What is leadership ?

robertteh SG

So often, we would hear people talking about leadership, leadership qualities and talents.

So, what are Leadership, Talents, Foresight & Insight etc and the whole conumdrum of qualities of a person needed to lead a nation often emphasised by our leaders?

Today, what should be the leadership qualities expected of leaders? Do most people only talk about concepts and assumptions but not necessarily know the true meaning of such terms.

Is leadership individualistic? If so, how can individualistic leadership help all to attain efficiency, innovations, creativity and entrepreneurship needed toe manage new expectations and not just emotional naivety.

The following are some pertinent questions asked with a view to eliciting views and suggestions to add to existing meaning of leadership:

(1) Can there be leadership without the abilities to produce results, and expectations of customers or citizens.

(2) Have the prerequisites of leadership now changed over time?

(3) Should leadership include the abilities to translate goals into attainable tasks to motivate all to work towards results by the whole team or society?

(4) How about developing middle-management and technical excellence closely linked to hands-on efficiency, productivity, accountability and transparency expected by the citizens?

(5) How about development of practical management excellence that would transform work places into vibrant applications of ideas and knowledge people already learn.

(6) How about abilities to formulate and execute a total business master plan to tap on existing strengths and resources and add values to the whole system.

(7) How about the abilities to take control of (1) manpower, (2) programs, (3) equipment and (4) schedules defined in quality-time-cost parameters to produce results?

(8 ) How about the abilities to identify challenges and translate them into simpler doable tasks and core business activities to motivate staff to perform them with coordination, mass participation and practical knowledge application?

(9) Will rhetoric, speeches and more committees lead to competitiveness and entrepreneurship without first realizing management excellence at work places?

(10) Is there a socio-cultural philosophy to help transforming the mechanistic mass production to knowledge- or innovational economy instead of one dominated by leadership or legalisic concepts and assumptions which are complex, undefined and undoable.

(11) How about making strategic plans to produce value-added (1) investment strategies, (2) industries and (3) economic restructuing schedules supported by accountable and result-oriented work processes?

(12) Finally, should there be socio-cultural organizational structure to attain results through motivation and education instead of ever-increasing deterrence, regulations, handbooks, SOPs, bureaucracy and controls that only stifle growths, creativity and entrepreneurship.

All are welcome to brainstorm this topic.

Idea Idea Idea

chunyong SG

leadership = ability to get people to do saigung for u and think its not saigung at the end of the day. Laughing

robertteh SG

What saigung, do you mean trancing? That may be an interesting quality of leadership, I see. Laughing

chunyong SG

leadership = ability to lead people to do things. therefore, naturally, if u got nobody to do the sh1twork for u, how u say u got leadership ? if they know its sh1twork actually, u think they will do if they can choose not to ? therefore, u need to pass the saigung of as something good, then they will happily do and u get to show off ur leadership to those above u loh…

dibilo SG

lol ur project ah >.<

Is leadership individualistic? If so, how can individualistic leadership help all to attain efficiency, innovations, creativity and entrepreneurship needed toe manage new expectations and not just emotional naivety.

to a certain degree yes... there has got to be someone who dares to step out and lead the crowd, to voice opinion and to get things moving.. sry cant think of much to say atm .. my exams is coming and i am tired .. *yawnz*

robertteh SG

With a bit of saigung the smart doer choosing not to do it and never get it done but he actually makes leaders feel great. This is saigung leadership. haha Cool Cool

robertteh SG

Personal goal - passing exams or other incentives come first.

Leadership is coincidence of that personal goal with some group goal if there is one. Laughing

pikamaster SG

I think leadership should be like being able to coordinate and mediate between people so that everyone can cooperate adn get the job done.

and I think too that leadership in this forum by teh mods ought to be a little stricter in deleting personal attacks!

the pikamaster

LazerLordz SG

The Mods have to strike a balance between mob rule and freedom of speech.Ain’t a bed of roses you know..

robertteh SG

From young, students will be told of the importance of leadership based on intelligence, grades and passing of examinations.

In works, citizens were made to believe the importance of leaderships based on the same academic attainments, grades, scholars etc.

Such a system is premised on individual achievements. It is also too conceptual and general with people not really knowing how to lead or how perform their tasks. There are too many assumptions based on inborn or innate abilities of individuals.

It produces a leadership system championing the individuals leading ultimately to self-ness, self-centredness, egotism and divisiveness.

