I used to be a fat girl with a very low confidence level. I'm always afraid of my appearance, and I always feel like all the people is staring at me thinking how fat am I. And everytime I'm around new people I kind of hide the real me. I never going out alone and afraid to involved with activity that need me to show myself such as talking or singing in front of the classroom. I don’t know why I have such attitude. That is me 10 years ago but not now. After joining government service everything has change.
I never thought that I will join government service, and be as a PTD. But, thank to god because give me the opportunity to join the government service. It’s not easy to passed the PTD exam. I feel very lucky because I passed the exam but after 2 times of trying. Let me tell you the story from the beginning my journey to become a PTD. I received a letter from SPA calling me to exam one weeks before. At that time the exam was held at University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), Johor. Frankly to tell you I don’t want to go to the exam because I was in the hospital at that time, taking care of my mother who is hospitalized. She’s coma and doctor said she has no chance to live. I don’t want to leave her alone while I sitting the exam. I feel very cruel if I leave her. All I know is to be beside her all the time. Like she taking care of me, never leave me alone when I am sick. But, my friend (which is now my husband), offered me to take care of my mother while I’m going to sit for the exam. At first I was refuse, but after many times he persuaded and advised me, at last I’m going to the exam. Luckily I passed the exam, assessment and also the interview. The sad is, my mother is no longer with me in this world to share my happiness. But life must go on.
Now, I’m a PTD and a leader as well. I’m working at Selangor State Health of Department in Service Unit. I fell very proud because has a boss that always have a great ideas. She brings many differences in my department. She always helping me and ready to teach me anytime if I don’t understand any task that she given to me. Not all organization will have a good boss or leader. As I know, there is a boss who always doing a mistakes and not committed in their work. They simply give all their task to others or to their assistant. This attitude is not good and we cannot follow it.
It’s not easy when you are working with intelligent people like specialist doctors and engineers. You must be brave and have a good leadership skills in you. For me, to be a leader you must know the meaning of leader and leadership. Did you all know what these two words mean? Wikipedia states leader is someone who has the authority to tell a group of people what to do. A leader can also represent a group of people. For the meaning of leadership, wikipedia states leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task".
When I first join a PTD, I really don’t know how to be a leader. In my secondary school I never lead any clubs or even be a leader. In my university I also never lead any clubs. So, that’s why I never have a good understanding the meaning of leadership. After being a PTD, I realized that I must know how to lead to make sure that my unit will always perform. This also will reflect my ability to my staff. I believe that there is a need for us to believe in ourselves, to believe we can do things that others can do, sometimes we can do things better than others can do. I learn how to lead from my boss and I also read some of leadership book which I think it’s has help me a lot. Leading Change, written by John P.Kotter is one of my favourite leadership book, Kotter said, “Raising urgency” is the first step in his enormously successful eight-steps framework, first articulated in Leading Change. But to increasing urgency is the toughest of the eight steps, and the one without which even the most brilliant, high-powered initiatives will sputter and die. Urgency also must become a core, sustained capability. For me, to be a good leader, you must know how to lead and create a sense of urgency among your staff to achieve your goal without pushing them.
I’m very admired Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He is one of my favourite leader. I like him soo much because Dr Mahathir is multi-talented, as he is known for engaging himself in carpentry and while studying medicine, at King Edward VII Medical College in Singapore, he edited a medical student magazine called `The Cauldron’. He also contributed to The Straits Times under the pseudonym Che Det, which was his nickname among his family members and friends.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is truly an international statesman who was Malaysia’s fourth Prime Minister. A doctor by profession, he was born on December 20, 1925, in Alor Setar, the capital of Kedah. Mahathir was a hard-working school student. Discipline imposed by his father motivated him to study, and he showed little interest in sports. He won a position in a selective English medium secondary school, having become fluent in English well ahead of his primary school peers. After the war, he graduated from secondary school with high marks and enrolled to study medicine at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore. After Mahathir graduated, he worked as a doctor in government service before marrying Siti Hasmah in 1956 and returning to Alor Setar the following year to set up his own practice. The couple have five children. For your information, he was the town's first Malay doctor, and a successful one. He built a large house, invested in various businesses, and employed a Chinese man to chauffeur him in his Pontiac Catalina (most chauffeurs at the time were Malay).
He held the post as a Prime Minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years. He became active in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysia's largest political party, before entering parliament in 1964. He served one term before losing his seat, before falling out with the then Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman and being expelled from UMNO. When Abdul Rahman resigned, Mahathir re-entered UMNO and parliament, and was promoted to the Cabinet. By 1976, he had risen to Deputy Prime Minister, and in 1981 was sworn in as Prime Minister after the resignation of his predecessor, Hussein Onn.
As Prime Minister, Mahathir was credited with engineering Malaysia's rapid modernisation and economic growth, and initiated a series of bold infrastructure projects. He was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections and seeing off all of his rivals for the leadership of UMNO.
During his tenure as the Prime Minister, he was responsible for pulling in and attracting high-tech manufacturing, financial and telecommunications and introduced highways in bridging the transportation divide and made sure even the remote areas are accessible by roads. Dr Mahathir was also responsible for building the Multimedia Super Corridor, the new administrative capital Putrajaya, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and one of the highest buildings in the world the Petronas Twin Towers.
