Albert Lei Shen | Reaching Your Peak With William Louey

William Louey speaks with Albert Lei Shen, a scholar and banker whose journey from Beijing to Oxford at just sixteen exemplifies the value of discipline, adaptability, and lifelong learning. Together, they reflect on what it means to “Reach Your Peak” in an age shaped by technology and change.

Albert shares how early academic acceleration shaped his path, the importance of mastering fundamentals like maths and languages, and why adaptability and social skills matter more than ever in the era of AI. The conversation moves beyond professional success to explore resilience, mentorship, and the role of humility in leadership. As William notes, the heart remains humanity’s greatest strength — something no machine can replicate.

William Louey: Welcome to Reaching Your Peak. I'm William Louey and in this series I'm going to interview all sorts of people from all walks of life who have worked hard to reach their peak. I live on The Peak. And here's Albert who has reached the peak. Albert, what is your advice for someone trying to get ahead in life?

Albert Lei Shen: I think even though I've been working for 20 plus years, I probably only qualify to give advice to younger people who are either in school or just finishing university. I think for the younger kids, I would advise them to study hard. Even though the world is changing fast, I think the basics such as mathematics, science and basic languages are still the same. It's the same requirement versus 20, 30 years ago. You need to be good at those. Whereas for the university students, I will advise them to be more adaptive. AI is changing the world. Many jobs will be changing and the pace of change is picking up. So you need to learn the new technology, you have to learn new skills to match the requirement in work. You need to be more prepared for everything.

William Louey: You mentioned AI in order to stand out. I think it's like we are talking face to face, right? A lot of the youngsters nowadays, they look at their machines a lot and they don't really communicate with real people. I think the skill for the future is to have proper communication. If you have, if you can master this skill, you know, such as personality, how you can attract attention. I think it's, it's a very, I think that is something that AI cannot do. At my scholarship, every year I make the same speech. And I'm so happy that none of the students are listening to me, are not looking at their phones and not concentrating. Because I think it's so important now that because all these children are doing, you know, everything is replaced by AI talking to AI, everything. But it's never the same talking to real people. Do you agree with that?

Albert Lei Shen: Yes, I agree. I have teenage boys and for I think educators around the world is a big problem. They live in a different world. We didn't touch a phone, a mobile phone, until university time and that wasn't a smartphone. Nowadays all the kids, probably from the age of 10 will have a smartphone each. So you cannot get rid of that. That's the new world they live in. But I think most people agree spending too much time on there will reduce your ability to communicate with other people, learn things and the way algorithms is designed this way that they will lead you in a certain direction. And if you're a really young teenager, you may not have the ability to judge whether those are the truth or those could be misinformation. So, yeah, I agree with what many schools do is to keep that to a minimum. Yeah, they will have it. But try to keep the in-phase learning, whether it's from a teacher or talking to your fellow students or parents, keep that as much as possible.

William Louey: What are the key milestones in your own journey?

Albert Lei Shen: Yeah, I don't want to pat myself too much on the back, but while I was younger, similar to the age my kids were, I got into a special class in Beijing, number eight middle school.

William Louey: Can you explain a bit about special classes?

Albert Lei Shen: A prodigy class.

William Louey: Prodigy.

Albert Lei Shen: So they pick students from when they are finishing primary four or primary five. So roughly at the age of 10 to 11 and you will skip two years of primary school, go into secondary school and you can press the remaining courses into four years. So you essentially jump somewhere between three to four years in your education. So when I finished in this school at the age of 14, I was ready to go to university.

William Louey: Wow. Is that a good thing though, Albert? I mean, I mean it worked very well for you. I've seen a lot of examples in Hong Kong, and you know, these children, they're special and they're well publicised, but then it turns out that when they enter university too young, they can't really mingle with the people older than them. Is that a good thing? I mean, it turns out well for you.

Albert Lei Shen: I think there are pros and cons in everything. I was one of the earlier batches so back then it was considered as an experiment while the experiment or the program is still ongoing 30 years later and it's getting, still quite popular every year they take 30 kids. Back then they used to take 30 kids every two years. So the program is still very much in demand. But like you said, there will be certain social issues and academic ones. I mean, this kids, if you put them, give them four more years, chances are they will do even better when they go to university entrance exams. Whereas you can press maybe a little too much when you squeeze out four years and they missed out on certain things like sports, music, because the academic demand is so high.

William Louey: Right, right. And you turned out to be very successful and you went to Oxford at the age of 16. Obviously, you know, very impressive. Did you encounter any problems regarding making friends? And you know, I'm sure the professor, the professors like you very much, but how about making friends, you know, when you're like two years or three years younger than most people?

Albert Lei Shen: I would say I'm fairly outgoing, so it wasn't too much of a problem for me. In university. I was able to make friends, we played sports, we went to the same lectures and I see them as my peer, but I can completely see it may not be the case for everyone. And I did study two more years in Millfield before I went to Oxford, so that helped me rather than 14. I entered university at 16, so that helped a little bit. Where some of my old classmates did go to university at 14 and I think that's an even bigger challenge.

