Leading By Example - Zeti Akhtar Aziz

          It is easy to think that great leadership is some kind of innate ability or gift; to think that either you have it or you don’t. That is not the case. Leaders are actually train, not born. I strongly believe in order to become a good leader we first need to be a good follower. Good leaders set good examples for their subordinates and others to follow. If we cannot manage ourselves and are unclear on what we stand for, we definitely cannot expect other people to follow us.

          Good leaders need to have desire, power and energy to lead and make a difference. Evolutionary psychology also points to the importance of confidence in establishing leadership. People will follow a confident person, especially one who appears to offer a way out from uncertainty and turbulence.

          In my opinion, I think great leaders should have clarity on their values in order for them to separate right from wrong. Our values are the key beliefs that we hold to be guiding lights. They define how we choose to live our lives.

          Apart from having good values, great leaders also need to have awesome behavior. Our behavior indicates our character. It is the outward expression of what we hold to be important. After all, we are who we choose to be. We are emotional creatures and our instincts draw us towards those whom we trust and guide us away from those whom we fear. Good leaders should not have ego-driven behavior. Arrogance, aggression and sarcasm cause distance and reduce trust and commitment in relationship.  If we are clear on our values and live by them, we have a strong sense of our own integrity and worth. We do not need to make others feel bad in order for us to feel good.

          Graciousness is another value that a leader should possess. Graciousness is how we behave. It involves treating others with respect and by living by example, not by proclamation. Graciousness is a standard of excellence; it is a gift of yourself to others, the donation of your attention, your interest and caring.  It builds trust and fortifies relationships.

          One of the things that can restrict our vision is our perception of the boundaries around us. The way we perceive the world conditions our expectations. It can even make us see things that are not really there, and suggest that the future will merely be an extension of the past. Fixed mind-sets can equip us badly for dealing with change. They make us too slow to adapt. We respond too late because we are fixed in yesterday’s pattern of thought. Pattern of thought can easily become habit, and habits can migrate into the perception that they are the only way to do things. As leaders, we need to challenge the way we perceive the boundaries. We need to think outside the box in order for us to achieve great things in life.

          Even though I understand the theory on how to be a great leader, leadership is still a tough act to jump into without some guidelines. Therefore, as for me, I have an idol to look up to and motive me to be a better person and a good leader. She is an incredible person and a great example of a national leader.

          Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz is the current Governor of the Malaysia National Bank. She was born in Johor Bahru and her father is Royal Professor Ungku Aziz, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaya and founder of Tabung Haji. Her mother is a journalist and social activist Sharifah Azah Mohamed Alsagoff. She is also the great granddaughter of the late Datuk Jaafar Mohamed, Johor's first chief minister, and grandniece of Umno founder Datuk Onn Jaafar.

          Tan Sri Dr. Zeti received her early education at Assunta High School, Petaling Jaya in 1958 and she  received a Bachelor's degree in Economics from University Malaya. After that she continued her studies at University of Pennsylvania, obtaining a PhD in monetary and international economics.

          Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz began her career as an economic analyst in the South-East Asia Central Bank Training & Research Center from 1979 to 1984. She was then appointed as Deputy Manager in the Economics Department at National Bank of Malaysia. After that, she joined the Economics Department at the National Bank of Malaysia in 1985 and was appointed Secretary to the Board of Directors of the bank in 1987. In 1989, she was appointed as the Chief Representative in the London Office.

          Returning to Malaysia in 1994, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti was appointed the Bank's Chief Economist and the Head of the Economics Department. In 1995, she was elected as the Assistant Governor of the National Bank. She was responsible for economics, reserve management, foreign and money market operations and exchange control. In 2004-2008, she was on the board of directors of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

          Tan Sri Dr. Zeti was named "Tokoh Ma'al Hijrah 1432H" at the national-level 2010 Ma'al Hijrah celebration. At the age of 63, she is the first woman ever named as the recipient of the award in the celebration's history of 24 years. Interestingly, her father, Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid also received the award 11 years ago.

          Under her leadership, the Islamic financial system had been improving in Malaysia and contributed to a competitive, diverse, comprehensive and inclusive financial system. In a decade, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti managed to increase Islamic banking assets up to 21 per cent, thus over 100 domestic and international Islamic financial institutions are enable to operate in Malaysia.

