Maria C. Riolo

I am currently based in Germany, where I recently took the plunge from a longstanding corporate career to start my own business.

I am the founder and owner of niu:viu international consulting, a boutique consultancy firm, providing advisory services to leaders and decision makers on business transformation, leadership, and culture. I offer coaching and consulting to individuals and teams who see themselves at transformational crossroads; my clients are business and HR leaders mainly in Europe and the Asia Pacific region, who aim to enhance their leadership effectiveness, for example in managing their career transitions, leading teams and organisations, collaborating across cultures, and driving business transformation.

Prior to founding my company, I held various international leadership roles in Human Resources and talent management in the automotive, mobility and financial services sector. I partnered with executive boards, country directors and functional heads, to develop and implement business-focused strategies on talent development, culture, learning and organizational transformation. During this time, I was based in Singapore for more than six years.

On the private side, I love travelling, exploring new places and meeting people with different cultural backgrounds. These experiences both broaden my view and provide me with new learnings, and they are great opportunities of self-reflection on my own values and cultural drivers. I am a lifelong learner, curious to new experiences. A few years ago, I obtained a Hatha Yoga teacher certification. While I don’t give classes now, at times I integrate selected exercises into my coaching sessions. I believe that Yoga is a great way to pause and reflect, to practice mindfulness and build up resilience.

My connection with the NUS Business School dates back to 2011. In mid-2011, I took a career break to join my husband who had been transferred to India for an international assignment. I moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where I lived for one and a half years. During this time, I started the NUS EMBA, by studying in India and traveling to Singapore and the region. Within less than a year, I was offered a regional leadership role based in Singapore. So, I moved to Singapore in October 2012, where I spent more than six years, heading the Human Resources function of various businesses within the Africa & Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.

Earlier this year, I completed my coaching certificate with INSEAD. My European background, the various roles I held, and my professional and personal experience in the Asia Pacific region, shaped my approach to human relations, culture and leadership. My focus is to connect, integrate, and collaborate.

What attracted me the most of this programme was its strong focus on the Asia Pacific region, the holistic approach to doing business in a diverse cultural context, and a great blend of management theory in a university environment with practical experience and insights on the ground, in various countries and local organisations. The NUS EMBA also provided a great platform to build connections with peers and to maintain friendships that last to this day.

The NUS EMBA in conjunction with my professional experience and the roles that I held exposed me to multiple facets of intercultural collaboration, such as how to build trust remotely, how to understand the origin and reasons for different perspectives in negotiations, how to work towards building a common ground as a prerequisite for team performance. I consider all of this very valuable now that I am taking the entrepreneurial path.