In the universe of business and leadership, few narratives combine flexibility, curiosity and reinvention as beautifully as Anthony Tse’s. From surviving close calls with near-death experiences in his early life to making career shifts that run against the trend, Anthony Tse has created an inspiring and distinctly human journey.
Today, as Founder of the Institute for Greatness, an executive coach, speaker, board director and investor, he shows that the ordinary person can achieve extraordinary things when they choose courage over fear and learning over playing it safe. His story is a great example of how success is not so much a straight line but really about having the bravery to take a non-traditional route and the wisdom to learn from everything you and others do. He exemplifies that success is a choice that anybody can make.
Building the Institute for Greatness
After exiting his second business, Anthony Tse launched the Institute for Greatness, a coaching company designed to guide professionals through transformative growth. The institute focuses on three core groups:
- Senior Executives: Leaders with 20+ years of experience, from organizations such as Cathay Pacific, Boston Consulting Group, and leading asset management firms.
- Entrepreneurs: First-time founders learning how to navigate the complex transition from employee to C-suite.
- Career Changers: Mid-career professionals who feel unfulfilled and are seeking career breakthroughs or a new path aligned with their values.
Through these focus areas, Anthony Tse’s mission is clear, i.e., to help individuals break through barriers, redefine success, and embrace purposeful change. His coaching is not prescriptive but experiential. He draws heavily from his own path, his startups, leadership roles, global view, and cultural adaptability, so clients see that transformation is possible no matter where they start. More importantly, they stem from his setbacks, mistakes, and falling forward repeatedly.
Anthony Tse often stresses that coaching is about discovering tools, not answers. For executives, he challenges them to redefine leadership beyond KPIs. For entrepreneurs, he provides guidance on resilience and adaptability, sharing his own lessons from startup life. For career changers, he shines a light on courage, showing them how to realign with life values and purposes they may have overlooked for years. This human-centric, realistic style makes the Institute for Greatness not just a company, but a platform for people ready to rewrite their professional and personal narratives that they can genuinely be proud of.
A Life of Reinvention Across Continents and Industries
Anthony Tse’s career has been anything but linear. The driving force behind his journey? An insatiable curiosity and love for learning. As a first-generation university graduate and immigrant from Hong Kong to the United States, he knew early on that he wanted an international career. This desire to experience cultures, meet diverse people, and adapt to new environments shaped his professional path.
Reinvention, he explains, is at the heart of his story. Each pivot, whether across industries or roles, was born from a belief that the deepest lessons emerge when we challenge ourselves to do what seems unachievable. “If someone else can do it, why can’t I?” became a guiding question in his life. It was never about staying comfortable; it was about writing a story worth sharing.
This reinvention saw him span multiple continents and sectors, including hedge funds, education, corporate governance and now coaching and investing. While to outsiders these pivots appear like sharp turns, Anthony Tse sees them as part of a continuous, interconnected narrative. Each chapter builds on the last, increasing his skill set and sharpening his worldview. For him, the act of reinventing is not about abandoning the past but carrying its lessons into the future, applying what was learned in a different way.
Core Principles of Coaching and Mentorship
As a coach and mentor, his work is guided by three foundational principles:
- Honesty: Acknowledging what he does not know and refusing to pretend otherwise.
- Reputation: Protecting his image and integrity, knowing that reputation takes years to build but can be lost overnight.
- Value Creation: Recognizing that his role is to deliver value, whether through knowledge, insights, or tangible outcomes.
Anthony Tse believes coaching is not about projecting perfection but about modelling authenticity. Leaders who admit what they don’t know but want to learn earn trust and respect. Those who focus on reputation act with consistency and integrity. And those who center their work on creating value make lasting impacts. His philosophy has resonated with high-achieving professionals who are often flooded with pressure yet crave a mentor who prioritizes substance over surface.
Staying True to Purpose While Delivering Impact
Anthony Tse maintains alignment between his values and diverse career pursuits by always beginning with purpose. Before committing to any venture, he asks himself why he should dedicate his limited time and energy to it. If the purpose is unclear or unconvincing, he simply walks away.
Learning and growth are also non-negotiable. Anthony Tse views every client relationship as a two-way exchange: while he brings perspectives and expertise, he also learns from his clients. This reciprocity not only deepens his impact but also keeps him aligned with his own values of curiosity and growth. He acknowledges that some of his clients may be more experienced than him in certain areas, but that humility allows him to absorb wisdom while offering new perspectives of his own.
This mutual growth is what keeps Anthony Tse deeply engaged in his work. It ensures he avoids stagnation and instead evolves alongside the leaders and entrepreneurs he serves.
Leadership in Today’s Era
When asked what leadership qualities matter most today, Anthony Tse highlights three:
- Being Human: Leaders must connect with their teams as people, not just as resources. This is particularly important in an age dominated by technology
- Being a Deep Listener and Facilitator: True leaders do not dominate conversations; they create space for others to contribute.
- Balancing Courage and Empathy – In a world marked by uncertainty, leaders must confront challenges with confidence while recognizing and validating the anxieties of their teams.
Anthony Tse observes that many executives mistakenly equate leadership with talking the most. In reality, the most impactful leaders are often those who speak less but listen deeply. By asking powerful questions and allowing their teams to generate ideas, they foster ownership and innovation. His coaching often involves helping senior executives transition from being directive managers to empathetic facilitators.
