Q Do the rules of being a good leader of a country apply to an organisational leader?

A Only a few apply. The leader of an organisation generally has a very clear idea of the boundaries of an organisation. But a country is something else. Winston Churchill was a terrible administrator, but a great national leader. In America, Bill Clinton had no feeling for administration, but was a great national communicator, as was Ronald Reagan.

Q What leadership qualities do you see in Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew that you think leaders of an organisation should possess?

A The main thing is having clarity in public expression. Too many organisational leaders believe they have to “complex up” their inter-organisational communication. This is a terrible mistake. MM Lee works very hard at simplicity and directness and so should leaders of all organisations because their followers deserve no less. Another quality is his talent for setting goals. An organisation without clear direction is one without meaning.

Q What are some of the things leaders can work on to attain a simple and direct network of communication in an organisation?

A Conveying messages effectively within any institution is crucial, be it the public or private sector. My only “expertise” in this area, which was rather thin, was as a supervisor at editorial institutions such as Time, the Los Angeles Times, CBS and Newsday. I found that in managing highly creative people, frequent and informal peer-group meetings were essential. I would limit formal meetings to once a month at most. The key was to develop and imbed frequent and habitual exchanges that would lead to a superior team performance.

Q What are some leadership lessons Singapore companies can learn from MM Lee?

A Employers should never settle for less than excellent results. Also, they should always broaden contacts, avoid provincialism and think ahead. MM Lee is a tremendous worrier. He is always concerned about the next big thing or challenge.

Q How important do you think leaders are in an evolving workplace?

A They can be huge, but can be overwrought. Peer group-based
decision-making is always the best. A leader should provide direction, but empower employees to make consequential decisions on a highly informed and well-trained basis.

Q Do you think leadership qualities are intrinsic or nurtured?

A Leadership is mainly intrinsic. It is God-given.

Q If leadership is intrinsic, how do leadership development programmes help in grooming future leaders?

A It can only help by emulation. One can not teach intuition or genius, but one can view the tendencies and habits of real leaders and seek to graft such behaviours on supervisors. But this is complex and hard to codify. Audio-visual aids are essential. The text-only learning approach is doomed.

Q How can you tell who is a good leader?

A Within minutes. I have interviewed many high-profile national political
leaders to be able to achieve this. My top five most important qualities are:

1. Clear and very proficient in communication skills.

2. Able to prioritise down to two of three goals at any one time.

3. Able to differentiate between long-term and short-term goals.

4. Possess the ability to empathise deep into and through the ranks.

5. Able to listen to subordinates, assimilate what is valuable, then play it back to them.