TOMORROW, Malaysia votes to elect our representatives in Parliament and some state assemblies for the next five years. Your decision on who you should vote for is entirely up to you. Just remember that only when we vote can we bring progress for ourselves and our country.
As we head to the polling booths, perhaps it is prudent to remind ourselves of what good leadership is.
In my experience, here are my top leadership characteristics.
• Leaders who serve others, succeed: Years ago, I attended a seminar by management guru Stephen R. Covey. The most impactful message I took home was that leaders needed to first be servants. To be a true leader, you must serve and give to others. And how you do this is by respecting others with hard work.
• Leaders make hard decisions, not expedient ones: One of the primary roles of a leader is to navigate your team, department or organisation. This requires that you make many decisions daily that ensure you deliver on your promises.
Your choices will continually shape the future of your people. For this, you cannot make convenient decisions. Instead, your decision-making process needs to be firmly grounded on a solid perspective of the greater good of your organisation, as painful as that may be.
• Leaders who make an impact are not driven by a quest for popularity: The most significant leaders work on being impactful and effective. If you concentrate on this, and calibrate all your actions to be significant for the greater good of your team, popularity will be an ensuing by-product.
• Leaders are confident, not insecure: You can teach yourself to be an effective problem solver; become more decisive; learn how to communicate effectively and how to coach, mentor and hold team members accountable; and many other fundamental traits of leadership. Yet, without you first believing in yourself, and your message, you will not succeed.
• Leaders show courage over cowardice: Many people think that loud and boisterous leaders show courage. This is possible but there is a lot more involved in being a courageous leader. Courage is needed to stand up and speak up, but it also takes courage to sit down and listen.
• Leaders stand alone but are never alone: Good leaders do what is right, even in the face of great danger or under the brunt of relentless criticism. So, they are happy to stand alone. Just like Rosa Parks or Nelson Mandela.
But leadership is not a "solitary task."
John Coleman, co-author of Passion & Purpose: Stories from the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders, argues that changes are community-driven and community-focused.
Some of the greatest accomplishments in business, politics, and culture have come not from individual initiative alone but from those working in, with and for their community.
• Leaders commit to long-term vision, not just short-term success: "Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion," said Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric.
In my experience, the start point for this is purpose-drive. Your team is a group of people who are investing their time and effort into something you are leading. If you want to engage them in higher ways, help them find meaning in their work.
Remember, as you cast your vote tomorrow, ask yourself if the person you are selecting exhibits the traits above. Only when we choose the right people can the our nation flourish.
Happy voting, everyone.
The writer is managing consultant and executive leadership coach at EQTD Consulting. He is also the author of the national bestseller 'So, You Want To Get Promoted?'
