KUALA LUMPUR, THURS: The empowered and energised younger generation of Malaysians want a more moral, open, representative, equable, and equitable forms of leadership, the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said today.
“As a result of its successes in human development, Malaysian society has changed. The Malaysian development ethos today is no longer framed in purely materialistic terms,” he said at the 17th Tun Dr Ismail oration, at the 42nd Malaysia-Singapore Congress of Medicine, here.
He said the nation’s younger generation wanted leaders who could courageously cross sectarian boundaries and who relied on their intellectual and moral integrity and gravitas to attract and retain support, not just on political power and patronage.
He said one of the country’s enduring strengths had been its almost obsessive focus on effective leadership, one which had to deliver the goods to the people.
“This has been one source of legitimacy for leaders apart from personal popularity. The leadership process has also, to a degree, been open and inclusive and resulted in Malaysia emerging as a shinning model for development.
Other countries may have had as much, if not more, than Malaysia but they were able to accomplish very much less,” he said.
He said leaders of today must be masters of soft power because hard power, though still required to maintain law and order, was not well adapted in dealing with today’s complex and interdependent world.
“As with any change, there will be tensions. Progress may advance and at times, retreat, in line with changing circumstances. The pressures for transformational leadership, however, will be incessant and unremitting.
“Such leaders will emerge in the future I believe, but it is necessary to remember that they have been around also in the past. Tun Dr Ismail was one in the first wave of leaders who demonstrated an integrity that was beyond question,” Raja Nazrin said.
He said the nations of the world today needed what is known as transformational leadership, which strives to achieve higher ideals, nobler values and superior behaviour among followers.
He said transformational leadership encourages followers to rise above narrow self interests and to work in the service of others towards a common good and it also mobilises people to face, rather than avoid, rough realities, to tackle difficult problems and to make hard decisions.
“It does not turn away from the difficulty of problems by offering fake remedies. It elevates followers to a higher moral level,” he added.
He said while the world at large needed more transformational leaders, there was also a dire need for leaders who are capable of exercising “soft power”.
“Hard power is what we are all familiar with. For governments, it includes the ability to direct, punish, defend and invade. For companies, it is the power to hire and fire and to acquire and dispose of companies. Soft power, on the other hand, is non-coercive. It sets agendas, persuades, shapes preferences and harnesses voluntary actions.
“It is marked by participation, delegation and networking, not command-and-control. In short, soft power is about working with and through people. While both may be needed, there is greater need for soft power in today’s complex information-based world,” the Raja Muda said.
He said the reason why soft power is required in increasing measure is that people today are becoming increasingly empowered and countries were becoming too interdependent, to be ruled by hard power alone.
“Leaders who are not people-oriented will generally find it very hard to lead from the top, front or middle. By showing themselves to be open to feedback, leaders also establish a basis for trust. Leaders who listen are less likely to pursue illegitimate goals or actions.
“By having their ideas and perspectives considered, followers feel that they have a stake in the decisions made by their leaders. Consultation is essential because without it, leaders cannot make informed and objective decisions. Instead, they fall victim to the dreaded groupthink,” the Raja Muda said.
Another challenge for leaders, he expounded, was the need to deliberately surround themselves with the best and most capable people. “Ones who can bring different talents and insights to bear and who many not necessarily be the most compliant.”
“True leaders know, however, that they do not have all the answers and they must seek out those who are more competent and capable and delegate duties and responsibilities to them.
“If they do not, bad and poorly executed decisions can result, and this may end up eroding popular support for them. In order to be effective, they must have their eyes firmly fixed on achieving results,” Raja Nazrin added.
Bernama
31/07/08
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