Why I Chose Leadership and Team Building
- Stuart Chng
- Dec 19, 2025
- 7 min read
Over the past few months, as I’ve been writing more regularly, I’ve discovered something unexpected: how much joy comes from reconnecting with people. Old friends have reached out, new acquaintances have dropped by with kind words, and many have shared how my reflections on life and property resonated with them.
If you’re reading this and you’re one of them—you know who you are—thank you. I truly appreciate the encouragement and the time you’ve taken to read my blog.
I’ve also been fortunate to receive support from several generous investment bloggers who shared my writing with their audiences. A heartfelt thank you to Derek of TheFinance.sg, Andrew of Propwise.sg, Gerald of SGWealthBuilder.com, Kyle and Ryan of 99.co, and Royston Tan of SGInvestbloggers.com and NewAcademyOfFinance.com. Your support means more than you know.
To me, this blog is a personal project—something I’m slowly shaping into a body of work I can be proud of years from now. It’s my version of creating art, since drawing or painting was never my strong suit. Because of that, I’ve spent countless late nights editing, refining, and selecting images, always trying to make it just a little better than before.
After years of resisting the idea (it felt oddly narcissistic at the time), I finally bought my domain in March 2019. Since then, traffic has grown steadily—from zero to about 4,000 visitors a month and counting. Maybe one day, this site will even pay for itself through ads, while I’m replying to reader comments from somewhere overseas. A nice thought—and not an impossible one.
So, what do I actually do these days?
One question I’m often asked is whether I’m still actively brokering property deals or if I’ve moved entirely into training and management.
The answer is: both.
These days, a larger portion of my time goes into mentoring, management, and leadership. While I still enjoy handling deals occasionally, I find far greater fulfillment in helping the people around me grow and perform better—or as I like to joke, applying “good pressure.”
I’m incredibly grateful to have a capable and reliable team who supports me in executing deals when I consult for clients. Without them, juggling everything simply wouldn’t be possible.
And just to be clear—yes, I’m still very much able to assist with your housing and investment needs.
This week, however, I wanted to shift gears. Instead of writing about investments, I thought I’d reflect a little on life—specifically, career fulfillment and purpose. (This one’s partly inspired by your message, Reuben.)
I’ll be sharing why, back in 2010, I chose to focus on leadership and team building rather than taking what would likely have been a faster and more lucrative route by concentrating purely on sales.
I am, by my definition, not a natural leader but a learned one.
Looking back now, it’s hard to believe that decision was made over ten years ago.
How It All Began
In 2006, at age 23, I attended a real estate recruitment seminar with my BMT friend, Daovong. I entered the industry largely due to family debts I needed to settle—a story for another day.
Sales was never something I imagined myself doing. I was painfully shy growing up. Even through secondary school, I struggled to speak confidently. I avoided eye contact, froze during conversations, and stammered—especially around girls I liked.
Anyone who knew me back then can vouch for that.
To put things in perspective, during my polytechnic days, I once worked at an IT show selling HP computers. Over three full days, I sold exactly one computer—to my dad (thank you dad!). Meanwhile, my close friend Jason Ang (now one of the top agents in our industry) sold seven or eight in the same period.
That’s how poor I was at sales.
After the seminar, I joined the agency and was assigned a manager, Derek Tan—a genuinely good person with a kind heart. The first six months were tough. I struggled with communication, negotiation, and understanding people.
But instead of giving up, I immersed myself in self-development.
I read sales and real estate books repeatedly, listened to Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Napoleon Hill, and Tony Robbins on loop during long bus and train rides to viewings, and filled notebooks with handwritten notes.
Those transit hours became my classroom.
Six months later, things finally clicked. I found a system that worked, and from then until 2010, I became a consistent top producer in my agency.
The income was good, and by 2009, I began investing in and flipping properties.
