Shiseido Singapore’s Christine Goh believes putting people first is just good business

The fourth edition of the Her World Mentorship Programme champions women who are just stepping into leadership. This year, 13 hand-picked mentees will spend six months journeying with accomplished women leaders.

Christine Goh never expected to build a career in beauty. At 19, with no university degree and a mother who worked double shifts as a hawker, her priority was simply to be self-reliant. “At that age, I thought I could be a radio DJ because I was listening to a lot of radio stations,” she says with a laugh. “But after junior college, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had to be independent and grab anything that could offer me a full-time job in order to lighten my mother’s financial load.”

Christine tried her hand at many roles — sales administration, clerical roles, a secretary post at a software development company — until an opportunity landed her in a marketing executive role at a local beauty distributor. More than three decades later, she is the commercial senior general manager at Shiseido Singapore, overseeing a portfolio that spans prestige skincare to mass-market sun care, and a team of nearly a hundred people across commercial and frontline operations.

Having spent most of those years at the top of the industry shaping strategy and chasing market share, she describes herself as a leader who measures her greatest successes not in rankings, but in the careers she has helped build.

“In the past, I used to think one just needs to focus on the business to deliver results, but over the years, I’ve started to realise that if you prioritise people first, the business will come,” Christine explains. “I feel a lot more fulfilment in people development, because the results are lifelong.”

Why do you think mentorship is important especially for women, especially for women who are new to leadership roles? 

Mentorship is extremely important for someone new to a leadership role, as it can provide guidance when you are unsure of the situation you are in. It also gives you different perspectives that will help you in making decisions.

How do you handle moments when you feel uncertain or out of your depth as a leader?

That happens quite a bit and I think in such times, I choose to take a step back and do a lot of self-reflection. If I’m really in a situation where I am unable to get out of a “down mood”, I will speak to my own mentor. This encourages and validates me, giving me the courage to move on. 

What do you think are the hallmarks of a good manager?

To me, leadership is fundamentally about ownership. On a daily basis, it’s not just about asking people to do things or focusing on the task — it’s about owning the process of getting there. And on top of ownership comes accountability. As a leader, you don’t only account for success; you have to step up and own the failures too. I think that is the difference between a good manager and one who is not.

Empathy is equally important, especially now, when we are managing so many different generations at work. As a Gen X, I’ve lived through enormous change — from typewriters to computers to everything we have today. Because of that, it’s easy to forget that younger generations see things very differently. We cannot be judgmental. We need that empathy to listen and understand their perspective, even when it’s difficult.

Her World Mentorship Programme 2026 is made possible with the support of official beauty partner Cle de Peau Beaute and official network partner Singtel.

ART DIRECTION Adeline Eng
STYLING Donson Chan
HAIR Benedict Choo
MAKEUP Lasalle Lee