Leadership Assignment - INSPIRE

1
INSPIRE|2014LimitedEdition
AlsoFeaturing
Robert Kuok
Zeti Akhtar
MEET The Leaders !
Great
movies,
great
books,
make your
day!
June 2014 RM9.00
INSPIRE
Case
Studies
Problems
Resolved!
To BE INSPRIED IS GREAT, TO INSPIRE IS INCREDIBLE

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Reviews:
Great Movie,
great books,
make your day!
Case STudies:
Problems Resolved!
Editor’s Comment
Editorial Team
true colors
personality test
inspirational
quotes
Interviews:
Meet the Leaders!
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5
6
13
23
20
31
49
CONTENTCOver Article:
Planting Your Legacy

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INSPIRE|2014LimitedEditionEDITOR’S NOTE
EDITOR
COMMNT
FIRST of all, we appreciate this golden opportunity given to us to produce this magazine.
With this opportunity, we not only inspired by the stories of Tan Sri Dato Seri Dr Zeti
Akhtar Aziz, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Robert Kuok, we also feel grateful to be given the chance to
interview some inspiring leaders, review some good leadership movies and books as well as solve some
case studies in the past ten weeks.
‘To be inspired is great, but taking actions to inspire others is incredible.’ With the theme of “legacy” in
mind, our magazine wishes that you would be inspired up to the point to create your own legacy and
inspire others. This is also why our magazine name is called ‘Inspire’.
So, you might now have this question in your mind: ‘How do I create my own legacy which can inspire
others?’ To help you to answer this question, turn to the cover story – “Planting Your Legacy”, to discover
how some of the brightest and most successful leaders in our country create their legacies by going through
various challenges. From their stories, perhaps you can get some ideas on how you can create your own
legacy. Prior to creating your legacy, you probably would want to know what is your own personality? Flip
to page 20!
If you are looking for more advice to sharpen your leadership skills, flip to the section called “Meet the
leaders”. The leaders we nominated to interview are experienced and inspiring. We hope that you can get
inspired by reading their stories!
Other than having interviewed some inspiring leaders, we wish to introduce you to some good leadership
movies and books in the section of “Great movies, great books, make your day!”. As we know, one of the
skills that leaders should have is problem solving. In the section of “Problem resolved!”, we have included
some analysis of how leaders will solve the scenarios provided in various case studies.
In short, we hope this magazine gets you inspired. Happy reading!
- Lee Hou Lek

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Acknowledgement
Design Director |
Ding Sze Ling
Deputy Editor |
Danny Tiah
Chief Editor |
Lee Hou Lek
| Managing Editor
Finance Director |
Liew Jun Zhen
Administrative Director |
Lee Phui Yee
| Deputy Editor
Kevin Chua
the editorialteam
Image: Kevin Chua, Sek Ying Phin, Danny Tiah, Ding Sze Ling, Lee Hou Lek, Lee Phui Yee and Liew Jun Zhen (from the left)
Sek Ying Phin
Advisor | Mr Shannon & Dr Jennie Soo
Photographer | Ccwhy Yao
Design Advisor | Chew Jue Liang, Daniel & Lee Jiok Li

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Carve your name on hearts,
not tombstones
Planting
“ ”
Leaders are also
those who pursue
the goals for the
collective good
and not for their
personal gain
”
“

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Imagine….. thatthere’sabuildingthatletsoutadark,thicksmokewhichappearstoreach
the clouds above it - a burning building. A leader and his subordinates are
trappedinside.There‘snowaytoescapebecausethefirstfloorisfullyengulfedinflames.Feelinghelpless,theyrun
up to the highest floor and they reach the rooftop. There is another building, almost the same height, right beside
thisburningbuilding.Thefireislikesomecreature,eatingeverythingitcould.Whatwouldtheleaderdo?Orrather
what should the leader do? How should this leader influence his subordinates to jump over to another building?
People often get influenced by a leader who leads by example. If the leader relies much on his/her
title to influence others, then that’s not real influencing skills. A leader who always leads
by example will not only be able to influence people, but also has the effect of inspiring people. The power of
influencing and inspiring followers is crucial for leaders to create their legacies. Now, let’s get inspired from the
legacies of Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Tan Sri Dato Seri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz and Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien.
Your Legacy
Everything on
earth is dynamic.
I can only give
my children a message,
not money. If they follow
it, we can go another
three or four
generations
“
”

