BERNAMA 2008/01/13
Snipped ............The former Prime Minister said anyone wanting to be a leader could try to acquire the right qualities but hemay not succeed.
"How he handles his failure will demonstrate whetherhe really has the qualities," he told an undergraduateconference here today.
Dr Mahathir said: "There are perhaps a 1,000 people inMalaysia with good leadership qualities but they arenever going to make it simply because thecircumstances are not propitious for them, he said.
On the other hand, he said, there may be people withpoor leadership qualities but they may become leadersbecause leadership appears to be thrust upon them.
Dr Mahathir outlined seven attributes of a goodleader.
They are:
i. A good leader may not be humble but at least heshould not be boastful.
ii. He must be prepared to accept responsibilities butshould not be too pushy and insistent on taking thelead.
iii. He should not seek to blame others for failuresbut to admit his own culpability. He should not pointfingers or seek scapegoats.
iv. He should be modest and not seek praise and glory.
v. He should know how to handle his followers as muchas his superiors. He must be sensitive to thesensitivities of others.
vi. He should be willing to do what he expects othersto do. He should uphold the slogan of leadership byexample.
vii. He should be learned and more intelligent at least by comparison of the people he leads.
Dr Mahathir said a leader must have ideas, ideas onthe direction he leads, ideas on the things that he and his followers must do or achieve and ideas on the improvements of their well-being and their surroundings.
Equally important he must know how to make his ideas become realities, he said. He said a leader must be aware of the needs and desires of his people, to evaluate them, to direct them in the proper direction and to plan and execute together with his followers the objectives successfully.
"Good leadership is obviously very important. Wecannot always identify the good leaders early enoughso that we choose the right one. The German people who chose HItler did not know what kind of leader hewould turn out to be.
"On the other hand, leaders who turned out to be good had great difficulty in winning the support of people initially. Even the Prophet of Islam was stoned by the people of Taif when he started preaching the religion of Islam," he said. He said the rise and fall of great nations and almostinvariably the rise was due to good leadership.
"When the leaders are incompetent, the countries wouldfall. The people may be the same, the background and the wealth and resources may be the same, but when leaders are incompetent or just plain bad, then greatnations, even great empires can fall," said DrMahathir who was prime minister for 22 years.
Dr Mahathir said no matter how people try to show the qualities and characters of a good leader, it would still not guarantee that they would not make mistakes.
"And similarly, no matter how much we learn about thequalities which make a good leader, it is still possible for us to choose the wrong one," he added.
Snipped ............The former Prime Minister said anyone wanting to be a leader could try to acquire the right qualities but hemay not succeed.
"How he handles his failure will demonstrate whetherhe really has the qualities," he told an undergraduateconference here today.
Dr Mahathir said: "There are perhaps a 1,000 people inMalaysia with good leadership qualities but they arenever going to make it simply because thecircumstances are not propitious for them, he said.
On the other hand, he said, there may be people withpoor leadership qualities but they may become leadersbecause leadership appears to be thrust upon them.
Dr Mahathir outlined seven attributes of a goodleader.
They are:
i. A good leader may not be humble but at least heshould not be boastful.
ii. He must be prepared to accept responsibilities butshould not be too pushy and insistent on taking thelead.
iii. He should not seek to blame others for failuresbut to admit his own culpability. He should not pointfingers or seek scapegoats.
iv. He should be modest and not seek praise and glory.
v. He should know how to handle his followers as muchas his superiors. He must be sensitive to thesensitivities of others.
vi. He should be willing to do what he expects othersto do. He should uphold the slogan of leadership byexample.
vii. He should be learned and more intelligent at least by comparison of the people he leads.
Dr Mahathir said a leader must have ideas, ideas onthe direction he leads, ideas on the things that he and his followers must do or achieve and ideas on the improvements of their well-being and their surroundings.
Equally important he must know how to make his ideas become realities, he said. He said a leader must be aware of the needs and desires of his people, to evaluate them, to direct them in the proper direction and to plan and execute together with his followers the objectives successfully.
"Good leadership is obviously very important. Wecannot always identify the good leaders early enoughso that we choose the right one. The German people who chose HItler did not know what kind of leader hewould turn out to be.
"On the other hand, leaders who turned out to be good had great difficulty in winning the support of people initially. Even the Prophet of Islam was stoned by the people of Taif when he started preaching the religion of Islam," he said. He said the rise and fall of great nations and almostinvariably the rise was due to good leadership.
"When the leaders are incompetent, the countries wouldfall. The people may be the same, the background and the wealth and resources may be the same, but when leaders are incompetent or just plain bad, then greatnations, even great empires can fall," said DrMahathir who was prime minister for 22 years.
Dr Mahathir said no matter how people try to show the qualities and characters of a good leader, it would still not guarantee that they would not make mistakes.
"And similarly, no matter how much we learn about thequalities which make a good leader, it is still possible for us to choose the wrong one," he added.
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