Desmond Chen | Collective Change Institute
Desmond Chen
– Certified Coach Practitioner Collective Change Institute
– Head of HR, South-East Asia
– Best HR Leaders in Asia 2024
Coaching Since
2020, certified Coach Practitioner from Collective Change Institute
Her clients include:
Senior Leaders, high-achievers, emerging leaders and hi-potentials
From the following:
FMCG & Consumer, Engineering & Built Environment, Professional Services, Government & Public Sector, Tech & Digital, International/Regional APAC teams
Engaged by clients for
- Executive and Leadership development
- Scaling leadership & culture across complex change
- Executive presence & stakeholder management
- Career clarity & values alignment between professional and personal life
Clients know him to be
Warm and candid; structured yet human. Calm presence, sharp questions, practical experiments. Challenges with care; holds leaders accountable to their own standards.
Coaching philosophy
“Coaching is where performance meets humanity – and both grow stronger.” It’s not about doing more; it’s about being ready for more: clearer choices, cleaner agreements, kinder pace.
Background
Desmond is an executive coach as a senior business HR leader who helps senior and emerging leaders thrive purposefully. His coaching supports clients navigating leadership transitions, scaling responsibilities, and rebuilding clarity. Known for his versatile, partnering, and humane presence, Desmond’s approach blends presence, deep reflections, and emotional awareness to help leaders move from knowing to doing – sustainably.
With over 18 years of global HR and business transformation experience after working in 4 countries across Asia Pacific, Desmond has led culture and organizational transformation for companies including Amazon, Suntory, Kraft Heinz, and Arup. He has worked in 4 countries across APAC. With deep business acumen, cultural intelligence and leadership expertise, he has successfully developed high-trust and high-performance leaders and teams globally.
From his own lived experiences, he is passionate about human-centered leadership and balanced perspectives of East-Meet-West narratives globally. He is a strong advocate of mental health and under-privileged youths. Coaching helped him to be a better human and leader 7 yrs ago – now he wants to pay it forward.