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Tony
Fernandes
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has been the Group
CEO of AirAsia since December 2001. He
introducedthefirstbudgetno-frillsairline,
AirAsia, to Malaysians with the tagline
“Noweveryonecanfly”
Prior to AirAsia, he was the Financial
Controller of Virgin Communications
London. Then, he joined Warner Music
International London in 1989. He was
promoted to Managing Director, Warner
Music Malaysia in 1992 and to Regional
Managing Director, Warner Music South
East Asia in 1996. In 1999, he became
the Vice President of Warner Music South
EastAsia.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes graduated from
Epsom College, UK, and the London School
of Economics. He is a fellow member of
the Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants (ACCA) and a member of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in
EnglandandWales(ICAEW).
BACKGROUND
COVER ARTICLE: Planting Your Legacy
KeyAchievements
• Named “Airline Industry Leader of the Year”
at theAviation 100Awards 2014
• Awarded the Inaugural ‘Travel Business
LeadersAward’winner by CNBC (2011)
• Awarded the top title at the 1st Malaysian
Achievement Award at the prestigious Double
Tree by Hilton
• Awarded “Excellence In Leadership - Asia
Pacific Leadership Awards 2009” and
“Malaysia CEO of the year of the Year 2003”
Challenges faced and how it is dealt with
Challenges
faced and how it
is dealt with
One of the major challenges Tan Sri
Tony Fernandes faced was the lack
of experience of the airline industry.
He had spent the majority of his past
career in the music industry withWarner
Music. When he left his previous job
as Managing Director, he had completely no
experience of the airline industry.
Another challenge that Tan Sri Tony Fernandes
faced when starting his own airline company was
to obtain an airline licence. Unfortunately, his initial
application for an airline licence was rejected by the
Malaysian Government. He proceeded to consult
then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
who advised him to buy an existing airline instead of
starting from scratch. Ultimately, it came down to a
decision between buying Pelangi Air or Airasia, and
he made the latter decision.
Upon acquiring Airasia, Airasia was heavily in
debt and its assets only included two old aircrafts.
To make matters worse, Airasia was struggling and
making a loss. And to top it all off, Tony Fernandes
had to mortgage his home and use his personal
savings to acquire the company.
All the challenges faced above did not deter Tan
Sri Tony Fernandes. His main idea of reforming
Airasia as a short-haul low cost carrier was a major
success. He had a clear mission and vision for his
company; this is how the tagline ‘Now everyone
can fly’ came about. Moreover, he was able to
enlist some of the leading low-cost airline experts
to restructure Airasia’s business model. Another
major factor was that during his time of acquiring
Airasia, September 11 had just occurred; this caused
a reduction in aircraft leasing costs. It was also the
perfect opportunity for them to offer customers a cut-
rate air service, further saving them time and money.
Leadership Style
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is no doubt a servant leader
to his people. He adopts participative management
in the company where he actively involves his
employees. For example, he adopts ‘walk around’
management style because he believes that if he sits
in his tower everyday just looking at the financial
reports, he is going to make some big mistakes.
Hence, he works on the ground or in the cabin crew
for a few days every month. This is what a great
leader needs in the hospitality industry, which is to
walk the talk. His staff will then be more appreciative
of their leader and are always motivated to do their
best.
Besides, he puts service before self-interest. It is
evident that he places employees before customers.
Tony once said, “Employees come number one,
customers come number two. If you have a happy
workforce they’ll look after your customers
anyway”, “You can have all the money you want in
the world, and you can have all the brilliant ideas but
if you don’t have the people, forget it” etc.
Tony helps his employees to grow and provides
opportunities for them to gain materially and
emotionally. “Hierarchy, what hierarchy?” he asks.
He does not believe in hierarchy. He is a leader
and a manager, but he is also one of the team. He
encourages his people to speak up. His office is
constructed in a way that there are no walls and no
doors. Everyone sees him and he sees everyone. He
is Tony to everyone, in his polo shirt with his famous
baseball cap.
He is always ready to serve the needs of others
and most importantly, he inspires trust by being
trustworthy. Tony was a young boy when he first
envisioned cheap flights across Asia. Being at
boarding school in England far from his childhood
home in Malaysia, half-term visits were out of the
question. He always dreamt about doing a long
haul low-cost airline ever since. He is trustworthy
as we can see from his operation style. He puts the
turnaround of the airline down to “culture, focus and
discipline”. He believes in keeping the operation
simple by separating the two companies, Air Asia
dedicates to low cost short-haul flights whileAirAsia
Xfocusesonlong-haulroutes.Despitetheseparation,
the two airlines a similar modus operandi: efficiency
is a key to keeping up with demand and ensuring a
healthy profit-margin. “We do a lot of practising on
doors, on the cabin crew, helping people sit down
quickly and clearing the aisles,” he explained. It is no
doubt that he has improved a lot on the organization’s
performance. Tony always sees the needs of others
and he has always achieved what the others require
thus leading him to be seen as a trustworthy person
which enables him to inspire trust.

