INTERVIEW
The world’s largest bicycle manufacturer has, unlike any other major bike business, seen women holding Chairperson and CEO positions. This doesn’t happen by accident. Can you share some insights into the organisational culture of the business? At Giant Group, women reaching the highest leadership roles has never been the result of a single policy or initiative. It comes from a culture that has been shaped over many years— one that values long-term thinking, open dialogue, and respect for different perspectives. We believe diversity strengthens decision-making. When people with different life experiences are encouraged to speak openly and are genuinely listened to, the organisation becomes more thoughtful and resilient. That applies equally to product development, strategy discussions, and leadership decisions. Today, women represent a significant and growing part of our workforce, including in technical and revenue-driven roles. More importantly, they are present where decisions are made. This helps us avoid narrow thinking and ensures our products and strategies reflect the real diversity of people who ride our bikes around the world. For me, this is not about gender as the headline suggests. It is about creating an environment where capability, responsibility, and trust matter more than hierarchy—and where leadership is something people grow into naturally over time.
When the people designing, engineering, and leading our business come from different backgrounds, they see things others might miss. In 2024, women made up 37% of our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) workforce—a five-per-cent increase from the previous year—and that directly shapes how we innovate. For example, when female engineers work on user interfaces or riding experiences, they bring insights that help us design products that feel more intuitive for a wider range of riders.
YouBike Public Bike System
We’re also seeing this diversity at leadership levels. Today, 31% of our leaders in revenue-driven divisions are women, which means more voices at the table and decisions that better reflect the needs of all our customers around the world. This culture—valuing different voices, encouraging open dialogue, and empowering people to lead—has shaped the organisation for many years. It’s something I personally believe in, and it’s a key part of how we build a stronger, more thoughtful business for the future.
Can you share some insight into the process of growing leaders, mentoring talent, and the importance of this to the future of the business? At Giant Group, developing leaders is inseparable from how we think about the future of the business. We don’t see leadership as something that begins at the executive level; it is cultivated much earlier, through experience, responsibility, and guidance. Rather than relying solely on formal training programmes, we focus on giving people real opportunities— cross-functional exposure, international experience, and the space to make decisions and learn from them. Many of our senior leaders today began in frontline or operational roles and grew as the company grew. Giant also developed a unique development mechanism:
The “Two Hats Theory”. Key talents are typically responsible for more than two functions or projects to cultivate their broader knowledge in a short period. During this time, senior management provides ongoing consultation and resources to prevent mistakes while also nurturing their innovative and breakthrough ambitions. In my 20 years with Giant Group, I have consistently been assigned to three different roles simultaneously, coupled with regular job rotation, which has improved my learning efficiency and facilitated the acquisition and utilisation of lateral resources. This is an excellent mechanism.
Mentoring plays a quiet but important role in this process
as well. Senior leaders are expected to invest time in developing others, not as a separate task, but as part of their responsibility to the organisation. This helps transfer not just skills, but values—how we think, how we work together, and how we respond to challenges. In the long term, this creates continuity. When leaders are developed from within, they don’t just understand the business—they carry its culture forward. That continuity is essential in an industry that is changing as quickly as ours. Let us put it this way: developing leaders has always been central to how we think about the future of Giant Group. We know that people grow when they feel supported, challenged, and being seen—and when that happens, the organisation grows with them. Furthermore, developing leaders isn’t about ticking boxes in a training program. It’s about creating an environment where people can stretch themselves, discover their strengths, and
8 | March 2026
www.bikebiz.com
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