Around that time, a few close friends—and my sister—noticed my progress and joined me in the industry. I shared whatever I knew, and they did remarkably well. Daovong (who joined three years after me) made over $700,000 in his first year. My sister Melissa earned around $300,000, while others achieved between $100,000 and $200,000 in their first year.
By 2010, I was averaging over $30,000 a month. For a 27-year-old then, that was considered very good money. Yet strangely, I started losing interest in the chase.
When Money Wasn’t Enough
Month after month felt the same: reset to zero, hustle hard, collect commissions, celebrate briefly, then repeat. I realised there was no larger impact—nothing that felt deeply meaningful to me.
Later in 2009, I took a two-month backpacking trip through Vietnam, Phuket, and parts of Australia. That journey gave me the space to reflect on what I truly wanted from the next chapter of my life.
When I returned in 2010, I made a conscious decision: I wanted to focus on mentoring rather than sales. I began holding weekly Monday group sessions to train my team using the methods that had worked for me.
To do that well, I expanded my learning far beyond real estate—into finance, investments, psychology, marketing, leadership, design, SEO, and web building. I was worried that my own limitations might hold others back.
Thankfully, the team grew quickly. By the end of that year, I was mentoring around 70 agents—many of whom eventually outperformed me and are still with me today.
Why Leadership Fulfilled Me More Than Sales
Sales is straightforward: match buyers and sellers, solve a problem, earn a living. Occasionally, you build friendships—but most interactions remain surface-level.
Mentoring, on the other hand, took me deeper.
Through coaching, I began listening to people’s fears, insecurities, and internal struggles—many of which existed despite outward success. I found meaning in helping them challenge limiting beliefs, adjust mindsets, and recognise their own worth.
Those conversations were richer and far more fulfilling than sales discussions that earned more money but left me feeling empty.
I still value money—it’s essential. As Rabbi Daniel Lapin once said, money is a certificate of service rendered.
But I realised I preferred serving people in a way that felt more meaningful to me: helping them grow as individuals.
Is Leadership the Easier Path?
Not at all.
Coaching people comes with frustration, heartache, and patience-testing moments.
Change is difficult, especially when deeply held beliefs have been formed over decades.
Progress can take hours—or years.
Leadership, I’ve learned, is a marathon.
But it’s also been one of the most rewarding journeys of my life.
At its core, leadership means committing to help others shine brighter than they ever thought possible. For me, that’s been both the greatest challenge and the greatest privilege of this path.
Before choosing leadership or team building, it’s worth asking yourself: Where do you find the deepest satisfaction?
If it’s in developing people and making a lasting impact, then leadership might just be your calling too.
To summarise and keep this article within reasonable length, these are my parting thoughts:
The mantle of leadership in any organization lies in one being willing to embark on a marathon to help those around him become better than they are and to shine brighter than they ever could have imagined on their own.
And that has been one of the greatest hurdles and achievements for me thus far in my team building journey, not just in mentoring people in the ropes to earn their keep but to empower them to become the best possible version of themselves through this career and hopefully also in other areas of their lives.
Before you decide whether to take on a similar role, perhaps it will be wise to take time out to reflect on where you derive the greatest satisfaction from.
If it’s with making a deeper impact and developing people, then leadership and team building could well be your calling too.
Stuart Chng, Executive Group District Director at Huttons, is a renowned leader and personality in the real estate industry.
He adores music and can play a few instruments decently without upsetting his neighbours. When not doing so, he enjoys pillow fighting with his son and coming up with silly puns which barely amuses his wife.
Professionally, he is a licensed real estate agent, investor, team leader, speaker and columnist for several property newsletters and blogs and is often quoted in media interviews on 938FM, Channel 8, PropertyReport, PropertyGuru and other publications. Throughout his career, he has helped many clients grow their wealth through selecting great property investments and managing their portfolios actively. Read his clients' reviews here.
Stuart has also coached many top million dollar producing agents from top real estate agencies in Singapore. Read his agents' reviews here.
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