Published by EMIR Research, image from UBM News.
One fundamental question of human affairs is “Who shall rule?” According to psychologist Robert Hogan and his team in their article, published in American Psychologist (June 1994) – who took a less realpolitik approach – the question is “Who should rule?” This question must be answered during national elections, when CEOs are replaced, and when university presidents retire. The question concerns how to evaluate leadership potential. When it is answered incorrectly, teams lose, armies are defeated, economies dwindle, and nations fail.
In order to be a good leader, you need to be a part of society – to put yourself in other people’s shoes, so leaders can get an idea of what each individual goes through. An excellent time to develop a leader is as early as primary school. It is the most suitable time to strike the iron while it’s hot. Other than the moral education that is taught to students, a culture of communal work such as gotong-royong and cleaning up the school compound every week will help eliminate the unhealthy drives in the future, such as becoming leaders who only seek power. Malaysians and millennial nowadays are all for the idea of promoting leaders rather than bosses.
Power obsessed leaders want to be in charge and will usually abuse their authority to make decisions that will benefit them in good ways, but impact others terribly. This can have a bad impact on team members, and put a dent in the team’s development. Sometimes, such leaders might even feel threatened if they encounter individuals more talented than themselves. There would be no room for meritocracy at all, and positions are acquired based on who you know and or who you are friends with. Due to their personal agendas, society cannot necessarily rely on them to lead well.
In contrast, I believe people who have the right intentions are more passionate about working to complete important tasks, even when no one else notices their struggle. Just like a film cinematographer or the director himself, you do not see them on-screen, but they are basically running the whole production, and ensuring everything is achieved in a timely manner.
Achievement-oriented people are more focused on doing tasks and they usually sustain the productivity of a team in the long term. They often engage the passions and drive of individual team members, and this will motivate each of them to develop on every level – not just intellectually or skills-wise, but also emotionally and sometimes even spiritually. When leaders do this, they build collective goals with each team member, and together they unite as one. Sometimes this results in financial growth, but accomplishments are not just about numbers; they are also personal and the value to each team member is recognising their own achievements and contribution to the organisation’s vision and mission. Usually it is these kinds of employees who are key to the organisation success.
A leader always celebrates the success of his team and promotes team analysis as to why a project might have fallen short. Leaders encourage collaboration, and together with their team members, produce a mindset towards achievement. Nelson Mandela said “A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed”. Each of team member has hidden talents and specialises in certain skill sets. A good leader is capable of identifying each of the team members’ unique talents and ensuring it is utilised to its full capacity. Failure is not a part of their vocabulary, but they also encourage you to learn from mistakes. The setbacks that occur when pursuing a task are only there to improve the process, and to encourage thinking outside the box and being able to eliminate further errors in the future. A good leader recognises this and lives by it. Even with a successful outcome, they will always find ways to better improve the process and set higher goals together as a team.
Achievement oriented leaders always learn and are not afraid of admitting inferiority when the time calls. They are usually risk-takers and not gamblers. A leader who supports his team members guides them and mentors them on subjects they are not able to comprehend. They are also not afraid to show that they are capable of being vulnerable or unaware of certain information. When a leader displays this, it means they are down to earth, and are able to show just how human they are. Another quality of a good leader is their ability to adapt. In times when the economy is changing at a fast pace, being able to adapt means being able to survive and thrive in a competitive field.
Of course, completing a task always creates a good vibe, but what is more important is to be able to guide your team. When a leader successfully nurtures each team member, going to great lengths together becomes easier and more enjoyable as everyone grows. Teamwork such as this can usually survive any obstacles faced, and mostly are evoked from quality leadership.
Afnan ‘Aqif is Research Associate at EMIR Research, an independent think-tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based upon rigorous research.
