By Sarah Nicastro, Creator and Editor in Chief, Future of Field Service
Leading across 15 countries in Asia Pacific demands cultural intelligence, deep curiosity, and the ability to represent your region within a global enterprise.
We dove into all of this and more in last week’s episode of Stand Out UNSCRIPTED with Madhu Oza, Director of Global Technical and Service Excellence for APAC at Abbott Laboratories. Madhu’s role spans Japan, China, Southeast Asia, India, and Australia — overseeing capital equipment services for Abbott’s electrophysiology business. The scope is significant, but the complexity goes far beyond geography.
As she explains, the challenge is twofold: operational and human. “The complexity is in two major areas. One area is operations related, and the other is people related — and they’re very intertwined,” Madhu says. Here are four lessons Madhu shared during our conversation that could help any leader in a global role, especially in APAC.
#1: Cultural Intelligence is a Strategic Mandate
One of the most nuanced parts of leading across diverse markets is distinguishing between true cultural differences and simple execution gaps.
Madhu puts it plainly: “It is important to understand how culture pervades business practices… but at the same time be able to separate what’s cultural context from maybe poor execution.”
In other words, not every variance is justified — but not every variance is wrong.
She shares a powerful comparison between Japan and China to illustrate this point. In Japan, decisions are consensus-driven and risk-aware: “Change will take time. But when people have bought into it, then the execution will be top notch. And the ownership will be absolute.”
By contrast, in China: “The teams are very resourceful. They are entrepreneurial. They want to make change. They’re open to experimenting.”
Neither approach is better than the other — but each requires a very different leadership style and strategy.
Madhu also highlights a communication dynamic that often goes overlooked when working with teams on a global scale.
Referencing cultural research popularized by Erin Meyer, she explains: “A lot of cultures in Asia tend to be high context… there is a lot more that you’re communicating than just your words.”
In high-context cultures, leaders must “read the room.” Words alone are insufficient.
Her advice? Clarify rather than assume. Rally around shared goals. “Celebrate the differences where they are justified. Learn from each other. Drive toward the same goals every day.”
#2: There Is No Substitute for Presence
When asked how she’s built this deep cultural understanding, Madhu is direct: “You have to put in the time. And by time, I mean time immersed into that culture.”
And perhaps her most emphatic statement of the episode: “There’s no way to manage Asia Pacific from a screen. It doesn’t work.”
Presence, for Madhu, means more than office visits. It includes customers, partners — even accepting invitations into employees’ homes. “Those experiences teach you so much more than reading a book… You can read all the leadership books in the world, but actually meeting families and understanding viewpoints teaches you a whole lot more.”
Through all of this, her goal isn’t to “fix” or “help” teams — it’s to adapt. “It’s not about me helping or shaping them. It’s really just me adapting to understand how to most effectively provide my team what they need.”
#3: Connection Across Cultures Requires Intention
While Madhu’s connection to her teams is crucial, so too is the connection among teams. Field service leaders understand distributed workforces better than most. When COVID forced others to rethink connection, Madhu had already been navigating that challenge for years.
Her solution? Intentionally create what she refers to as common spaces. “What I like to do is create common spaces for people who are out there in the field doing their jobs day in and day out.”
These spaces range from in-person country gatherings to virtual best-practice calls, collaborative competitions, and cross-country project support. The goal isn’t forced socialization — it’s shared purpose. “It’s about making sure that we take every opportunity to build that common space, that common understanding.”
She also emphasizes cross-country collaboration when possible — sending engineers from Australia or India to support launches in other markets. These moments reinforce something critical: they are not isolated operators. They are part of something bigger.
#4: Standardization Should Unify Purpose, Not Stifle Innovation
Global standardization remains a tension point in many organizations. Madhu believes in it — but selectively. “We consider absolute standardization as absolute efficiency… while that sounds right theoretically, that’s not how the real world works.”
Her philosophy is clear: “You still need the what. You still absolutely want standardization… but weeding out the things that don’t need to be standardized and can be left up to the best way that a team wants to accomplish that — that’s been a very big part of our journey.”
This balance preserves accountability while enabling autonomy — something increasingly critical in today’s talent landscape.
As global organizations mature, the tension between centralization and regional nuance will only intensify. Leaders like Madhu demonstrate that success doesn’t come from control — it comes from cultural intelligence, strategic representation, and intentional connection.
These are just a few of the insights Madhu shared; listen to the full conversation here.