For his constant inspiration to others, his ability to guide and elevate those working with him, and his commitment to leading from the front, Mr Colin Ong Lian Jin won the Inspirational Leader of the Year award at the 2nd Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards.
Mr Ong joined the insurance industry under the tutelage of his mentor immediately after he graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1992.
Growing from an eight-man team to 440
Today, Mr Ong is a Senior Executive Financial Services Director with Great Eastern Financial Advisers in Singapore and one of the top and most successful leaders in Great Eastern. He founded an agency alliance group – Advisors Clique (AC) which has grown from strength to strength. Starting as an eight-man team, AC has close to 440 members today.
Many of his peers and associates regard him as a mentor, respect him as an inspiring visionary, and know him to be a leader with a big heart. His ability to galvanise the entire team towards a shared vision is remarkable. His active involvement with every associate (direct and indirect) has earned him the respect of his team and peers. Several have attributed their success to Mr Ong’s active involvement in coaching and guidance.
He was promoted to Divisional Sales Officer in 1998, and since then he and his team have bagged numerous awards. In recognition of his exemplary leadership and contributions to agency building, he was awarded the Centennial award, his greatest recognition and achievement yet. This award was given to only three Senior Directors on its 100th year anniversary to recognise their contributions to Great Eastern Life over the years.
In 2016, he was also recognised for promoting eight Directors in eight years, the first Director in Great Eastern to achieve this recognition. In 2017, the AC received the Extraordinary Growth Award in 2017 for growing 15 directors in 15 years with an unprecedented growth of 20% compounded over that entire period.
Leadership by example
A strong advocate of leadership by example, he has achieved the MDRT 22 times from 1993 to 2017, and has fulfilled his dream of becoming a MDRT Life Member. By 2009, he achieved the Honour Roll, an award for achieving 15 MDRT qualifications. His direct group boasts of 4 COT planners and a TOT planner. He personally has achieved the coveted COT award twice in 2012 and 2014.
In 2011, in his consistent quest to lead by example, he qualified for Great Eastern Life’s Entre-Planner award which recognises the top 1% of producers. In 2012, he bettered this and qualified as Executive Entre-Planner, repeating this achievement in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He was awarded the life member status for both Executive Entre-Planner and his Senior Executive Director designation.
Over the years, Mr Ong has actively given back to society. He has sponsored children from a Sri Lanka orphanage, donated to underprivileged children, given sponsorships to schools in Singapore, participated in many fund-raising events and supported elderly homes. Annually, he spearheads AC’s charity luncheons and dinners to bring cheer to the elderly and disadvantaged.
The 2nd Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards was organised by Asia Insurance Review with LIMRA as co-organiser, AIA as strategic partner, and Sun Life Financial as sponsor. The truly regional Awards saw winners from seven markets across Asia – China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore.
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