Throughout his 22-year tenure in office, Tun Dr. Mahathir was credited with a number of key leadership decisions. He survived leadership contests, splits in UMNO, and challenges from the Islamic Party (PAS). Yet through his term as PM, the Barisan National (a coalition dominated by Tun Dr. Mahathir's UMNO) sustained an overwhelming majority in the federal parliament as a result of successive electoral victories. It was during his tenure as Prime Minister, that he allowed private higher education institutions to be set-up like Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Multimedia University and foreign universities like University of Nottingham in Malaysia, Malaysia Universiti of Science Technology, Monash University and Curtin University of Technology, Australia. For his efforts to promote economic development of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir has been granted the soubriquet of Bapa Pemodenan (Father of Modernisation). Dr.Mahathir also played an important role in introducing Vision 2020.He plan and hope that by year 2020 Malaysia will become one of the sucessful nation in the world. During his administration he was considered as one of Asia's most influential leaders.
The prosperity enjoyed by all Malaysian today is the outcome from scarification and effort from our previous leaders especially Dr. Mahathir which have shifting national heritage from agriculture to modern technology. He also making Malaysia economy grew strongly and the name of country outshine internationally. Under the leadership of Tun Mahathir, the aim, mission, vision and country development ideas was successfully carried out continuously. The late or former Prime Minister such as Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-haj, Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussain Onn, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi are the nation development engineers which so brave and so intelligence solving all the threat from internal and external the country. Malaysia will not achieve the status of one of the world most developed Muslim country and having all the first class ‘hardware’ without these leaders.
I remembered my first day working at Selangor State Health of Department. No one recognize me as a new PTD except two or three person who entertain me during my report duty time. So, I start thinking on how to make people in this office know that I am here. Am I have to shout at all those people that I am here? or am I should go to see nearly four hundred people in that office to introduce myself?? Maybe it’s not a good idea. I remembered what Dr. Mahathir said in one of his speech, "I used to say that when you are short to be noticed you stand on a soap box. So for me the Petronas Towers are my soap box, because then I can be tall and be seen. A good leader must have to do something that is out of the ordinary so that people will notice you. When I started as Prime Minister, Malaysia was quite unknown. People kept on asking, "Where is that? Where is that?" So in order to be noticed we had to do certain things that will strike people as something radical and unexpected." So, what I can conclude from that statement, in order to be a good leader that all people will recognize, we have to do something different and beneficial to our organization to make our organization more successful. One of it is doing a changes in organization.
But, doing changes is difficult in any environment. Like in my department, the process can be said as tricky, since employees in this department tend to be a close-knit group. But I believe, with a right strategy and the right person in the positions most problems whether it personal or business under any condition can be solved to effect positive change and can make it happen. The author of the book ‘Our Iceberg Is Melting’, John P. Kotter has mention in his book about eight step process of successful change which include Create a Sense of Urgency, Pull Together a Guiding Team, Develop the Change Vision and Strategy, Communicate for Understanding and Buy In, Empower Others to Act, Produce Short-term Wins, Don't Let Up and Make It Stick. I think these are the most perfect process of successful change and should apply to your organizations to make a changes.
One of the reason why I admired most about Dr. Mahathir is because, his ability to solve a problems. If you remembered, during the Asean financial crisis of 1997, the Malaysia Economy was fall down badly. But Dr. Mahathir was brilliantly overcome this problem and set back the Malaysia economy in good position. He is so intelligent and brave to make changes in order to save our country from financial crisis. For me Dr. Mahathir is a god's gift to Malaysia. We should appreciate his contribute that he gave to our nation.
I always dream to have a leadership skill like Dr. Mahathir. For me, he is so perfect. He got everything that a good leader should have. He has a charisma as a leader. His leadership has motivate me to be a good leader that can bring a good future in my department.
Being a PTD has taught and change me a lot. I be more confident, responsible, more organized and the most important is, I know how to lead with confident. To ensure I will grow and develop as a leader, I will learn all this good values through my observation about Dr. Mahathir and also from my boss. I wish that I can follow their attitudes. I never imagine that I can speak in front of many people and chair a meeting in my office. All I know is I be brave because I realized that I have to change. I cannot be a 10 years back of me. I’m a leader now and have to lead my department. If I want to be like Dr. Mahathir, I have to throw my low confident level. Now, I was proud of myself. I successfully change my attitude. From time to time, I have built confident level in me in order to be a good leader.
Leadership is such a big and heavy responsibility. It’s not easy to be a leader that have a leadership skills. Being a leader is not only because you want to be famous or just because you want a high salary, but it’s all about responsible. Your responsible towards your organization.
References:
Book :
- Our Iceberg Is Melting by John P. Kotter and Holger Rathgeber.
- A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter
- Our Iceberg Is Melting by John P. Kotter
Internet :
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_bin_Mohamad
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership
- http://www.asianinfrastructure.com/news/mahathir-bin-mohamed-outlines-how-to-be-a-good-leader/
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