9
Zeti Akhtar
Aziz
BACKGROUND
Tan Sri Dato Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz is
the seventh and current governor of our
Bank Negara Malaysia. She has been
serving this position for over 14 years.
In Malaysia, she is the first woman to
hold this position. She is also the first
woman in Asia to lead central bank. She
is definitely a legacy in Malaysia and
Asia.
Zeti received her Bachelor degree in
Economic from University of Malaya.
She then furthered her studies in PhD in
monetaryandinternationaleconomicsat
UniversityofPennsylvania.Herexpertise
is in capital flows and implications for
monetary policy.
Key Achievements
• Accorded “Grade A” among the heads of
central banks for the 10th time by the Global
Finance magazine (2013)
• First woman who received the awards of
“Tokoh Ma’al Hijrah 1432H” at the national-
level Ma’al Hijrah celebration (2010)
Challenges faced
and how it is dealt
with
One of the key achievements of Zeti as a leader
was how she led her team during 1997 / 98
financial crisis. At that time, Malaysian ringgit
was attacked by speculators. This led to significant
increase of overnight rate from below 8% to over
40% which in turn rating downgrades and huge
sell off on stock and currency markets. During that
time, Zeti was inexperienced in monetary policy
but she took up the responsibility as an interim
governor of Bank Negara. Hence, Zeti practiced
her doctoral thesis on managing international
capital flows to resolve the crisis steadily and
successfully steered the Malaysia economy. Zeti
can be described as a “linchpin” as Zeti has the
courage to assume responsibility. She did not
only took an involvement in the crisis but she
also owned a diverse team and made the decision
as well as responsible for both good and bad
outcomes of her decisions.
From her recent interviews, she emphasized on
the importance of a diverse team, organizational
capability and clear goal for an organization. We
believe that she could resolve the 1997 / 98 crisis
steadily because she built up a diverse team and
set a clarity goal for her team. She would consult
her subordinates from diverse background about
opinions, suggestions and risks of each decision
and encourage them participate in decision
making.
The breakout of the subprime crisis has seen
to have affected the financial stability of many
countries. However, Zeti confidently said that
Asian banks are now more resilient and are better
capitalized since the financial crisis ten years
ago and hence would not be very much affected
this time. According to South-South Information
Gateway (SSIG), Zeti said that the Central Bank
has taken several measures in order to improve
the financial stability since 1997. One of the
many efforts would be establishing an agency
called Credit Guarantee Corporation for Small
Businesses, which allows banks to better assess
the exposure of companies. Besides that, The Sun
Daily on 17 November 2008 reported that Zeti was
being appointed to a high-level task force set up by
the United Nation (UN) to examine the possible
reform of the global financial system, she has to
work with other panelists from different countries,
cultures and backgrounds. In order to be able to
collaborate and cooperate effectively with panelist
from diverse culture and background, cultural
intelligence is very much needed.
In 2009, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz was
selected by the Global Finance magazine to be
one of the world’s best central bank chief. In the
article of “Central Banker Report Cards”, Tan
Sri Dr. Zeti and six other central banks chief was
given grade “A” for their success in areas such
as inflation control, the target of economic
growth, stable currency and interest rate
management. This shows that Zeti have
led her team well in order to cushion the
country from the global financial crisis.
Zeti was also the key person in the
growth of Islamic finance in Malaysia
and also in other parts of Asia. The
challenge faced here was to deviate
from the orthodox and conventional
approaches. However, Zeti saw that there was
opportunity as Muslims began seeking financial
services that met Islamic principles. In 2002, Zeti
led a team to launch the Malaysian global Islamic
Sukuk, the world’s first Sukuk (a Shari’ah-
compliant security) to be issued by a sovereign.
Because of the vision and courage that Zeti has,
today Islamic banking accounts for at least 11
percent of Malaysia’s financial system. This
has paved the way to the launch of Malaysia
International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC)
which offers Islamic financial products and
services in international currencies.
Leadership Style
For her behavior, she can be categorized
under participative leadership by encouraging
her subordinates in decision making and
achievement-oriented leadership by setting clear
goals for her team. There is a leadership model
which suits for both participative leadership and
achievement-oriented leadership, which is Ohio
State Leadership Model. Zeti has fulfilled two
factors under this Ohio State Studies, which are
consideration which similar to her participative
leadership, while initiating structure which
similar to her achievement-oriented leadership as
mentioned above.