          At the international level, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti also contributed to the global acceptance of Islamic finance. This includes leading an international team to prepare the Financial Stability and Islamic Finance report, as well as chairing the Islamic Financial Services Board, an international agency for setting prudent monetary policy for Islamic financial institutions worldwide.

          Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said Tan Sri Dr. Zeti deserved the Maal-Hijrah award based on her contributions in the development of the financial system and national economy, especially in the Islamic financial system. This was especially evident in times of economic recession, he said, saying that apart from national leaders, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti was among those who provided ideas and contributed towards the recovery of the national economy. He said that the country is not only proud of her contributions, but is also happy to give her this award and hope that other women share the joy of this recognition for Tan Sri Dr. Zeti.

          In 2009, Global Finance magazine, selected Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz as one of the world's best central bank chief. Tan Sri Dr. Zeti and six other central bank chief was given  grade "A" in the article "Central Banker Report Cards" for success in areas such as inflation control, the target of economic growth, stable currency and interest rate management.

          Apart from numerous awards she received in Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti had also received international recognition when she was selected as a member of the United Nations Commission of Experts to discuss the direction of world monetary and financial system.

          Tan Sri Dr. Zeti also chaired the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP) task force to formulate the master plan of financial cooperation between central banks.

          Sharing her success, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti said she spent most of her time reading, especially about financial, economic, leadership development and self-improvement. She said that it was important to instill curiosity in one's quest for knowledge. She also said that gender issue had never arisen throughout her career. She believed that there were also many more women capable of achieving the same level of success.

          On 20th May 2011, it was reported that Bloomberg columnist William Pesek has picked Tan Sri Dr. Zeti as one of his four nominees to head the prestigious International Monetary Fund (IMF). The position became vacant following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn who was arrested in New York, and is presently facing sexual assault charges. Pesek suggested that an Asian take over the role of the global institution that has traditionally been filled by Europeans and shortlisted regional candidates which he felt could bring a fresh perspective to the institution.

          Pesek praised Tan Sri Dr. Zeti for her brilliant principles and said that she was one of those people that “bet against the IMF and won” in the aftermath of the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis when Malaysia declined aid from the IMF. In the late 1990s, it seemed inevitable that Malaysia would join Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea in accepting multibillion-dollar IMF loan and stringent conditions like raising interest rates, cutting spending and letting irresponsible companies fail.

          Malaysia said no to IMF and Tan Sri Dr. Zeti helped the nation to weather the turbulence. And then she watched the US, in the height of hypocrisy, do all the things it told Asian officials not to do. Pesek noted that Tan Sri Dr. Zeti is one of the most internationally respected central bankers  and played a key role in turning Kuala Lumpur into a global hub of the USD 1trillion (RM3 trillion) Islamic finance industry. He believed Tan Sri Dr. Zeti would bring a much-needed different perspective to the IMF.

          Whether taking on foreign fund managers or dealing with the country's leaders, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti plays her role with remarkable ease and a clear head. She led the central bank to successfully introduce and implement Malaysia's most controversial policy initiative which is the capital controls. The risky move paid off, earning Tan Sri Dr. Zeti great respect and high admiration from all over the world. Her move to rationalize the banking sector and the development of Islamic finance has given Malaysia its strong footing and competitive edge.

          For such outstanding achievements and character, I believe I made the right choice by choosing Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz to be my idol. Like other PTDs, I would also want to be a leader in the future. I want to influence, to be counted and not just be another follower. For that matter, I am going to give my best towards achieving my dreams. I am aiming high up for the moon, and if I fail, I hope to at least touch the stars.

References

·       Alan Coppin and John Barratt (2002).Timeless management.

·       Dr. Karen Otazo (2000). The truth about being a leader:and nothing but the truth.

·       "Finance's female face". TMCnet.com. 2005-12-29. http://small-business-voip.tmcnet.com/news/2005/Dec/1246332.htm.  

·       "Bank Negara chief in UN task force". Business Times Malaysia. 2008-11-17.http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/wowee/Article/ index_html. 

·       "Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz the world's best central bank chief". All Voices.com. Sep 13, 2010. http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6743907-dr-zeti-akhtar-aziz-the-worlds-best-central-bank-chief. 

