Leading at SHEIN: Cross-Border Leadership in an Era of Hypergrowth

Leadership for Hypergrowth: Lessons from SHEIN’s Global Journey

At HCLI’s latest Thought Leadership event, we were honoured to welcome Leonard Lin, President of EMEA at SHEIN, for a fireside dialogue with our Chief Learning Officer and Incoming CEO, Dr. Kevyn Yong.

In this candid session, Leonard reflected on his personal leadership journey—navigating the complexities of hypergrowth while staying anchored in purpose. He spoke about the deliberate choices leaders must make to build culture and empower people, even amidst rapid scale.

Participants also gained a closer look at SHEIN’s unconventional, data-driven business model, and how the company is evolving to meet growing expectations around sustainability. While AI plays a growing role in driving business performance, Leonard reminded us that technology is no substitute for human creativity, empathy, and insight.

One standout insight was his emphasis on the importance of a “glocal” leadership mindset: In a global organisation, empowering local leaders isn’t just helpful—it’s essential for success.

We thank Leonard for his thoughtful and generous sharing, and extend our appreciation to the HCLI community for contributing to such a dynamic and thought-provoking conversation.