William Louey: Yeah, when you were in Millfield, you were doing A levels. When you were 14, did you encounter problems there?

Albert Lei Shen: I think the problem, some of it was social, but more to do with languages. I grew up in Beijing. We have good or good education, including English, but it's not at the same standard as a native speaking environment. So when we got there, getting the catching up with class, listening to the teachers, that took us a while. So I think those were the bigger challenges for me in Millfield days, especially in the first six months to a year. And then afterwards I really enjoyed my time there.

William Louey: I went to Millfield myself and Millfield is really famous for sports, as you know. You know, like every Olympics there are at least eight gold medals from Millfield representing the UK and I had a wonderful time there. I did every single sport, you know, like everything that I cannot, I, I could not do in Hong Kong. I, I did it in Millfield. And so what is your experience? What sports did you do in?

Albert Lei Shen: So I, I love the sports in Millfield. The facility was amazing. The, the athletes were really good. I'm not at that level. In Beijing, I played table tennis and played football, but in the UK I played football on real grounds for the first time. So that was quite an amazing experience.

William Louey: You know, you have this maturity that I, I don't think people noticed that you were 14.

Albert Lei Shen: Right? The teachers did, obviously.

William Louey: Obviously, yeah, yeah. I have a scholarship and when I choose a scholar, you know, I think maturity is very important. I really don't care how old they are. You know, somebody could be 18 and they could act like they are 14. But some people who are 14 and can be acting like older and mature and this is my, one of the criteria of my scholarship. So where did you start and where are you today?

Albert Lei Shen: Well, I mentioned my school earlier. So from that point onwards, I think the next turning point, the big opportunity was a scholarship. You offered me to go to Millfield or to study in the UK for six years. That was the first time I went overseas. Not just UK but anywhere outside of China. So that changed my life completely. I think I still have to work hard for whether school or work afterwards. But that opportunity opened so many doors for me that didn't exist before I went overseas. So that was probably a turning point. And then later on, I think getting your first full time job after leaving university, where I managed to get into a very prestigious bank, that really helped me to settle down.

William Louey: Let's talk a little bit about the beginning when you first arrived in England, because in the early 90s China was a very different place from today. Now I go to China. Wow. Everything is so advanced, you know, and you know, the wifi is so fast and all the buildings you know are so beautiful. So how did you feel when you first stepped your feet into London?

Albert Lei Shen: Was definitely a huge culture shock. The language is different, food is different, people is different. It's a country I've never visited before. But I think you have to adapt quickly, you have to learn the language quickly. And I remember one of the first meals I had in school, it was not you don't get served the food on the table, but you, you have to ask somebody to pass it to you and you ask, you have to ask what it is. And I didn't know any of the names of the food that was available on the table. So I only ate the bread roll in front of me. But I had to learn very quickly. That evening, I went back to my dormitory and my roommate, he told me everything.

William Louey: Do you have a breakthrough moment?

Albert Lei Shen: It's very hard to say other than the experience. I, we talked about getting to the special program in Beijing, getting the scholarship and then university and the first banking job. I think those were all key moments.

William Louey: On a different subject. Now what are the three key qualities in someone if they need to get ahead? 

Albert Lei Shen: I think hard work, which is a trade that both Chinese appreciate, it is key. It's very important. You rarely see somebody who doesn't work hard succeed in life. And I think being smart also helps. And this doesn't necessarily mean high IQ, could be very good IQ or social skills, people skills, those are very important. And I think in the current environment, being able to learn quickly and being adept, adaptive will be key because our working environment is changing. What was a good job 10, 20 years ago may not be the case 10 years later.

William Louey: Yeah.

Albert Lei Shen: And if you have a 30, 40-year career, then you need to adjust

William Louey: Yeah, yeah. What happens if in the middle of your career, technology takes over?

Albert Lei Shen: I think that's actually happening for many people. This is a trend you cannot reverse. It is happening.

William Louey: As you say, being adaptive is very, very. So change.

Albert Lei Shen: You either do something else, enjoy, or learn the technologies. That is, you try to make it help you rather than fight against it. Because if the machine can do what you do, you're not going to win the battle. Right. You must learn how this will make you more productive.

William Louey: I think social skill is one thing that is, you know, one has to develop. It's very important to have real people connection. You know, I always stress on that. You know, the only thing human, you know, AI cannot replace is the heart. I think the most important quality for me it's social skill. When you lead a team, the team has to not as simple as liking you, they have to admire you. They have to know that you have the knowledge and then you're able to teach, you know, like mentor them. I think mentorship is also very, very important.

Albert Lei Shen: Yeah, I agree.

William Louey: What has been your biggest challenge and how does that make you the person you are today?

