Cambodia Investment Review
Asian Petrel Advisory’s recurring “Design Your Life” programme is bringing together professionals across Cambodia to explore a question that can receive limited attention amid the demands of business leadership: how can professional success support a meaningful and fulfilling life?
According to the advisory firm, more than 200 professionals from government institutions, leading enterprises and the wider business community have experienced the programme. Combining structured reflection, practical planning exercises and professional exchange, the series encourages participants to examine how their careers connect with their values, relationships and longer-term ambitions.
Its participants represent nearly a dozen countries, including South Africa, Bulgaria, the Philippines, India, China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea and the United States. They span multiple corporations and local business chambers across Cambodia, bringing different professional and cultural perspectives into discussions about work, leadership and personal direction.
A gathering at Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra on October 25, 2026, was one instalment in this wider series. Approximately 20 leading businesspeople from different industries and nationalities joined the workshop, taking time away from their daily responsibilities to consider the choices shaping their professional and personal futures.
Connecting Leadership With Personal Direction
Inspired by Stanford’s Life Design framework, the programme applies a structured approach to questions that often remain open-ended: what makes work worthwhile, how should success be defined, and which priorities should guide the next stage of life?
For business owners and senior executives, those questions sit alongside substantial responsibilities to employees, customers and partners. Professional decisions also influence how much time and energy remain available for family, relationships, health and interests beyond work.
“Design Your Life” creates space to examine those connections. Its emphasis is on helping participants understand their priorities and use that understanding to make more deliberate choices.
Lilian Li, founder and CEO of Asian Petrel Advisory, described that purpose in the programme’s welcome materials.
“In today’s fast-changing world, it is essential not only to work hard but also to live intentionally,” Li said.
“You will learn how to define your goals, align your values with your actions, and create a vision that guides your decisions.”
In her reflections on the October 25 gathering, Li emphasised the opportunity for CEOs and executives from diverse industries and backgrounds to step back from busy professional lives, consider what truly matters and explore new possibilities.
“Because success is not only about how far we go in our careers, but also about how intentionally we design our lives,” she said.
That idea provides a common thread across the recurring programme. Career advancement remains part of the discussion, alongside the broader question of whether professional achievement is contributing to the life a participant wants to build.
Turning Reflection Into Practical Choices
The programme pairs these broader questions with exercises designed to give participants a practical starting point.
Preparatory reflections include a “Work View” and a “Life View”. The Work View considers the purpose of work, its contribution to society and the relationship between income, growth and fulfilment. The Life View examines wider priorities, including family, community, relationships and meaningful achievement.
Considering the two together gives participants a basis for assessing how closely their working lives reflect their personal beliefs. It can also help identify competing commitments that deserve closer attention when evaluating a new role, business opportunity or change in direction.
The October 25 morning programme introduced five life-design mindsets and a “Building Your Compass” exercise, followed by an Energy Engagement Map and an Odyssey Planning Worksheet.
These activities provided a structure for examining current commitments, reflecting on engagement and considering alternative possibilities for the future. The planning process encouraged participants to give several potential paths serious attention before deciding which choices to pursue.
For an executive, those possibilities might involve developing an existing career, adjusting leadership responsibilities, exploring a new venture or creating more time for priorities outside work. The exercises offer a way to examine such options alongside the values and ambitions identified through reflection.
Asian Petrel Advisory said participants across the series have praised its engaging, practical and energising approach. Its broader leadership-training work has also included engagements with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and business-chamber roundtable activities.
That range of settings illustrates the programme’s reach across public institutions and the private sector, while the recurring format allows its central themes to be explored with different professional audiences.
A Shared Space for Executive Exchange
Professional exchange is another important element of the series. Bringing together people from different industries and countries creates opportunities to hear how others approach responsibility, uncertainty and personal ambition.
At the October 25 workshop, the relatively small gathering gave CEOs and executives a setting to connect through shared activities and discussion. The programme provided a starting point for conversations that extended beyond job titles and company introductions to the experiences behind them.
Speaking to Cambodia Investment Review after the event, Mr Paul Lu, a senior executive from the telecommunications sector, highlighted the opportunity to pause and reflect.
“It’s an amazing experience for us to think about ourselves out of a so busy daily life,” he said.
Mr Paul said meeting peers from different industries helped him consider life’s possibilities from different perspectives. He also valued the practical tools introduced during the workshop and said the experience strengthened his confidence in the future.
Harrison White, CEO of CIR Media, who was invited to participate in the October session, highlighted the combination of executive networking and focused discussion.
“What made this event particularly worthwhile was the combination of thoughtful discussion and meaningful networking. Being in a room with CEOs and senior executives from different industries and nationalities created an opportunity to hear perspectives you might not encounter in your usual business circle,” White said.
“The workshop gave those conversations a clear purpose. We were able to step beyond our company roles, exchange experiences and think more carefully about what we want our work and lives to look like. That is a valuable setting for building stronger professional relationships.”
Across the wider series, the diversity of participants gives those exchanges an international dimension. Professionals working in the same business environment can bring very different experiences of career development, leadership and personal achievement.
Li thanked participants in the October gathering for their engagement, openness and contributions, reflecting the programme’s emphasis on learning through both individual reflection and shared perspectives.
As Asian Petrel Advisory continues its “Design Your Life” series, its proposition for business leaders is to make personal direction an active part of professional development—with practical tools, time for reflection and opportunities to connect with peers.
Business owners, CEOs and professionals interested in future “Design Your Life” workshops and executive networking opportunities can contact the company on +855 77 893 344 for further information.
