When Lim Ah Cheng, also known as AC Lim, became offshore oil and gas contractor Dyna-Mac’s chief executive officer in 2020, the firm was in crisis. Its founding chief executive officer had suddenly died of a heart attack, and its poor cash flow was threatening to lead to bankruptcy. “I chose to work very hard and lead by example. If you push hard to try and turn things around, the staff has to follow,” says Lim, who is also Dyna-Mac’s executive chairman. To save the business, he took a different approach to customers and contracts. At the time, partly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm was relying on work from one customer to survive. “Of course, this company took advantage and drove our fee very low, and constantly told us they had other options, meaning our competitors in China.” With Dyna-Mac losing money on the contract, Lim took the...