·       "Tan Sri Dr Zeti named ‘Tokoh Ma’al Hijrah’".The Star.December 7, 2010. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/7/nation/20101207172134&sec=nation. 

·       "Zeti one of Bloomberg columnist’s top picks to head IMF". The Malaysian Insider.http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/zeti-one-of-bloomberg-columnists-top-picks-to-head-imf/. 

Persondata
Name	Zeti, Akhtar Aziz
Alternative names
Short description	Governor of Bank of Malaysia
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

THE STORY OF MY IDOLS

When I was given the task of writing a leadership stories, I was blanked. What are the stories that I should write about? I do have quite a number of leaders whom I admire. A motivator I saw in the television once said that if you want to success you must have an idol to be your mentor. An idol means someone you admire about and you want to become like them for their success stories. While mentor is someone who has a good traits and personality and they may guide you with their success recipe. For someone to create history it would never been an easy job and one must possess a good quality of leadership and personality. Leadership can be define as the ability to influence people to do the job for you with continuing support. As for me, I do have few figuras that I admire for their hardship, charismatic and all the positive values they have been possessed. For this story, I decided to write about all my two icons that for me had showed the right path that I should undertake.

As in the present years, I truly admire our fourth Prime Minister – Tun Mahathir Mohamad and Dato’ Maznah Hamid – a well known ‘The Iron Lady’ whom is also the Group Executive Chairman and founder of Securiforce Group. As for Tun. Dr. Mahathir, who has not known this lagendary nationalist? Also known as ‘The Father of Modernisation’. During his 22 years of governance, he managed to transformed Malaysia from agriculture-based economy to industrialized-based economy. During my school days, I do not understand why people bother so much about him. All I used to hear was the rumours be it the positive or negative remarks that no one can proven it to be true. But, I changed my views over him once I completed my Bachelor Degree. I still remember the moment where I went for a window shopping with a friend at a book store and that was where I came to realize there was a newest copy of Datuk Lat Mohamad’s creative copy avalaible on the book shelves. It entittled ‘ Che Det ‘ if i’m not mistaken. I bought the comic. It was such an impressive work-art where Datuk Lat illustrated the life of this lagendary icon using a cheecky comic and understandable language. I’ve read the comic for third times as the author illustrated the life of the former Prime Minister in a way that is so nice and creative.

But, for the purpose of this story, I will eloborate more about my second idol. She’s a real brave lady, with the good personality and not to mention her ‘vocal’ voice while pointing out sharply her views and perpectives of any of the subject matter discussed. The ‘Iron Lady of Malaysia’ that I am talking about came from Air Hitam, Kedah and yes she is a very well known entrepreneur , business woman, a motivatior and a speaker of numerous TV shows. It was all started back in twenty-seven years ago. In a TV show where she was invited as one of the speaker, she mentioned of the incidents that made her reform herself. Came from a poor family, she had to work very hard to ensure that even with limited resources she managed to complete her study. Then, just like other ordinary students, she applied for an employment and secured a position as a tuition teacher where she teached English subject to the children of employee of foreign embasies in Kuala Lumpur. One day, in a conversation with one of the parent who once said to her, “you will not be able to get rich if only be an employed-wage earners. Those words totally had smoldered her spirit and she knew that something needs to be done and that she must reform herself. With some market analysis, she found a security company that almost filed for bankruptcy. She voiced out her planning of buying off the company and she believed the action she took was the right one, happened to be at the right time and right situation. The process of developing the glory was not easy though. She started off the company with merely RM 5,000 from her own savings compared to the other security company with the capitals between RM500,000 to RM 1 million. None like any other entrepreneur, she started off without any aid from the banking institution and up until now where all her companies were established pogressively growing.

As the success of my idol has been potrayed in the above sentence, I wish to share some of the hardships she went through together with her husband. During the early years of Securiforce, she managed to employ only a few guards with she herself as a manager being her own clerk, a secretary and sometimes she would became the guard when the guard that she attached to a client went off for annual leave or some other reasons. Being the jack of all trades in this business is not easy. I still remember in a TV Show where she was invited to give a talk about ‘Starting Early’ she told the audience that she once used to be called with negative cum unpolite remark just because she’s doing what usually being doing by a man. But she survived and thanks to her strong character and was never felt interrupted or bothered with those words.

