suits and stimulates you.

Can you recommend any recent books that have influenced or changed the way you work?

Grit  by Angela Duckworth. Grit is also one of the traits we look for at AOL. You don’t get paid for all the yes's you get, you are paid for all the no's. As long as you demonstrate grit in the right way, you are on a path to a successful career.

What talks such as TED or podcasts do you listen to?

I tend not to listen to podcasts and the only reason is that I am on my phone quite a lot, and when I am home I try to put it away.

What industry columnists, blogs or influencers should we bookmark right now?

For me it is Tim Armstrong (edit: CEO AOL Global). He is a strong stand-out leader among the Fortune 500 companies leaders and I say that not because I work for him. He built Google sales, he then took over AOL at the time of Time Warner challenge and he built into a force again. He has a level of determination, charisma and clarity of thought that makes him very inspiring for me. He knows the business, he knows the technology and he has strong belief. He is also very real, genuine guy.

I tend to “practice what you preach”, so I follow all our publications: I watch Makers.com, read TechCrunch and Huffington Post. I think it depends on what role you have, but it is important to make your point of reference as diverse as possible. I read AdExchanger, MediaPost and topical expert resources on brand safety. Last year I was on IAB Leadership Council which helps you to know what the market is trying to understand.

What are you going to learn in the year ahead?

Change Management. As a company we are going through a lot of change. At the moment we are in the process of integrating Yahoo into the Verizon Digital Media division. Change is happening and you’ve got to embrace it.

We have the options of engaging with mentors that we have around the world or we can seek our own ones. For me it would be looking for someone who is familiar with the change process: the highs and lows, the pitfalls and someone who understands the triggers when you are going through that process.

In choosing a mentor, firstly you need to choose one that you can build a rapport with and a level of trust with. There’s no point in having a mentor if you don’t respect or trust what they say. Secondly, be open about taking good and bad feedback. Understand all mentors have one or two areas of expertise. So choose one who has expertise in an area where you feel you need a greater degree advice and help. It could be change management or finance, so something where you need the most immediate help. And if it branches out of there, then great you found a mentor who could be your sounding board.

Learn more about Alex Khan on Linkedin or follow him on Twitter @Khanage5