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In a speech to mark the lazinch of the Natwnal Lzbrary Board's book, Szngapore: The Fznt 10 Ears of Independence. last week, AIr Ho Kwon Pzng, chaznnan of the Sin- gapore Management Un~verszty Board and hfedzacovp, touched on the zssue of leadershzp. Below are excerpts from his speech.

LEADERSHIP is, according to this one definition: "The ability to secure the willing commit- ment of people to the achieve- ment of specific objectives."

T h e r e a re four concepts here: "wiUing commitment". "p ple", "specific objectivesn and "ability". This book, Singapore:

Publication: TODAY, p 12 Date: 12-13 April 2008 Headline: Xtra Leadership: Lessons from the first 10

The First 10 Years, shows us not just how effective our leaders were in the midst of an uncer- tain future, but how they man- aged to elicit a high level of will- ing commitment from those working for them. The first 10 years demonstrated the quality of the relationship that Singapore- ans had with their leaders.

This relationship was ground- ed in our leaders' strong self-be- lief - not conceit - which was in turn rooted in open, realistic ac- knowledgement of their individ- ual strengths and weaknesses.

The socalled "First 10" mem- bers of the first Cabinet, had a hard-nosed view of their own abil-

face of crisis, never descended into grandstanding, bickering or blaming. Each had his own con- tribution to make as part of a team:

Dr Goh Keng Swee in edu- cation, economy and defence Dr Toh Chin Chye in party or- ganisation, health and social services Mr S Rajaratnam in culture and foreign affairs Mr Ong Pang Boon in labour, environment and home affairs Mr Jek Yeun Thong in labour, culture and technology Mr Yong Nyuk Lin in educa- tion and health M r Eddie Barker in law, labour and home affairs

one's integrity or "character", which is itself the sum total of one's experience and values.

Singapore's first Cabinet comprised not the largely-ho- mogeneous, high-achieving Pres- ident Scholars and civil servants who now populate Parliament. They were a mixed bag of people from all walks of life, thrown t e gether by the call of history.

Second, leadership is both aspirational and inspirational in tha t i t enab les both t h e leader and the led to touch the better part of their own selves.

A good leader not only gets things done but enables us, in the doing, to transcend our

ities and shortcom- ings, and in the

Mr Lim Kim San in national development, finance and en- vironment Mr Othman Wok in social af- fairs, sports and culture.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew as first among equals, or primus inter pares, provided the vision, direc- tion and organisational discipline.

k The First 10 were remark- able in adhering, in the same breath, to a visionary, idealistic vi-

* sion of a multi-racial society based on meritocracy- unlike the com- munal politics across the Cause- way - but at the same time, to

' * ' a very pragmatic, multi-cultur- a1 policy, which recognised the

reality of ethnic divides. As the word "ability" sug-

gests, leadership takes practice, feedback and support to become effective. Apart from their innate intuition, charisma, influence and magnetism, the "First 1 0 forcibiy taught themselves the ability to reinvent and to recreate S i a - pore as the environment around it changed. Their foremost abili- ty was the capacity for forward thinking and, in today's business jargon, change management.

smaller selves and makes us feel that we have touched the better part of our selves.

Third, leadership requires the courage to follow convic- tions contrary to prevailing views and even one's own inclination, and arises from the ability to have been honest with oneself, by nurturing and listening to the voice within oneself.

By definition, leadership im- plies being different from the rest. This is most often easier said than done, because being different carries a price. It can range from social stigma and ridicule to imprisonment, phys- ical deprivation and even death.

And fourth, that leademhip in- volves making difficult judgement calls which lead to irrevocable ac- tion - not debate and discussion.

It is not the academic re- view and evaluation of facts, like what a doctor or scientist might do - nor is it the listing of pros and cons, leading to the passive critique of the armchair intel- lectual. Instead, it is the making of a decision, which is based, at best, on imperfect knowledge and may be grounded more on

S i n - principle rather than ratioaali- g a p o r e ' s ty, ~ntuition rather than facts.

r . - first Cabinet What is the key lesson from leaders not only observing our first%eneration lea& ' fulfilled my defi- ers? In confronting the conmlunist

nition of leadership, challenge, then the fragility of in- also demon- dependence and the uncertainty

strated the essential at- of econolnicgrowth, our first batch tributes of leadership at of leaders never had the luxury of

the personal level. hindsight, knowledge that they First, leadership would become spectacularly suc-

is not just a man- cessful. They faced failure every \ agement or politi- day, but giving up was simply not

cal technique an option. but is a natu- I believe leadership begins

ral conse- by learning to listen to the voice quence of within you, to be true to your

own deeper self against all other countervailing forces, and to act on it. And by recollecting, and re- flecting, on the occasions when you have listened to and acted ac- cording to your deeper voice, you are in fact preparing for the time when your inner resolve will be tested at a time of lead- ership - which you may or may not even be seeking.

Skilful rhetoric and oratory, or solid organisational skills, al- ways helps a leader, but it is above all the acting upon one's princi- ples, which defines a leader and serves as a mirror to other p e e ple's notions of what is best with- in themselves and inspires them to give the best of themselves.

This implies that exempla- ry leadership may be the most powerful kind of leadership.

Earlier, I gave you a some- what standard definition of lead- ership. My own preferred, some- what personal definition of leadership is this: A leader is the voice through which people hear their fears transformed into hope.

Fear and hope are after all, the two primordial human emo- tions which propel us to trans- form the world around us - fear of what we are capable of de- scending to and hope of what we can become instead. T h e transformation of this fear to hope is the leader's task.

The transformational role of leadership was exhibited every day by our first generation of lead- ers, not only in speeches but in their everyday actions.

Singapore's first Cabinet leaders have all long disap- peared from the scene, save for (Minister Mentor) Lee. The orderly succession planning he set in motion with (Senior Min- ister) Goh and (Prime Minister) Lee Hsien Loong, will face an uncertain transition. Singa- pore's next Prime Minister is probably not even in politics today and certainly will not have the legitimacy of previous PMs, conferred by MM Lee.

A new group of leaders must emerge and hopefully with them, a generation of Singaporeans who know our past, present and fu- ture - and imbued with the wis- dom, which only a knowledge of our history can impart - they can ensure Singapore will not be only a blip in the story of world civili- sations, but an enduring, inde- pendent and vibrant city state.