After almost three decades of struggling,she now heads nearly 50 branches with employee reaching 5000 people, hundred of firearms and numerous of armoured vehicles. The services offered are not only limited to static guard, but also expanding to logistic, cash-in transit, cash management, armoured tracking service and other services. She also expanding her business by founding a Property Development Company which has an agreement with Kuala Lumpur City Hall. The company is to develope a piece of land in Kuala Lumpur to build the condominium and penthouses. It shows that her company is thriving from strengh to strengh. With her outstanding leadership qualities and distinguished leadership, she always got the invitation as a motivational councellor in numerous TV shows.

She received several awards for her contribution and services. In appreciation of the leadership qualities she potrayed, she was awarded Leadership Graduate Award. Also bestowed the award Dato Setia Diraja Kedah (D.S.D.K) by HRH the Sultan of Kedah. Because of her deep interest in Human Resource Development, she founded Maznah Motivational Company (MMC) where she is currently actively delivering speeches, talk and conferences. She wants to see and to develope more entrepreneurs, hoping that in the future she would see more of the youngsters could give contribution in the economic growth of the nation.



Of all her good qualities as a leader, no wonder she could become an outstanding icon in the country. This dynamic lady with firm character, a risk-taker, accept challenges, a mother and a wife that symbolizing the female power. As a newcomer in public sector, i oftenly came to a situation be it in the meeting, or in a discussion whereby we can see that female officers seldomly possess all of these qualities. I can tell that even if they do, not many of them. What i meant are the characters of risk-taker and firm. Sometimes, there will be times where fast decision making process needs to be done, the tendencies of delaying the process by having the needs to consult their superior are there even though it is within their own authority or power.

The success story of Maznah Hamid outlines a few good qualities that a young female leader like me could follow. Among other, to be a winner there must be a burning spirit in ourself. A good leader must will never stop to find the way out by crafting an effective strategy to solve a problem. A first trial may not usually works but we should never stop from learning and trying. A feeling of a champion should always be nurtured that we will never stop fighting for excellency and always strive for the best. Besides that, to become a great leader, we must know how to divide the time for ourself, family, career and life entirely. Everybody in the world has the same and equal time and what differentiates us is how do we use our time. As a leader we must never stop learning. A saying said ‘once you stop learning, you will stop from leading’. A learning proccess can be derived from everything that surrounded us may it be from the books, from our subordinates, from well-experienced workers and from any other resources.

The story of Maznah Hamid has been giving me a new insights of leadership. While facing all the toughest situations, she still standing, firmly and telling everybody that she will still standing there, holding tight her mantra of life and she’s living to the fullest. While standing high on the top, she gives her hand, helping and guiding those people that willing to give their very best in achieving their dreams. Though she is an entrepreneur while I am a young manager in public sector, those qualities can be adapted into my life hollistically. I am continuing to develope my inner strengh, focussing on my own strength and the team that I am working with. Being a leader is not just doing the right thing, but also doing the thing right. One day, no matter what the destiny has been written for me in the future, I will strive for the best and promise to contribute back to the people and community. And, it has been here..deep inside my heart for many years back. InsyaAllah, I’ll prove it.

My Boss, My Leader

How many great leaders do you know?

The answer would be a few, maybe.

Are leaders are born or made?

In fact, this is one of the most frequently asked questions in all kind of leadership development path. To answer this question, let me begin with the definition of Leaders. A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal. In simple, a leader is one who goes first and leads by example, so that others are motivated to follow him. According to Jago 1982, good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.

In my 28 years of life, I’ve seen many kinds of Leaders from various fields. But today I would rather explain in detail of a leader who has a tremendous impact to me and my current life. The person that I am mentioning is my previous Ministry superior named Ms. Chang Sze Ping.

When I think back of the time, when I join as an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer (PTD) in the year 2009. In fact, I never think of becoming a PTD Officer in my entire life. My motive was just to complete my first degree and join any firm to earn. But unfortunately, I was jobless for almost 8 month after my graduation in the year 2006. In early 2007, I got a job offer from a manufacturing firm from Shah Alam. That was my first job. Without any single knowledge of procurement side, I took my first position as Procurement Executive in private firm. Even then, I was happy to learn new things. But my parents were always wanted me to join the Government Sector as no one in my entire family is serving in Government sector.

