This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 14, 2022 - November 20, 2022

Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd group managing director Ho Kong Soon believes that every problem or situation can be broken down into smaller, simple steps that will lead to a solution. This philosophy has helped him in his current role, and he has led the company to become a recognised and respected name in the property development industry.

For his leadership and commitment to providing quality products and services, Ho was named Outstanding CEO at The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards.

Born in 1967, Ho grew up in Slim River, Perak. A naughty child, which he readily admits to being, he had little interest in his studies but that soon changed when he realised a good education would be necessary if he wanted to get ahead in life.

“Education is not a guarantee of success but it is a platform or foundation for you to survive,” he says.

He eventually did well enough to enter Form 6, which he completed in Tapah, another town in Perak, after which he entered Universiti Malaya on a scholarship to study engineering.

Upon graduation in 1992, he was bonded to work for two years at a local company. However, after three months of “boring, repetitive work”, he decided being an engineer was not for him, broke his bond and paid a penalty to be released early. 

Within the same year, Ho went to Seremban in Negeri Sembilan and got a job in property development. He learnt a lot — especially when dealing with the local authorities — and decided that this was the industry for him, liking its pace and dynamic nature. In 1997, he joined Matrix Concepts.

Ho believes that one can become a leader by acquiring knowledge through reading and learning from others who have good leadership values. However, a leader’s role is more than just steering the ship.

“A leader is a person who can bring about a positive impact on society, people and the surroundings. The most important is that [the impact] is everlasting, leaving a legacy,” he says.

Leaders have to be able to look at a situation and adapt as required, he adds. “There is no one solution for everything because everything is always moving and changing, whether it’s time or society.”

While learning from others is important, as are reading and being exposed to different thoughts and practices, the key to success is in the application, says Ho.

“I don’t like people to tell me what the theory says. You must tell me how to apply it, how to implement it. There must be a distinctive action plan, what objective you want to achieve, what decision needs to be made and how effective it is. You create a differentiation this way. If you just follow what is given, the result will be ordinary. Ordinary is not good enough in today’s competitive market,” Ho asserts.

He highlights the Movement Control Order (MCO) during the pandemic, which was a telling period for Matrix Concepts. The group was able to pivot and adapt to the new normal quickly without massive disruption to its operations.

“I cannot say the MCO or the pandemic had no effect on the company but we tried to minimise [the effect]. Why we have succeeded is because we have built resilience.”

Ho believes that to build this resilience, one needs to have a strong team and the ability to unite the members, especially when there are differences in opinion. “You must build a strong team. As the leader, you can look into the company itself, the overall. But you need a strong team to move in one direction.”

Besides that, Ho says a leader must consider things beyond the organisation’s boundaries. “A leader must not just look at the organisation but beyond that to have an everlasting impact on all the stakeholders.”

For any problem that arises, he believes it is important to conduct research and understand the situation. With the correct information, proper decisions can be made. However, what if the decision that had been made was wrong? What then?

“As a leader, failure is a natural process [you need to go through] but we cannot take it for granted. We have to minimise [its impact]. With failure, you need to have the ability to rectify the matter. You cannot fail beyond your ability to rectify the issue,” says Ho.

This is especially important in the property development industry, where projects have long gestation periods from conceptualisation to the groundbreaking ceremony. Thus, he continues, you need the right person to lead a project to ensure that no stone is left unturned and that all contingencies have been planned for.

To ensure that micromanagement does not occur, Ho believes in trusting the right person who is competent in his or her job and trusting them to do the job given to them, after providing them with the performance parameters and measurable goals as a support and guide.

Besides that, passion and consistency are also important. “You have to get the right person who is passionate about his or her work and able to achieve the results. Not a one-off but [he or she] must be consistent in achieving the results.”

Ho believes that developing future leaders is important. “You make a positive impact on other people’s lives, so they can do better.”

For leaders, traits such as tenacity and perseverance are a must. “You also need to be innovative in this digital age and agile in your approach. Be relevant to create differentiation and strengthen your competitive advantage, and you must make an everlasting, positive impact on all the stakeholders. Think beyond yourself,” Ho stresses.

The positive results or outcomes he speaks of require a strong belief in oneself and also in one’s abilities. Ho’s strong belief in simplifying a situation or issue to its basic components is something that has helped him navigate the various challenges that have come his way. He learnt this during his engineering studies.

“You must be able to deconstruct a complex subject matter into something more systematic that enables you to analyse it. I have this advantage because I am an engineer by training. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” he says, adding that he encourages his children to study engineering not to become engineers but to learn the analytical skills the course teaches.

Ho hopes that in the future, there will be someone ready to take over his role in Matrix Concepts. He says his successor, who may come from within the company or elsewhere, must be competent, have leadership qualities and, more importantly, integrity.

The group has long focused on building its human capital and today, members of its senior management are mostly of the younger generation. Ho believes that this strong team will stand the company in good stead in the years to come.

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