COMMUNICATION LEADERSHIP
Singapore - While most countries rate "honesty" as their most admired characteristic in leaders, Singapore rates "competence" more highly than any other country in the world.
Even though 75,000 global respondents value a leader who is honest, forward-looking, inspiring and competent, Singapore ranks "competence" higher than the other three leadership attributes, the Characteristics of Admired Leaders 2007 survey shows. That is because of the nation's strong emphasis on the development of people and their expertise, says James Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge which conducted the survey. "One of the things Singapore is noted for around the world is its emphasis on education."
Leaders in Singapore also need to have a good track record at demonstrating success. The nation, Kouzes explains, values people with accomplishments, a characteristic which is "more highly priced in Singapore than it is in other countries". He says, "That is a characteristic which will go a long way to continue to be a model fro leadership development in the rest of the world." That brings an added advantage in "a world where intellect is going to be value added to products and services," Kouzes adds.
Furthermore, he believes that leaders are made, not born. Hence, leaders should be trained from a young age. "I think the younger we start to train leaders, the more effective they'll be," he says, adding that starting at secondary school level is definitely "not too early".
As educators, school teachers should help conduct formal training in class, while exemplifying the best practices of leadership themselves to students. These include modeling the behaviour they expect of others, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart of their constituents to carry on.
But teachers also have to keep in mind that as leaders, their job is to engage others in a shared vision to understand their hopes, dreams, and inspiration. "Leadership is not a monologue... It's a dialogue," says Kouzes.
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