Later I applied for government job through SPA website. Then, I’ve sat for PTD exam. I did well until the interview level and I received an offer as a contract PTD for two years. Finally, I managed to work as a government officer. Once I became a PTD officer, I realized that I carry a lot of responsibilities to deliver quality service for the public and enhance public service image in the eyes of the people.

Indeed, my first posting as Assistant Director in Budget Division in Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) at Putrajaya. The first person that I met in the Budget Division is my superior, Ms. Chang. She is a small figured Chinese lady whom welcomed me at the first day of my work. At first, I was wondering is that the Boss of Finance Department whom I supposed to meet. But to my surprise she happily introduced herself and described in detail of Finance Department job scope in the first day of my work itself. That’s how I get to know on the Government do’s and don’ts matters.

As my direct superior, Ms. Chang is used advised me all kind of matters. She never fails to boost me especially during my involvement in any kind of jobs. She used to be very punctual. She used to reach office as early as 7.15 am and will be one of the last person go back home. Whenever I asked about the reason why she used to reach office early, it will be none other than better to be early rather than late. Thus, I used to follow her in that timing as well.

Besides that, Ms. Chang is very particular in any facts and figures that been produced. Hence, I will always prepare myself before submitting to her any reports by analyzing and understanding well of that before I knocking on her office door. Even though at the beginning I felt that she is too focused but now I truly understand the reason behind of being so focused. Well, I would say that as PTD Officer, we have to know what are we doing and what we get from that.

One of the leadership skills that I used admire from Ms. Chang is being well managed person in the Organization. As we know, large tasks should be broken up into a series of small tasks. By creating small manageable tasks, the entire task will eventually be accomplished. As a Manager, she used to be accountable in her all actions with respect to her subordinates. She has always reminds me that being a great boss doesn't mean being the subordinates’ friend. In fact, it means providing direction and then doing everything you can to make sure your subordinates are allowed to do their jobs.

Based on my two continuous years of observation, Ms. Chang is one of a person whom never fails to acknowledge any of her subordinates including me in any time. In simple, I would say that she has made acknowledgement as a routine part of her communication with us. She used to be accurate in the acknowledgement part and this gives weight to in her praise all time. She used to advise me that frequent acknowledgement also makes any discussions easier when problems occur.

Time management plays an important role in any leadership path. Time in the organization is constant and irreversible. Time keeps getting away and we have trouble controlling it. No matter what their position, they cannot stop time, they cannot slow it down, nor can they speed it up. Thus, time needs to be effectively managed to be effective. As a Leader, Ms. Chang has numerous demands on her limited time. I never had seen Ms. Chang procrastinate her job in any time. She is a person with highly sense of urgency in her. She used to advise me in doing urgent rather than important tasks.

As a time saver, Ms. Chang used to do a complete checklist and to do list in doing her routine jobs. She used to say that poor planning and lack of contingency plans will fail our routine work. She has taught me the right way in doing job and delegating my jobs with other subordinates. These will always create a win-win situation to us. She is a great woman in handling correspondence expeditiously with quick, short letters and memos. This will help her not to waste her time or other people’s precious time as well.

I still remember the day Ms. Chang assessed me for the first yearly evaluation report called Laporan Penilaian Prestasi Tahunan (LNPT) in my Government Position. She called me up in her room and both of us go thorough one by one section with comprehensive explanation. With that I know my strengths and weakness from the Manager’s view. After the long and detailed discussion, I knew what she wants from me and what is she expecting my work. I think not all the bosses do as what she did to me. Till now, I remember all her words and great.

Other than that, Ms. Chang used guide me in throwing new and creative ideas from time to time. One of the ideas that I have voiced out in my Organization is compiling all the course details of a person who attend for any Courses in a single book to ease the process of monitoring. She has brought out this idea to the higher management and my Big Boss has given green light to do so. This helps us to monitor out department employees yearly course attendance from time to time.

Ms. Chang used to be my grammar teacher in constructing a good sentence especially in meeting minutes. I am still keeping all the correction that she has done in my paper reports/presentation with me. Sometimes, I used to read it again and again in order not to do the same mistakes in a second time. I admire the sentences that she used in all of her report or minutes writing skills.

