Mark Of A Leader 'Not In His Top Grades'
I have heard many comments over the years that the Singapore Government focuses too much on Educational Elitism in their leadership selection. Besides education, other competence are often left out or sidelined.
For your reading... if you have more thoughts, do share it with me as well. Perhaps you have some insight that will enlighten me further.
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That is the assessment of those who were top students. They value competence, leadership qualities, including EQ, more. -ST
Jeremy Au Yong
Mon, Apr 07, 2008
The Straits Times
ACADEMIC grades are a useful measure for identifying a potential political leader but it should not be the topmost criterion.
That assessment came, interestingly enough, from people who were top students, with four As in their A levels.
They were reacting to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's statement on his urgent search for a successor in an interview on Tuesday, when he also highlighted the brain drain among the 4As students. PM Lee had also indicated that based on past experience, it would take about three elections to groom a leader.
The Straits Times interviewed 10 people who had 4As, and the key traits they seek in the country's leaders are competence, capability and leadership qualities, including emotional quotient or EQ.
Top grades are not critical, they added.
Even a PM without a university degree is not anathema to civil servant Jenny Tan.
'I'm not vehemently against it,' said the 28-year-old. 'It's just one factor. Work and track record are more important.''
Another civil servant, Mr C.L. Lian, 31, put it this way: 'The person must have demonstrated intellect and problem-solving ability, but the emphasis doesn't have to be on grades. I'm sure Bill Gates would be someone you want.'
Mr Gates, co-founder of software giant Microsoft, is one of the world's most famous university dropouts.
Mr Lian added that though the current selection system was sound, the grooming period might have to be shortened.
'Currently, there is this grooming period but we may not have 20 years to give,' he said, referring to PM Lee who entered politics in 1984 and became PM in 2004.
Mr Lian said it was important for the political leaders to decide which parts of government need leaders with knowledge and experience in government, and which ministries can do with leaders without government experience.
He cited Senior Counsel K. Shanmugam - who is going straight from being an MP to Law Minister - as a case of a person who was not groomed to be a minister, but had the right skills and experience.
Some interviewed, like Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong, felt there may be a need to change the way leaders are chosen.
Said Mr Siew, who had 4As in his A levels: 'Now, we seem to be going about choosing one like we go about giving scholarships. There's this list of objective criteria.'
The answer to who should be the next PM will depend on how the question is framed, he added. 'If we are looking for technocrats and managers, then you'll be competing with the world. If you frame it differently, if you're looking for leaders of the future, you probably could come up with a different characteristic.'
MP Baey Yam Keng, another top scorer, said academic excellence was a 'necessary although not sufficient' criterion. Even then, he said exceptions could be made. 'Grades are important at the entry point but over the years, they become less and less important.'
In his interview with The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, PM Lee had highlighted data that show one in four - 150 out of 600 - top A-level students yearly works overseas after their studies. 'This flow is going to continue. So it's a big challenge to find successors, particularly for politics,' he said.
The extent of this brain drain does not surprise those interviewed, who added that it is not at the heart of the problem.
Said corporate tax associate Sarah Seow, 26: 'I believe the greater problem isn't the brain drain, but the political apathy of my generation.
'I know that among my peers still staying on in Singapore, many of us are talented and intelligent enough to become the Government's next tier of leaders - the only problem is that we may have become so caught up in our own careers and desires that we don't see a reason to get involved in politics.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 4, 2008.
For your reading... if you have more thoughts, do share it with me as well. Perhaps you have some insight that will enlighten me further.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That is the assessment of those who were top students. They value competence, leadership qualities, including EQ, more. -ST
Jeremy Au Yong
Mon, Apr 07, 2008
The Straits Times
ACADEMIC grades are a useful measure for identifying a potential political leader but it should not be the topmost criterion.
That assessment came, interestingly enough, from people who were top students, with four As in their A levels.
They were reacting to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's statement on his urgent search for a successor in an interview on Tuesday, when he also highlighted the brain drain among the 4As students. PM Lee had also indicated that based on past experience, it would take about three elections to groom a leader.
The Straits Times interviewed 10 people who had 4As, and the key traits they seek in the country's leaders are competence, capability and leadership qualities, including emotional quotient or EQ.
Top grades are not critical, they added.
Even a PM without a university degree is not anathema to civil servant Jenny Tan.
'I'm not vehemently against it,' said the 28-year-old. 'It's just one factor. Work and track record are more important.''
Another civil servant, Mr C.L. Lian, 31, put it this way: 'The person must have demonstrated intellect and problem-solving ability, but the emphasis doesn't have to be on grades. I'm sure Bill Gates would be someone you want.'
Mr Gates, co-founder of software giant Microsoft, is one of the world's most famous university dropouts.
Mr Lian added that though the current selection system was sound, the grooming period might have to be shortened.
'Currently, there is this grooming period but we may not have 20 years to give,' he said, referring to PM Lee who entered politics in 1984 and became PM in 2004.
Mr Lian said it was important for the political leaders to decide which parts of government need leaders with knowledge and experience in government, and which ministries can do with leaders without government experience.
He cited Senior Counsel K. Shanmugam - who is going straight from being an MP to Law Minister - as a case of a person who was not groomed to be a minister, but had the right skills and experience.
Some interviewed, like Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong, felt there may be a need to change the way leaders are chosen.
Said Mr Siew, who had 4As in his A levels: 'Now, we seem to be going about choosing one like we go about giving scholarships. There's this list of objective criteria.'
The answer to who should be the next PM will depend on how the question is framed, he added. 'If we are looking for technocrats and managers, then you'll be competing with the world. If you frame it differently, if you're looking for leaders of the future, you probably could come up with a different characteristic.'