In an age of AI, geopolitical instability, and shifting markets, Anthony Tse stresses that leaders cannot and should not pretend to have all the answers. What matters is being transparent about uncertainty, courageous in facing it, and compassionate toward the people navigating it with you.
Navigating Shifts – From Corporate to Entrepreneurship and Investing
Anthony Tse’s portfolio career spans corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, and private investing. What enabled him to guide these shifts was his philosophy of storytelling. He views life as a narrative and believes a story without twists is not worth reading. Each career shift adds depth, making his journey dynamic and meaningful.
His resilience is rooted in gratitude. Being the first generation to be born outside of a farm, having survived two near-death experiences as a child, a heart defect requiring surgery at age six and a car accident that could have ended his life, Anthony Tse sees every opportunity as a gift. These events gave him the courage to embrace calculated risk, reminding him that fear pales in comparison to the fragility of life. When he faces setbacks, he reframes them as chapters that make his story richer.
Defining Turning Points – The Layoff That Changed Everything
One of the key points in Anthony Tse’s career occurred in March 2009, when the hedge fund he worked for shut down. Laid off in the midst of a financial crisis, he realized that the traditional formula of academic success and corporate achievement did not guarantee stability. Instead, he learned that the most important investment he could make was in himself, intellectually, physically, and emotionally.
This turning point shaped his philosophy: focus on what you can control, and never stop investing in personal growth. He advises others not to waste energy on external forces they cannot change but to double down on developing skills, perspectives, and health, all of which remain within one’s grasp.
From Fear to Public Speaking
Anthony Tse’s life story is a testament to overcoming barriers. After being laid off at 30, he started a hedge fund, his first business, during the financial crisis despite widespread skepticism. What kept him going was the belief that regret would weigh heavier than failure, especially for somebody who has been granted another chance to live.
Another barrier was public speaking. Growing up, Anthony Tse did not know English until age nine. Speaking on stage in a foreign language was terrifying, yet he eventually became a public speaker. Today, he inspires audiences worldwide, proving that fears can be transformed into strengths when met with persistence. His transformation underscores his belief that barriers are not permanent; they are challenges waiting for creative solutions. We can all grow into that future self we wish to become.
His entrepreneurial journey reflects the same principle. His first business, a hedge fund, taught him lessons through struggle. His second, an education company in a completely different field, drew from those lessons and led to a successful exit. For Anthony Tse, failures are not endpoints but stepping-stones to future success.
Work-Life Balance Through a Synergistic Portfolio
Unlike many, Anthony Tse does not see his portfolio career as scattered. Instead, he views it as synergistic. Each role, whether as coach, speaker, board director, or investor, feeds into others. Insights gained in one area enhance his contributions in another.
His disciplined, organized nature ensures efficiency. He avoids procrastination and prioritizes work that aligns with his values and purpose. For Anthony Tse, work-life balance is not about separation but about integration, building a life where professional and personal fulfilment coexist.
Anthony Tse also stresses the privilege of choice. He purposefully designed his portfolio career to maximize freedom, growth and purpose, assuring he dedicates his energy to work he loves and minimizes tasks that drain him. This intentional structuring allows him to sustain high performance without burning out.
Recognition and Achievements
Anthony Tse’s achievements are less about accolades and more about impact. However, several stand out:
- TEDx Speaker (upcoming): Anthony Tse has been accepted to deliver a TEDx talk, a milestone that reflects his journey of embracing challenges.
- Client Testimonials: Many clients describe him as someone who has “been there, done that,” a validation of his authenticity and breadth of experience.
- Resilience as an Achievement: Beyond formal recognition, Anthony Tse considers his ability to bounce back from setbacks one of his proudest achievements.
For him, achievement is not always external validation but internal progress, the ability to keep going when circumstances say otherwise.
Looking Ahead
The next phase of Anthony Tse’s journey is about scaling his impact and making his philosophy more accessible. He plans to transform the Institute for Greatness into a full-fledged academy with multiple pillars designed to equip professionals with tools, resources, and pathways for growth. At the same time, he is strengthening his public presence through a growing YouTube channel that features monthly episodes on career development, entrepreneurship, failure, and resilience, as well as by stepping onto the TEDx stage, an opportunity he sees as a platform to inspire wider global audiences.
Writing also continues to be central to his work. After releasing his memoir, Breaking the Glass Ceiling: An Insider Memoir, Anthony Tse is developing a second book on entrepreneurship, aimed at providing practical yet inspiring guidance for those building businesses in uncertain times. Whether through an academy, digital storytelling, public speaking, or authorship, his mission remains the same: to prove that extraordinary lives are within reach for ordinary people who choose courage, purpose, and unconventional paths.
Ordinary to Extraordinary
Anthony Tse’s journey is not about becoming the next big pioneer of the public speaking industry. Instead, it is about proving that fulfilment lies in living authentically and courageously. By sharing his story through coaching, speaking, and writing, he reminds us that greatness is not reserved for a chosen few. It is available to anyone willing to welcome reinvention, face fears, and stay true to their purpose.
His legacy is one of empowerment. By showing that fear can be transformed, setbacks can be leveraged, and purpose can guide every decision, Anthony Tse underscores that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary feats. In his words and actions, we find a powerful truth: the path to greatness is not about following a script; it is about writing your own story.