Aku dapat maklumat ini daripada "mailing group" yang aku sertai. Sumber asal aku "acknowledge with thanks". Pada pendapat aku, apa yang baik itu kita harus ambil iktibar, manakala yang tidak baik itu kita jadikan sempadan. Sebenarnya, kebenaran itu amat pahit bagaikan hempedu, namun ia harus ditelan sebagai ubat. Susah sebenarnya menjadi seorang pemimpin yang baik, amanah, jujur, bertanggungjawab dan berintegriti. Lebih susah juga untuk memuaskan hati semua orang, tetapi sekurang-kurangnya, kepuasan insan-insan yang penting dalam hidup kita (stakeholders) perlu diutamakan dahulu.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On 8/1/06, Don Rahimwrote:
Dear friends,
Sometimes people forget that leaders are also human. They too make mistakes. What is important is for us the younger generation to learn from those mistakes. Who knows, there could emerge a Prime Minister from amongst you lot in the distant future. I attempt to summarise below what I observe as the stuff we can learn from the years of Mahathir and Paklah as Prime Ministers. There are 12 lessons from Mahathir's years as PM, and 12 from Paklah's. But I purposely combined the two below. You figure yourself which one is attributed to Mahathir or Paklah!
FOR FUTURE PRIME MINISTERS – LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THE PRIME MINISTERSHIPS OF MAHATHIR & PAKLAH
1. A leader should be a good judge of character
2. A leader shouldn't be too soft deep inside. People who meet you should not get what they want simply by crying in front of you. Sometimes people are just putting up an act to get what they wanted. One should see through such people.
3. Loyalty should not be the most important thing to you. Space should also be given to dissenters if they can deliver. Dissent does not mean absence of any loyalty.
4. Emphasis should not be placed too much on unity in the party at the expense of democracy. Contests for top positions should not be discouraged in the name of unity. Hurdles should not have been placed to curtail challengers. There will then be a dearth of real talents.
5. Political consideration should not be the utmost consideration in everything. Justice and fairness should be.
6. A leader should surround himself with intellectuals instead of just loyalists. Then you can have a good and meaningful debate on your policies. Not simply yes-men.
7. Don't try to do all the work yourself until your deputy has nothing concrete to do. Delegate some of your powers to him. Give him something important to do.
8. Don't trust your successor if he promises you anything before he takes power. He will most likely renege on it unless you have something on him to make him "kowtow".
9. The end doesn't justify the means in everything.
10. Sometimes you may not instruct your people to do certain things, but their actions although independent of you, may cast you in a bad light.
11. Power should not be concentrated too much in the PM's position. If the leader is good, it's ok. But if he's bad, it's hard to get rid of him.
12. Serious efforts should be made to ensure that the Judiciary is being seen to be independent of you and the executive.
13. Put your family and advisors at the background. They can still contribute to your policies, but make sure the credit goes entirely to you. You need to be seen to have an independent mind. It is hard to unwind the perception once the damage has been done.
14. Find time to listen to many differing groups so that you don't lose touch of the grassroots. Also to avoid you be seen manipulated without you realizing.
15. Don't simply delegate most of your responsibilities to your deputy. Have more interest and passion to govern.
16. Substance is more important than form. Empty slogans or spin doctoring will catch up with you if you are not seen to deliver.
17. If your predecessor asks you to promise even the moon and sky, just say yes. You can always backtrack after you took over power as long as you know he has nothing on you.
18. Don't try to hang on to too many portfolios unless you're sure you can handle the responsibilities.
19. Keep close tabs of what your people are doing. If not, they may just use your name for convenience sake without you knowing.
20. Spend time to read the main newspapers daily so that you know what type of spin is being engineered by your people.
21. Spend time to read everything that lands on your desk instead of getting people to summarise it for you. Facts can sometimes be twisted without you realising.
22. Don't just look at the big picture. The details matter more.
23. Tell your family to stay clear of politics until you retire. If not charges of nepotism of favoritism may be leveled at you.
24. Don't dish out contracts to family members or close friends. Tell them to use proxies instead.
Salam,
Din p.a. to Don
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On 8/1/06, Don Rahim
Dear friends,
Sometimes people forget that leaders are also human. They too make mistakes. What is important is for us the younger generation to learn from those mistakes. Who knows, there could emerge a Prime Minister from amongst you lot in the distant future. I attempt to summarise below what I observe as the stuff we can learn from the years of Mahathir and Paklah as Prime Ministers. There are 12 lessons from Mahathir's years as PM, and 12 from Paklah's. But I purposely combined the two below. You figure yourself which one is attributed to Mahathir or Paklah!
FOR FUTURE PRIME MINISTERS – LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THE PRIME MINISTERSHIPS OF MAHATHIR & PAKLAH
1. A leader should be a good judge of character
2. A leader shouldn't be too soft deep inside. People who meet you should not get what they want simply by crying in front of you. Sometimes people are just putting up an act to get what they wanted. One should see through such people.
3. Loyalty should not be the most important thing to you. Space should also be given to dissenters if they can deliver. Dissent does not mean absence of any loyalty.
4. Emphasis should not be placed too much on unity in the party at the expense of democracy. Contests for top positions should not be discouraged in the name of unity. Hurdles should not have been placed to curtail challengers. There will then be a dearth of real talents.
5. Political consideration should not be the utmost consideration in everything. Justice and fairness should be.
6. A leader should surround himself with intellectuals instead of just loyalists. Then you can have a good and meaningful debate on your policies. Not simply yes-men.
7. Don't try to do all the work yourself until your deputy has nothing concrete to do. Delegate some of your powers to him. Give him something important to do.
8. Don't trust your successor if he promises you anything before he takes power. He will most likely renege on it unless you have something on him to make him "kowtow".
9. The end doesn't justify the means in everything.
10. Sometimes you may not instruct your people to do certain things, but their actions although independent of you, may cast you in a bad light.
11. Power should not be concentrated too much in the PM's position. If the leader is good, it's ok. But if he's bad, it's hard to get rid of him.
12. Serious efforts should be made to ensure that the Judiciary is being seen to be independent of you and the executive.
13. Put your family and advisors at the background. They can still contribute to your policies, but make sure the credit goes entirely to you. You need to be seen to have an independent mind. It is hard to unwind the perception once the damage has been done.
14. Find time to listen to many differing groups so that you don't lose touch of the grassroots. Also to avoid you be seen manipulated without you realizing.
15. Don't simply delegate most of your responsibilities to your deputy. Have more interest and passion to govern.
16. Substance is more important than form. Empty slogans or spin doctoring will catch up with you if you are not seen to deliver.
17. If your predecessor asks you to promise even the moon and sky, just say yes. You can always backtrack after you took over power as long as you know he has nothing on you.
18. Don't try to hang on to too many portfolios unless you're sure you can handle the responsibilities.
19. Keep close tabs of what your people are doing. If not, they may just use your name for convenience sake without you knowing.
20. Spend time to read the main newspapers daily so that you know what type of spin is being engineered by your people.
21. Spend time to read everything that lands on your desk instead of getting people to summarise it for you. Facts can sometimes be twisted without you realising.
22. Don't just look at the big picture. The details matter more.
23. Tell your family to stay clear of politics until you retire. If not charges of nepotism of favoritism may be leveled at you.
24. Don't dish out contracts to family members or close friends. Tell them to use proxies instead.
Salam,
Din p.a. to Don
Comments