Having worked in eight countries in his near-25-year career with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, Marcus Hurry, chief executive officer of the Thailand unit, has learned that never losing his temper is a key element of his management philosophy.

"If you behave in a way that offends cultural sensitivity or lose your temper, you lose a lot of trust," said Hurry.

In order to clearly communicate what he's trying to say, Hurry says he often uses metaphors that apply to the culture of the team he is working with.

For example, when working in the United States, Hurry said he used a lot of metaphors related to sport, because of Americans' love for it.

Although he has been in the Kingdom for more than 18 months, he says he is still working on Thai culture.

As well as trying to find out as much as he can from financial publications and newspapers, he quizzes colleagues and customers for details on the actual situation, behind the headlines.

The 48-year-old Briton started his career at HSBC in 1982 in his home city of London. He later worked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Brunei, Taiwan and the United States.

On his journey to a CEO position, Hurry has encountered many ups and downs. But he says he has succeeded because he has always looked for the positives.

"I've learned that in any situation you can look at a problem and turn it in to an opportunity," he said.

Apart from a desire as a younger man to have competed in (and won) the Tour de France, Hurry has been committed to his life in banking.

After graduating in 1979, he was keen to travel the world and says he is lucky that banking was able to offer him that.

Hurry admits he has had some luck along the way, but knows he's also worked hard to move up the corporate ladder.

"You have to create your own luck. I might have been lucky to get the assignments I did and travel the world, but they wouldn't have come about if I hadn't worked hard in the first place," said Hurry.

Hurry also acknowledges that he could never have achieved the success he has without the support of some great teams.

He also tries not to be fazed by the pressure of being a CEO for a major company.

"I always try to deal with pressure by staying calm. I'll work out exactly what we are trying to achieve and then come up with a strategy to get us there, using all of my resources as effectively as possible," Hurry said.  

As a father of three, Hurry learned the need for a good work-life balance when he was living in Hong Kong in 1990.

Since then, he has tried to apply it to the workplace and his staff by increasing flexibility of working hours and place of work.

In the movie "Hitch", the eponymous date doctor teaches fat and clumsy Albert the proper attitude for his first kiss. "You lean in 90 per cent of the way and let her go the last 10," he says.

Maybe Hurry saw that movie.

As representative of a foreign bank in Thailand, he has learned much of the culture of Thai people. But will the Thais do the rest?

Maybe. There are currently 10 million credit-card holders in the country, and more than 400,000 of them chose HSBC.

Piyarat Setthasiriphaiboon

The Nation