James C Foo Leong wins Spirit of Enterprise Award after publishing setback

Prof James C Foo Leong received the Spirit of Enterprise Award 2026 in Singapore on 5 November, capping a year that saw his book overcome a publishing collapse, reach major bookstores and win international recognition. The honor spotlights his long-running effort to make finance easier for business leaders to understand and use.

Why it matters: - The Spirit of Enterprise Award recognizes entrepreneurship, perseverance and business impact, not just company growth. - Foo Leong’s win highlights how a publishing setback turned into wider recognition for his Financial Storytelling work and his book, Once Upon a Balance Sheet. - The award also reinforces the market for finance education that is practical for non-finance leaders.

What happened: - Prof James C Foo Leong received the Spirit of Enterprise (SOE) Award 2026 in the Established Companies category on 5 November in Singapore. - The award came two days before the first anniversary of Once Upon a Balance Sheet: How to Make Better Decisions, Drive Growth and Increase Profits, which launched on 7 November 2025. - Mr Chee Hong Tat, Minister for National Development, presented the award at the SOE Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. - Foo Leong is an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore and founder of Visions.One Consulting Pte Ltd.

The details: - Foo Leong founded Visions.One Consulting in 1998. - His broader mission is to make financial education more accessible, engaging and useful for business leaders. - Before the book launch, the original publisher went bankrupt. - Foo Leong was left with flattened PDF files instead of editable production files needed to finish publication. - Foo Leong rebuilt the material and became his own publisher. - Over the next 12 months, the book reached Kinokuniya and POPULAR bookstores. - The National Library added the book to its collection. - The book became an Amazon bestseller. - It won the 2026 International Impact Book Awards in the Business: Management Accounting category. - It was also named a finalist in the Business: General category at the 2026 International Book Awards. - Foo Leong is also a former Fortune 500 regional finance head. - He has spent decades helping non-finance professionals and business leaders build financial understanding, commercial judgment and decision-making confidence. - Through Financial Storytelling and his Financial Storyverse®, Foo Leong uses storytelling, visual learning, humor and practical business applications. - Foo Leong’s official SOE honouree feature covers his move from corporate finance to entrepreneurship and the publishing challenges behind the book. - More information is available in the official SOE feature.

Between the lines: - The award frames Foo Leong’s story as one of resilience as much as business success. - The publishing setback could have derailed the book, but the outcome suggests the opposite: the disruption became part of the credibility story. - The recognition fits a broader trend in which founders blend expertise, education and content creation to reach business audiences. - Foo Leong’s messaging centers on a simple thesis: financial statements become more useful when leaders can read them as stories.

What's next: - Foo Leong plans to keep building Financial Storytelling into a tool for making finance more understandable, practical and engaging. - Visions.One Consulting is expected to continue offering financial, business and leadership learning programmes for organizations and professionals. - The first-anniversary moment gives Foo Leong another platform to promote the book and the Financial Storytelling brand.

The bottom line: - Foo Leong turned a publishing crisis into a year of awards, retail reach and institutional recognition, and the SOE honor caps that turnaround.