On the other hand, one of the mistakes that I witnessed from my superior is being a workaholic. Sometimes, she used to skip her lunch just to complete her work in hand. Working hard in the right amount is a good habit. But overworking is a bad habit. In fact, working too hard can lead to compromising one’s health. But sometimes I will be knocking her door to ask on her lunch if I see her busy schedule.

The habits of successful people are well known and widely talked about. Everyone wants to become better person in each day of their life. Becoming a leader is not a one day story. If we have the desire and willpower, we can become an effective leader. There are few resources to become a better leader. For example,

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

If you want to be a great leader and gain respect among employees you need to have earned your stripes. Showing them you are still willing to roll up your sleeves when necessary to get the job done goes a long way in regards to what you'll get back in return. Encourage self-sufficiency and serve as a guide.

Build Your Team and Know Your People

This is also one of the most important things as a leader to build our own team. Believe in our people, listen to them, and let them help us to find effective solutions. Usually, the best ideas come from the front line. Besides that, as a leader, one has to know your people. It’s not necessary being best friends or even socialize outside work, but you do have to know what makes them tick.

As a leader we need to know something about their personal lives because their lives outside work matter. Their lives outside work drive a great deal of their success (or lack of) at work. The more you know your people the more common ground you’re likely to find, the more you’ll be able to connect.

Leaders have a Vision

According to Theodore M. Hesburgh, the very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. This is also a great resource in becoming a leader. A leader keeps the team, department or company focused on the vision, seeing the big picture and keeping everything headed in the right direction.

Care and Act with Consideration

Leadership is not power over others. In fact, leadership is about empowering others through service. To become a successful leader care and act always needed. Never ignore anyone for anything. Caring and inspiring others will always lead to success road.

Have a Good Communication Skill

Having good communication skill is a must for a successful leader. Regardless of the size of your organization whether it's a large corporation, a small company, or even a home-based business you need good communication skills if you want to succeed. Many leaders spend hours crafting the words when they want to communicate – especially when they have an important or sensitive message they have to deliver. Vocal impact is important as well.

Leaders are good planners

A leader is a person who never fails to plan. Planning indeed is a part of leadership skills as well. The effective use of planning will do more than any other competency to advance both getting the job done and keeping the group together. Planning is a “core competency.” It offers a general conceptual framework to integrate a variety of related skills, including problem-solving, scheduling, time management, performance appraisal, negotiation, and conflict resolution. By following a proven planning structure, one can improve the number and quality of options available at each step of the process. This produces improved outcomes.

Leaders are Good Counselor

Counseling employs simple, lay coaching and communication techniques. As a leader, people will come to you with problems. Because you are a leader, you will spot people with problems. You can't turn them away or just let them suffer, because the ignored problem, if serious, will almost inevitably become a group problem. “Counseling” is sometimes just another word for “listening.” When troubled, many times it helps the individual to just talk it out, to voice their concerns and express what’s troubling them. Just having their worries or problems heard by another gives the person a sense that his or her problems are legitimate, thus perhaps increasing their self-esteem and their feelings of adequacy in handling the situation.

Have Sense of Urgency

True urgency is a gut-level determination to move and win, now. A great leader used to come to work each day determined to achieve something important, and they shed irrelevant activities to move faster and smarter. Instead, they move boldly toward the future-sharply on the lookout for the hazards and the opportunities that change brings.

Be Brave and Honest.

Leaders are brave and always honest in the actions. Cowardly leaders will shy away from any number of situations that crop up regularly when running a team. As a great leader, one will learn how to present things to the team in an honest way but balanced manner.

Have Passion in All

If you want to be successful at your job and move up the company ladder you need to be passionate about your work. You need to be motivated and driven to be the best you can be regardless of your job or your work. A leader without passion isn’t a leader. He or she is a paper pusher. Passion drives a lot, and you can inspire so much in others through your own passion and enthusiasm.

Leaders Never Quit Trying

A leader is a person who always keeps trying till he/she finds a solution. In simple, a leader never quit trying. Success doesn’t come easy, so giving up early is a sure way to fail. Keep trying till you reach success.

In conclusion, leaders can achieve success through a combination of having a clear vision of the way forward, honest communication, effective teamwork, and demonstrating that they value the people who work for them. Developing leadership potential also involves matching individual talents with organizational need, and building skills that both enhance performance and play to individual strengths. Leadership is not a one day job to settle off. It’s indeed a lifelong never ending process. Remember that some of the greatest leaders weren’t always the ones who were born with the most charisma. Sometimes they were humble men who simply stood up and cared for the people around them.

