“I have never been overconcerned or
obsessed with opinion polls or popularity polls. I think a leader who is, is a
weak leader. If you are concerned with whether your rating will go up or down,
then you are not a leader. You are just catching the wind ... you will go where
the wind is blowing. And that’s not what I am in this for.” —Lee Kuan Yew
The world lost a visionary with the
demise of Lee Kuan Yew who was the longest serving prime minister in the world.
He was unique in many aspects. He showed the direction to Singapore when it
needed the most, and demonstrated to the world that everything is possible in
one generation by converting a third world nation into a first world nation.
Although Singapore did not have natural resources, he converted Singapore as a
prosperous country in the world with the help of human resources. He was an
ideal example who demonstrated to the world about the power of human resources
by leading under lots of constraints. It is often said that it is the bad
tradesman who blames his tools, and it is the wise tradesman who works with
what he has and from where he is. It is true in his case as he did not blame
for dearth of natural resources but worked with what he had with a great vision
and passion. Globally people often talk about the power of human resources and
human talent. Singapore can be compared with a global company and Lee Kuan Yew
with a CEO of a global company who walked his talk throughout his life. In this
article, let us look at how he converted Singapore as a world-class nation and
the leadership lessons other global leaders and CEOs can learn from him.
Leadership
Lessons from Lee Kuan Yew
Example:
Leadership success
starts with the first key - Example. Lee Kuan Yew led from the front by
aligning his deeds with his words. He cleaned the streets without any false
prestige. He made Singapore as a clean city. He practiced what he preached
throughout his life.
Energy:
The second key to
your leadership success is Energy. Every leader must demonstrate high energy
levels. Lee Kuan Yew demonstrated high energy levels to inspire his
people.
Enthusiasm:
The third key to your
leadership success is Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is all about interest towards
one’s own area of activity. It sounds
like passion, but it is different from passion. Enthusiasm is contagious. Lee
Kuan Yew was highly enthusiastic to convert Singapore as a world-class nation.
Endurance:
The fourth key,
Endurance is the ability to survive shocks and setbacks. It is a state of being
unruffled and undeterred when problems crop up due to external forces and
factors. Leaders should not give up just
because of a few setbacks. They need to
demonstrate endurance at all times to inspire their followers. Lee Kuan Yew demonstrated his endurance time
and again. When Malaysia was separated from Singapore, he literally wept but
bounced back to build a strong Singapore.
Emotional
Intelligence: The fifth key to your leadership
success is Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to
recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives, as well as their
effect on others. Emotional intelligence
involves listening to others, picking up the hidden data of communication,
acknowledging others’ perceptions and managing people’s egos and emotions. Lee Kuan Yew was emotionally intelligent and
managed all stakeholders. At times, he was autocratic to muzzle press and
suppress his political opponents.
Eloquence:
Eloquence is the
sixth key to your leadership success. Eloquence involves making the speech
comprehensible to all audiences.
Eloquence is about being persuasive, fluent and elegant in your
speaking. Eloquence is articulating your
ideas, insights and thoughts with others at ease. It is one of the surefire ingredients of
effective leadership. Lee Kuan Yew was
good at three languages and was an accomplished orator.
Effectiveness:
Effectiveness is the
seventh key to your leadership success. Effectiveness is all about being
qualitative in applying your efforts and energies. It is rightly said that managers are efficient
and leaders are effective. It means
being thorough in planning and execution to minimize mistakes. It is a kind of qualitative and smart
work. In brief, effectiveness is all
about doing right things rather doing things right. Lee Kuan Yew built a neutral,
effective, honest and strong civil service. It worked out well to develop this
nation.
Execution:
The eighth key to
your leadership success is Execution.
Execution is a systematic method of exposing, understanding and
appreciating the ground realities and acting accordingly. It is a kind of mission to roll out. It helps translate vision into a reality. It
is the link between strategy and reality.
It closes the gap between the vision and outcomes. Every leader must possess this ingredient to
enhance his/her effectiveness. Lee Kuan Yew was a ruthless taskmaster who
believed in effective execution. Most leaders have great visions but fail
miserably due to ineffective execution. He bridged the gap between his vision
and execution with his autocratic leadership style.
Excellence: Excellence is the ninth key to your
leadership success. Leaders must excel in their areas in order to command
respect from their followers. Excellence
should not be confused with perfection.
Excellence means being the best. Leaders like to be at their best and they
constantly strive for delivering the best results. Lee Kuan Yew was not
complacent. He strove for excellence constantly. He learned, unlearned and
relearned with changing times to build Singapore as a great nation in the
world.
Conclusion
“Singapore’s greatest asset is the
high aptitude of her people to work in manufacturing industries. They can be
ranked among the best factory workers in the world.” – Albert Winsemius
Lee Kuan Yew was a great visionary with
an effective execution. He was a visionary of the 20th century. He was a true
patriot who worked under lots of constraints to take Singapore to great
heights. He was passionate about his people. He was an autocratic leader with
task-oriented mindset with the least tolerance for errors and opposition. He impacted not only Singapore but many
nations and people in the world. He saw what others could not see well in
advance. He had a long-term vision and executed his tasks with single-minded
focus and dedication. He was one of the rarest leaders in the world whose
influence is beyond his generation for his vision, passion and effective execution.
He achieved success because of his autocratic style which was essential at that
time. Now it is time for Singapore to transform from autocratic to soft
leadership to take things forward aggressively. To conclude, Lee Kuan Yew
articulated his vision effectively, inspired his people, encountered complexity
and uncertainty head-on, made effective decisions to impact the world. He was one of the leaders in the world who
proved that everything is possible in the world in one generation.
“Even from my sick bed, even if you
are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I
will get up.”—Lee Kuan Yew
Life is great!
Professor M.S.Rao, India
Founder of MSR
Leadership Consultants India
Listed
in Marquis Who's Who in the World in 2013
Vision 2030 Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCO-gWmTRk
Twitter: @professormsrao
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