What is a Leader?

Everyone in this world would have someone to look upon as a leader or the person they admire. Most of my friends admire movie stars like Tom Cruise, Katherine Zetta Jones or even Oprah Winfrey. Have any of you ever thought about who you admire? Well, went I was given this assignment to write about stories on leadership I have known or stories I have come across as a leader, I certainly knew who to write about! I save my high regard for my Under Secretary, Economics and International Division, Ministry of Finance. He is a leader and not a follower. The difference between a leader and a follower is a leader is dependable, supportive, and attentive. As leader we should be humble, but confident in the direction, while remaining loyal to your initial motivation and ethics, which benefit others.

As a leader, he knows his mission well. He has a well thought of a mission describing the purpose of a work or a project held by him. Purposes of a project or a meeting are rather descriptive, clear and understandable by us, his officers. He often insists that each of us should be able to identify with the mission and strive to achieve the best of each mission. Few executives in my department possess skills and abilities such as high communication and good writing skills, however, as a leader he emphasises on training the new comers such as me and my other junior colleagues. Sometimes, he seeks our opinion in a midst of meeting just to see our reaction and to understand us better.

To complement the areas of weakness, as a leader he bring together effective teams of experienced and capable individuals who can supplement his team. This ability is what sets leaders apart from others. As a junior officer, I was given few times of opportunities to work with a credentialed team. These opportunities have given me a wide range of experience in various task forces. Indirectly, it has helped to build within me a high confidence of delivering my duties and enhance the knowledge of my current desk job.

As a leader, he upholds a strong mission, vision, and goals. He regularly keeps in touch with key individuals, by email, meetings and other forms of correspondence. Of course, the best way to ensure his officers receive and understand the message is, he often meets them with face-to-face interactions. He often gets out of the office or tours different units/departments under his division. I personally believe it’s an important method of building rapport and sending and receiving messages. "Management By Walking Around,", meeting employees at their workstations or conference rooms, or joining them for lunch are just a few of the many effective approaches leaders can use to develop positive contacts with employees[1].

Interpersonal skills are not something new to him. As a leader, he is comfortable relating to other people; easily create relationship and rather man with words, which represent his friendliness. These factors help leaders seem approachable, likeable, and comfortable in their position. These qualities give me the confident wanting to interact with him as a leader and share my opinion without any hesitations. He also helps motivate employees to do a better job and compliments them for their good work. When we can relate to our bosses, we believe that our bosses are more concern about us, with our performance and with our output. Furthermore, I believe that I can go to him with problems, which I encounter on the job without fearing consequences for not knowing how to resolve the issues.

Upon working with him for almost 2 years, I adopted the "can do, get it done" attitude. Nothing seems impossible under his management. He builds a picture of each of his officers can deliver their work and achieve the objectives equally well. When employees see that their boss can lead and direct, has a clear vision and attainable goals, and actually gains results in a timely manner, then that person's credibility increases throughout the organization[2]. As a highly respected leader, he often has valid reasons to appreciate and value our efforts.

As a whole, he has inspired me to look up for direction, guidance and motivation. He may at times have stepped in personally to offer me suggestions or encouragement to ensure that I perform my jobs in an best manner, which I truly appreciated.

Last but not least, the basic message in this article that I wish to serve is as a manager or a leader, you need to "be out there" for your employees. Continuously demonstrate to them why and how you earned the position you now hold. Communicate with them using any of a variety of methods that show them you are worth being followed. And most importantly, please ensure you show them your sincere appreciation of their achievement and work. A simple “thank you” or “well done job” surely makes their day. I know for sure those words made my day.

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. In summation, Dr. Sundaran Annamalai, is a leader I admire.

Sheela Inthiram, Sidang F

DPA Bil 1/2011

Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around

http://www.entrepreneur.com/10 Characteristics of Superior Leaders

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around

[2] http://www.entrepreneur.com/10 Characteristics of Superior Leaders