References
How Successful People Think, by John C. Maxwell, 2009

2. A Sense of Urgency, by John P. Kotter, 2008
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven R. Covey, 2004

Leadership Story : Barrack Hussein Obama

What is leadership? A simple definition of leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. This definition of leadership, I think, captures the leadership essentials of inspiration and preparation. Effective leadership is based upon ideas, but won't happen unless those ideas can be communicated to others in a way that engages them.

Put even more simply, the leader is the inspiration and director of the action. He is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and leadership skills that makes others want to follow his direction. In business, leadership is welded to performance. Those who are viewed as effective leaders are those who increase their company's bottom lines.

In my opinion, to be a good leader, he/she must be able to identify potential problems and solving them before it reaches crisis proportions. So a good leader must always analyze, plan and adapt their plans to new circumstances and opportunities. Besides that, a leader must always have a vision. Vision is essential to good leadership. Vision provides direction and without direction, there’s not much point to all that planning.

Learning to be a leader isn't easy because it takes a conscious commitment and consistent effort to develop one's business leadership skills. But on the positive side, anyone who is willing to make the effort can become a good leader. Key leadership success secrets set the great leaders apart from the so-so leaders in today's organizations. Leadership style is learned from mentors, learned in seminars and exists as part of a person's innate personal leadership skill set developed over years, and existing possibly, from birth. Leadership differs from management and supervision although some people and organizations use the terms interchangeably. While the definitions of the terms differ, an individual may have the ability to provide all three.

Supervision means that an individual is charged with providing direction and oversight for other employees. The successful supervisor provides recognition, appreciation, training and feedback to reporting employees.

Management means to conduct the affairs of business, to have work under control and to provide direction, to guide other employees, to administer and organize work processes and systems, and to handle problems. Managers monitor and control work while helping a group of employees more successfully conduct their work than they would have without her. A manager’s job is often described as providing everything his reporting employees need to successfully accomplish their jobs. One famous quote from Warren Bennis, Ph.D. in On Becoming a Leader distinguishes management from leadership: “Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing.”



While a supervisor and a manager may also exhibit leadership skill or potential, true leaders are rare. This is because the combination of skills, personality and ambition essential to leadership are difficult to develop and exhibit.

The Transformational Leadership Theory is the one I believe is correct for most leaders today. This belief forms the basis for my thinking about leadership.

Everybody will have someone in their life to inspire them. One of my favourite leader in current time is Barrack Hussien Obama. Barrack Hussein Obama is the 44th and current President of the United States and was born on August 4, 1961. He married to Michelle and they have two daughters, Malia, 13 and Sasha 10. As we all know he is the first African American to hold the office.

Obama previously served as the United States Senator from Illinois from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election. Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act in 2010.

As the President of the United States, Obama is a mindful decision maker. Obama will always gain different perspectives on difficult issues. For example, if his cabinet were to contain people that constantly agree with him, he could make purely “Obama” choices all of the time and the right decision might not always be made. Obama has shown his decisiveness through the innumerable times he has taken action in just about the sixty days that he has spent in the White House.

In my opinion, one of the most difficult tasks that any world leader will face is balancing time with their two major obligations: the population that they are leading and their actual family. There’s no hiding the strong bonds between the members of the Obama family. Obama is certainly a family man; he’s seen in public all of the time with his loving family.

With the 2009 inauguration, Obama inherited two wars, one of the worst economic disasters in American history, and a multi trillion dollar debt. Obama has displayed that he knows how to inspire confidence in people and he will and he will have to make it out of these challenges. Obama attacks the economic recession daily, creates new plans to counter the U.S debt and has already put his troop withdrawal and distribution plans into action. The American people then know that the government is working hard so that they can trust in the Federal Government once again. Obama knows the true meaning of leadership: to encourage the American people to act for a common purpose because they want to. Here is a phrase that Obama used in one of his recent speeches:

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking”

He has certainly held true to his word on this quote. To help the alleviate the recession, he has spent more money in his first sixty days in an entire term of any other President. Obama hasn’t just talked about plans of rebuilding America, he has acted on them. Americans are gradually investing more and more trust in their government as each crisis is dealt with.