In the advent of technological and escalating knowledge in all aspects of human endeavours, a leader is someone who could piece together many many factors beside emotional ones.

Above all, a leader in the new age must translate all visions and goals into simple doable and attainable to motivate all with minimal compulsion or regulations, contributing everyone's personal best to organizational efficiency and results.

The new leadership needed in new environment should rise above rhetoric or emotional manipulation through penalty and deterrence.

Knowledge application and entrepreneurship cannot be wrought by deterrence or controls.

Empowering of individuals holds the key to success. The first empowerment beside the emotional one is to allow individual to excell within his or her sphere of influences of knowledge application judged by their own internal professional excellence in every sphere of knowledge.

Conflicts and inefficiencies will be well mediated by such environment of management where people are empowered to go about doing their bests and fulfilling their respective calling.

I believe there will be mediation of conflicts, self-motivation within professionalism and coordination given a total understanding of new leadership and management.

Just my own perception of new challenges of leadership needed in today's world.

Idea Idea Idea

mayham321 SG

local "leadership" is getting all ppl to wipe yr ass when u sh*t everywhere Laughing

le cruz SG

interesting writeup, Robertteh.
i tink this post will stay in my mind for some time to come.

just wondering, what inspired you to make this post? it's a good one.

robertteh SG

Hello, le cruz,

I think after so many years of emphasising on efficiency, productivity, economic competitiveness and entrepreneurship, there has to be some results.

If not and the high cost and elitism problems are still overwhelming and economy is down-sliding then something is not right.

The meaning of leadership needs a critical re-examination by all in order that there could be proper understanding to help all to become competitive again.

I thought I am just sharing thoughts and ideas and having interactions with fellow Singaporeans - that is the inspiration to make me write on this topic. Regards, Laughing

branzzz SG

leadership is the ability to command respect. i personally believe that course that 'try' to teach leadership are rubbish. leadership comes from the current situation and the character of the person. to ingrain leadership in our pupils is to make them blind leaders who do not think for themselves. as bill gates once said, the current education system imparts all sorts of politically correct knowledge that does nothing to prepare one for the realities of life.

a good example would be the social studies subject that secondary school pupils undergo. this subjet was 'meant' to impart good values and to give the pupil the ability to think rationally for himself. however, one only needs to ask a sec 4 pupil how he's studying for social studies to find out the flaws. sec4 pupils mainly know nothing bout the values being taught to them and think nothing about how they should evaluate facts rationally and come to their own supported conclusions. all most(take note, not all) students know is to memorise topic after topic, and to read up their beloved ten-year-series on how to answer the questions. is this what our education system is trying to impart? after all these exams, very few pupils leave with the skills that the instituition ought to teach them, rather when faced with a dilemma about racial segregation in singapore, all they know is about Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland.

robertteh SG

To: branzzz

Agreed that leadership is the ability to command respect. This is a good starting point.

There are many ways to win respect of the followers.

Many courses are available to teach leadership but most of them are intuitive, abstract and undoable ending up as you said rubbish.

To merely ingrain leadership in our pupils through all kinds of social studies and training may not produce good leaders if again what they learn are based on concepts or assumptions which are usually not doable or practicable.

Bill gates once said, the current education system imparts all sorts of politically correct knowledge that does nothing to prepare one for the realities of life.

On and on, people would emphasise on all kinds of leadership or try to teach leadership and after many years, the whole society is still far from practising leadership - ability to win respect or motivate all the excell in their tasks for the common good.

Because of the above-stated intuitive or presumptuous approaches about leadership we are having problems of all kinds.

In actual running or governance of a country, respect or motivation of masses or practical leadership might have been totally put aside.

Everything is based on power. It is not duty but power that is uttered most. It is not service or humility that is most emphasised in school or daily works or economic life.

It seems more and more important to assume power and exert more interpretational and execution power and not inner character or morality or selflessness at serving others. Generally, leadership is based and "get me if you can" approach.

That's is why Bill Gates emphasised on practical or realistic leadership. Leaders will do well if they can be measured in their performance to attain practical leadership.

Practical leadership should be capable of measurements or attainment as listed in the 12 points of practical leadership in the post. These practical leadership assessments will go a long way in translating goals and challenges to doable or attainable smaller goals that motivate all to reach for them for the common good of all.

Laughing