MP Baey Yam Keng, another top scorer, said academic excellence was a 'necessary although not sufficient' criterion. Even then, he said exceptions could be made. 'Grades are important at the entry point but over the years, they become less and less important.'
In his interview with The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, PM Lee had highlighted data that show one in four - 150 out of 600 - top A-level students yearly works overseas after their studies. 'This flow is going to continue. So it's a big challenge to find successors, particularly for politics,' he said.
The extent of this brain drain does not surprise those interviewed, who added that it is not at the heart of the problem.
Said corporate tax associate Sarah Seow, 26: 'I believe the greater problem isn't the brain drain, but the political apathy of my generation.
'I know that among my peers still staying on in Singapore, many of us are talented and intelligent enough to become the Government's next tier of leaders - the only problem is that we may have become so caught up in our own careers and desires that we don't see a reason to get involved in politics.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 4, 2008.
posted by Jeff Chong at 12:11 pm
11 Comments:
Read PM Lee's reasons for intellectual ability as an important criteria as a leader- http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_224599.html
A leader is not just about intellect poweress. No doubt, it is very important as PM Lee has remarked. But there are many qualities that aren't gradable like ability to connect with a wide range of people, emotional intelligence, character, charisma etc.
Let's ask ourselves this question. Who is more or better educated? Obama or Clinton? Perhaps many of us do not even know!
LCW
That is what Hope of God is here for!
Haha!
To groom leaders of God.
Thanks Andrew.
Hey LCW, I certainly agree with you that leadership is not just about being brain smart. There are many other factors (you have mentioned quite a fair bit).
Amen Luke!
I totally agree with the post. But that's the problem with this comment. Its only credible when given by people who have already achieved top grades. If not, people with poor grades who have similar view points will be deemed to be sour grapes.
haha... I don't think you have poor grades.
On the contrary, when people who have good grades make such comments, it may be deem that it is easy for you to say when you have got it!
It is like rich people saying that money is not everything or super-model saying that looks isn't important.
i tink there is alot of wayang in politics. im not sure if MM Lee had good grades? Ultimately.. other criteria is not easily being assessed, n thus an easy way out now, will be to seive out those who are good in academic studies [not necess tops], then from there stream line on characters, EQ etc.
Can i say most who do well academically are well disciplined? [some are being forced i know..]
haiz.. nothing's perfect. :)
Think MM Lee has got good grades... in fact, very good grades.
Food for thought from 11-April Today newspaper...
"The Curse of Competency" ?
when we are "highly competent" but "rigidised" ... ?
and lacking empathy ... ?
The blind Mexican ambassador to Singapore in a recent interview with Today said: "Singapore still has some way to go before it relates to
situations like this (his blindness)." As he very candidly put it: "Yes,
yes, I'm blind. People are afraid to talk about it, but I'm happy to
explain it."
The problem
is that we do not want to or know how to deal with the exceptional or
unknown. We tend to view everything as black and white while other mature
societies can acknowledge and deal with various shades of grey.
Despite turning blind when he was in his early 30s, this was never seen as
a handicap and Mr Gomez-Camacho made a meteoric rise through the ranks in
the years after his blindness was diagnosed, chiefly due to the tremendous
support he received from Mexico's social and political structures.
I am not saying we should embark on a campaign to employ diplomats or
high-flying civil servants who are handicapped. Someone like Mr
Gomez-Camacho would have been removed from our mainstream education system
and placed in a school for the visually handicapped. After that, he could
not hope to have a sparkling career.
The problem is not in our systems. We have world-class systems, and we have
reason to be proud of them. But I am not sure we, as a society, have the
right DNA to optimise our world-class systems. We have heard the stories
before — Singaporean kids who do not cut it in this system but leave the
country and thrive elsewhere.
Another case is that of a Singaporean student in a boarding school overseas
who was about to start the final year of the IB programme. Sadly, she was
taken ill and came back to Singapore. Her parents went from pillar to post
trying to get her back into the system here. As she was in her final year,
her choice of schools was limited. One insensitive administrator even asked
her parents: "Are you sure she can take the exams if she is so sick?"
Finally, her boarding school made special arrangements for her to continue
her studies using email, MSN, Skype and every type of technology available.
Every teacher made the extra effort to teach remotely — just for this one
student in Singapore. She has since recovered and is back in school
preparing for her exams.
I am sure there are caring teachers in our system who have gone the extra
mile for their students.
Admittedly, our education system is one of the best in the world. Even the
Americans have started using our textbooks. The last Education Minister made changes that must be acknowledged.
However, the problems arise at the implementation level, where
educationists and administrators take on a hard-and-fast stance on
following the rules. It translates to a lack of flexibility, non-shifting
boundaries and, sometimes, a lack of empathy.
These are highly competent people who form the social network of the
system, but they are so "rigidised" and caught up with the competency of
the system that they cannot see beyond that.
So, while we take great pride in our systems, I am afraid we do not have
the same world-class mindsets to resonate with our world-class status.
Renowned author Jim Collins calls this "the curse of competency".
In his book, Good to Great, he explained that companies need to transcend
this curse to go from good to great.
He said: "The good-to-great companies
understood that doing what you are good at will only make you good;
focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other
organisation is the only path to greatness".
He was talking about companies making the leap. I don't see why our society
cannot take a leaf from his book, "transcend the curse of competency" and
make that leap.
Thanks MJ for your post! A lot of food for thought there!
Keep posting good articles for all to read.
ya, it's from the newspaper article that I read :) While I may not agree with everything that was written, I thought that the article provide some triggers for reflection.
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