Obama also supported diplomacy as the first measure to be taken in response to any suspicious activity. In particular, Obama supported the re initiation of diplomatic action with Iran. He opposed the bill that would regard the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group, thereby allowing the present to position troops in Iran, which could interpreted as military action against the Iranians. This shows that the President respects all organization, regardless of their history or relationship and that his first thought when approaching foreign organizations.

Besides that, Obama is always focusing on fairness to his people. Obama’s tax plan delivers broad based tax relief to middle class families and cuts taxes for small business and companies that create job in America. Fairness is an especially important trait for any leader because a good leader must treat everyone with equality, regardless of race, gender or social status.

As a leader, Obama is a person which has a character of an individual viewed as a member of society or their behavior in terms of the duties, obligations and functions of a citizen. Obama demonstrated very eloquent citizenship when he worked as community organizer in the south side of Chicago.

As a conclusion, I would like say that Leadership is about setting the right example and making a difference in people’s life. Obama has formulated a more cross cultural approach to the world, thinking not only of the US’s interest but also the interests of the other nations as well.



REFERENCE

1) Allan William, Sally Woodward, Paul Dobson, Managing Change Successfully, Thomson Learning, 2002

2) Antony Bell, Great Leadership, Davies Black Publishing, 2006

3) Dr. Henry R. Meyer, Managing for Success, Leeds Publishing, 2005

4) Article: Secrets of Leadership Success by Susan M. Heathfield,

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

---

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

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

How to upload my story?

Attention to all new bloggers, welcome aboard. I have been receiving many enquiries regarding how to upload your postings. Please read through below and try it yourself.

1. Please key in Blogger ID and Password as specified by the secretariat.

2. Go to Dashboard

3. Find Manage Blog column , and click at New Post

4. Type in the title of your story at Title Box

5. Copy and Paste the rest of your stories in a bigger box below the Title Box

6. Once done with editing and proofreading, click Publish Post



Happy Blogging!

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind will achieve - Chef Wan

  I was there during the talk, I think I want to share it with the rest of you who reads this blog. Enjoy and have fun writing!

In short, this is the topic given by Datuk Chef Wan when he was invited to deliver his talk at INTAN few months ago. In Malay words, he believed in this, Di mana ada kemahuan, di situ ada jalan.

I love the sharing session very much. It was a good three hour with the speaker, he speaks from his heart, no slideshows, no fancy presentation just him telling his life stories from coming from a big family, with very little wealth to live with, yet working so hard to keep ends meet and truly evolved to become the successful man he is now, keeping his feet on the ground.

I was personally moved by his stories, I remember he said in this life you have to understand what makes you happy in order for you to achieve the good life. Some may define life by money, power or friends but you must really understand what you really want in life, and success to him is about achieving your dream and doing something that you’re passionate about.

That is why, an Accounting graduate like him left the bank, sacrifice his job and leave the family to pursue his dream to become a chef and it took him a long the way to finally become happy about how things are now, and keeping his energy at the optimum level that he could. Its amazing he has authored series of cookbooks, launched his own TV shows and now setting up his own Culinary Academy, which is going to be the centre of excellence for Asian Culinary Experience.

He talks about his experience as Malaysia’s Food Ambassador and how he helped to promote Malaysian tourism with MAS Holidays for free. He is filled with so many noble qualities of a good person, love to give and to share and believe in Allah SWT for guiding him through the good and bad times. He also said he learn a lot from meeting people, working with different people and character from various parts of the world and one thing we must never forget is that always reflect on yourself when you see things happening to other people, you can learn and improvise from there.

From business perspective, being a successful entrepreneur himself, it takes time to be wise. You must always make an effort to deliver the best quality, be consistent, and stick to the best recipe. In planning a strategy, you must study the market, device a good marketing plan and study the competitor. It takes time to be at the top and throughout the journey ,of course you will need to sacrifice, make an extra effort even though you’re already at the top.

I think these are just perfect for us to reflect and understand that the rest is really up to us to change our lives. Until we have come to the term about what’s within us, only then we will know how to use our talent and improve and always do it with a positive attitude.

 

* Hal Mahera Ahmad

Kecemerlangan Kepimpinan