Albert Lei Shen: That's a tricky one. I think I left the financial industry a couple of years ago. I think I had a reasonably successful career in finance. But it was coming. It's very demanding. It's not necessarily the best work life balance you can get. So a few years ago I decided, especially of two children, younger children, they're getting ready for certain exams that you'll be much better if somebody can help them with. And I always had a passion. You mentioned mentoring earlier. I always had a passion to teach other people. I guess maybe that came from my family background. My parents were teachers, my grandparents were teachers. So from an early age I enjoy teaching. So whether it was in finance, I helped to train a lot of the junior members that came through the door. And later on while I stopped being in finance, I took up a lecturing position. Guest lecturer. And not a full-time professor. One in Peking University, just across the border in Shenzhen. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

William Louey: Yeah, I think teaching is very important. I'm not talking about being a teacher. I think teaching your own children and, you know, to, you know, we have to extend our legacy.

William Loueys: So I think to make a successful life is to have good teamwork, good social skill, and luck plays a very major role. You know, I think the right time, the right place is very, very important. How important is resilience to someone who wants to get ahead?

Albert Lei Shen: I think it's vitally important. I teach my kids the same thing. You're very likely to fail, whether it's in school, whether it's in a job, or whether you're playing sports or music. What you do with failures is the key. You should not be afraid of failure, but you should always learn from it. Try to do better, Try to analyse what you can do better, what is outside of your control. If it's outside of your control, you need to learn, okay, this, this can happen. Then you factor in your next calculation.

William Louey: Very important point. I have failed many times and I've learned from it. You get your experience, it's like AI. It's all the data that fits into your head. And next time we won't do the same thing again.

Albert Lei Shen: Hopefully not.

William Louey: Yeah, exactly, exactly. When I started my scholarship, Albert, I mentioned that, you know, someone who is mature is very important. Someone who has a good social skill is very important. And the most important of all, I like to choose scholars from a very humble background, and they don't come from privilege.

Albert Lei Shen: Well, we all would like there to be more social mobility. That is not necessarily the case whether it's in China or elsewhere in the world. But I think as a young person, preparing yourself for any potential opportunity is key. And for that preparation, I think you need to study hard, work hard as usual, and then when the opportunity arises, you may be able to capture it.

William Louey: In China, you're lucky because you're screened into, you know, everybody has equal opportunities, but in other parts of the world, if you have no money, you can't get to a good school. So it's very hard to break that cycle to get ahead.

Albert Lei Shen: You know, I would agree with part of the statement. I think, yeah, if you come from a more privileged background, life is easier, as everyone expect you to be, but implicit, like China, and to a great extent to the UK maybe to a less extent the US, the schools, if you are academically very strong, you can go up without paying much tuition. If you do well in exams, you go to a better secondary school and a better university and no system is perfect. Yeah, similarly in the UK, now they are trying to make it more equal whether you come from private school, which are the public schools, they call it, or state schools, which are the government schools. I think the ratio is improving for the people who go to a government school and I think that's a good thing. So I think is never going to be completely equal, but certain places you have a decent chance.

William Louey: Albert, what is more important, education or life experience?

Albert Lei Shen: I think that would very much depends on your age or the stage of life you're in. If you're in your early 20s, then obviously you just finished school, six years of primary, six years of secondary and maybe four years of university. So that is the largest part of your life up to that point. So education is vitally important. That's how you differentiate yourself, to show other people that you are more hardworking, you're more talented. And then from then onwards, I think the studying plan stops. It's your life experience that will determine whether you progress well in your job or any job, whether you for other people or eventually decide to start your own company. Then those will be. You will draw from the life experience more.

William Louey: That's true, but I think life experience actually starts from the day you're born. My experience was I met a lot of good friends at university. Life experience, you know, I mean, it's all these interesting people that I met who've actually enriched my life in including in the business world. And so I'm very lucky that, you know, this life experience for me has actually enriched my life and it leads me to do what I'm doing now. So, okay, what has been the biggest lesson that you've learned?

Albert Lei Shen: You have to be prepared, but things will happen that are just outside of your control. So I think one of the things I always tell myself and I tell other people is I like to plan things, but I fully expect things will not go according to plan. So hope for the best, prepare for the worst is something I tell myself all the time. Whether it's work, study or even a simple travel plan, which I enjoy planning down to the details. But things will go wrong, flights will be cancelled, there will be delays and you have to be prepared for everything. And I think that applies to life in general.

William Louey: Yeah. If you had to go back and start your journey again, would it be the same or would you do something different?

Albert Lei Shen: I mean, I can't complain about my life much. If I were to tell somebody or tell myself from 30 years ago, some advice, I would tell them to read more books, which I thoroughly enjoy now. I do a lot of reading every day. Back then I was a very nerdy, very good at math and didn't enjoy reading so much and later in life I thought that was a very valuable thing to have.

William Louey: Can you just give a one sentence advice? How do you Reach the Peak?

Albert Lei Shen: I think any advice for the young people out there will be study hard, work hard. Only if you are well prepared. Then when the opportunities arrive, then you'll be able to grasp it and, yeah, utilise it. Good luck.

William Louey: Wonderful. Thank you so much, Albert. 

Albert Lei Shen: Thank you.