About Leadership - from a Leader

Speech that Mr Lim Siong Guan, former Head of Civil Service, made at a university graduation in 2012.
http://thepotatotimes.livejournal.com/23285.html

Extracts:

... the people on the ground are much smarter than you think. So walk the ground. Don't stay in the office without knowing the true situation. If your people see you willing to get your hands dirty, they will respect you for caring and understanding.

... What did I know about planes and flying? Nothing. But I was willing to learn. And I was able to gain the confidence of the people involved that I had no desire to take away their credits: I was there purely to facilitate their work and coordinate their efforts. The moral of the story: help others succeed. Continually ask the question: How can I help you do your job better?

I was made General Manager of Singapore Automotive Engineering, now a division of ST Kinetics, at the age of 24. Energy and curiosity and a desire to learn and to contribute made up for my lack of specific skills and industrial knowledge. And ignorance and naiveté helped make the difficult, achievable. A string of appointments followed. ... The moral of my story: integrity, trustworthiness, reliability, energy, imagination and a continuous drive for excellence attract to you opportunities to learn, to serve and to contribute. Don’t chase the rewards; chase the opportunities.

When I retired from the Civil Service, I was asked first to chair the Economic Development Board and then to be Group President of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. Each has been a wonderful opportunity to lead, to help people grow to their potential, to help organizations become more than they ever imagined themselves possible. To be able to garner together the energy and creativity of everyone is to never focus on oneself but to always look out for the good of others. Leadership requires knowledge and experience but, most of all, it requires an other-centredness that comes from the inside of you. Lao Tze, the ancient Chinese philosopher, is reputed to have said, “As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honour and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate…When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’”