Lessons Learnt from my Leadership Journey with Ritchie Bros.

When Ivan Wang, General Manager for China and Japan, was a teenager, the Ritchie Bros. head office in Vancouver was on his paper route. Little did he know that one day, it would end up being the place he would establish a rewarding career that has taken him all over the world.

Here’s his story. ?

Hi Ivan, please can you describe for us your interesting career path to date

I’ve had many jobs throughout my career, ranging from the banking industry to even just unwinding for a few years as a chef. ?My last company before Ritchie Bros. was IBM, where I worked in IT.

I came to Ritchie Bros in 2006. I first joined the IT support centre and I stayed with the IT department until 2011. I then moved into a role preparing us to set up a business arm in China and manage auctions in developing markets.

As you can imagine, there were a lot of hurdles with getting auctions up in China. I set up our internal systems so you could enter Chinese characters in the database. I finally made the move to China in 2012 and I was promoted to Regional Operations Manager a few years later. Then, when the Regional Sales Manager position became available, I stepped into it as an interim appointment, balancing both my Regional Operations Manager and Regional Sales Manager responsibilities.

In 2019, an opportunity to enter Japan opened up and I moved to Tokyo.?That role has since further expanded to become my current role of General Manager for China and Japan.

What drew you to Ritchie Bros. in the first place? And what has encouraged you to stay for so long?

One of the things that drew me to Ritchie Bros. was that the company really values growing its people. There’s always support for you no matter what you would like to do.

As my role at Ritchie Bros. grew in the IT department, I had a lot of opportunity to travel to our yards around the world. In my 15 years with the company, I’ve been to four continents, more than 10 countries, countless cities… places I never would have expected, and places that I never expected to return to.

It’s been an amazing journey meeting different people in different parts of the world. Even if you don’t know anyone in a particular office, you’re always welcome. Once you’re with Ritchie Bros., you’re a part of the family.

We provide a lot of support for our employees in terms of upskilling and career growth. How have you personally benefited from this with regards to your own development?

I have done a lot of coursework through Ritchie Bros., but the main thing that has helped me has been the support network and mentorship.

If you show the initiative, people are there to help you. I try to do that for others now. If someone comes to me asking how to move from one role to another, I do everything I can to help. That’s what I had and that’s why I’m here and it’s super important to me that I give that back.

What would you say is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far?

The hardest thing for me has been adapting to new cultures. ?I work with people in two different countries now and, even though they’re both in Asia, their work and personal cultures are very different. So being able to adapt and land on your feet in a new work environment is so important. It’s quite challenging.

Lastly, what do you enjoy most about your current role, and where do you hope to be in five years?

I love developing new markets. China and Japan are the world’s second and third largest economies so there’s a lot of business to be done here. But it’s not easy. There’s a lot of work to do. A lot of Chinese customers, for example, didn’t understand why they would auction equipment. They considered auctions as something you only do for art and wine. Now, seeing them do auctions on a national scale – to see it grow and know you had a hand in it - is very rewarding.

In five years, I’d still like to be in Asia. It’s a huge market for Ritchie Bros. There are still a lot of countries where we would like to have a presence in and, given my experience over the last ten years, I’d like to keep helping the business grow in this part of the world.

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