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Robert Kuok
BACKGROUND
Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien is the
richest entrepreneur in Malaysia and
South East Asia. According to Forbes, he
has an estimated networth of $12 billion
asof2014andrankedwithinthetop100
world’sbillionaireslist.
Robert was born in Johor Bahru on 6
October 1923. After graduating from the
RafflesinstitutioninSingapore,hestarted
his career in Mitsubishi, a Japanese
industrial company from 1942 to 1945.
Afterthepassingofthisfather,Robertand
his two brothers founded Kuok Brothers
Sdn Bhd in 1949. The business mainly
deals with agricultural commodities.
Robert’s company expanded exponentially
totheextenthewascontrolling80%ofthe
Malaysiansugarequivalentto10%ofworld
sugar production. Thus, he was nicknamed
the“SugarKingofAsia”.
Since then, Robert has expanded his
business by venturing into many other
fields such as hospitality, logistics,
media, property development and palm oil
which spans across different countries.
His biggest source of wealth comes from
his stake at a Singapore listed company,
Wilmar International which is the world’s
largestpalmoilprocessor.
KeyAchievements
• Earned the Tan Sri title in Malaysia.
• Established the Kuok Foundation.
• Owns East Asia’s most influential English
newspaper, the Hong Kong-based South China
Morning Post.
• Family-owned holding company, Kerry Group
Ltd., which Kuok chairs, has a total market
value of about $40 billion.
• Owns the Shangri-La hotel chain, nicknamed
the “Hotel King”
• Has ten bottling companies with Coca-Cola
• Awarded CCTV Economic Person of the Year
2012 in China.
Challenges faced
and how it is dealt
with
One of the obstacles Robert faced when running Kuok
Brothers Sdn Bhd was that the distribution of sugar
in Malaya was then mainly controlled by the British.
To overcome the monopoly of sugar imports by the
British,theKuokssourcedcheapersugarfromIndiaand
Cuba. Gradually, Kuok became the main importer and
distributor of sugar in Malaya. Furthermore, Robert’s
English fluency also gave him an advantage over other
Chinese businessmen as transactions in the international
marketwereconductedinEnglish.
Robert explained that he needed management skills
and experience that was beyond his family members
and even the Chinese. He leveraged on the strengths
and weaknesses of different groups. He recognized
that the Europeans were the best in the hospitality field
and appointed them to manage his Shangri-La Hotels.
More than other Chinese business organizations, Kuok
has been able to successfully retain the loyalty of his
professionals by giving them important roles within
the organization. He also significantly allows more
than 30% of shares in the three main family holding
companiestobeheldbynon-relatives.
One of the most prominent non-family figures in
Robert’s business is Martua Stiorus who founded
Wilmar International with Robert’s son, Kuok Khoon
Hong. He is in charge of running Wilmar’s large
operationsinIndonesia.
The NEPlaunched in 1971 could significantly constrain
Chinese businesses in Malaysia. To tackle this issue,
Robert ventured into China which was going through
reformation process. China’s reformation opened up
many opportunities for overseas Chinese businessmen
andRoberttookadvantageof it.
BeingfluentinChinese,Robertcancommunicateeasily
with the Chinese officials and has developed good
relations with them when he agreed to help in the dire
shortage of sugar in China in 1973 when two Chinese
officials met him in secret in Hong Kong regarding the
issue.Today, Chinese leaders regard him as a successful
businessmanandheis wellrespectedinChina.
Robert was also not heavily affected by the Asian
Financial Crisis in 1997 as his investments in different
countriessuchasChina,HongKongandEuropehelped
mitigatetheimpactonhis totalbusiness.
Leadership Style
Tan Sri Robert Kuok practices good democratic
management style. As the leader in his company, he
always prioritizes and takes good care of the employees
ashebelievesemployeesplayacrucialroletosustainthe
business.Besides,hisemployeeshadprovedthatRobert
has always contributing in the team in a motivational
way. Moreover, his team is able to get specific
percentages of shares based to their own contribution
towards the team. Also, Robert mainly recognize
honesty, hardworking and intelligence as the core value
of becominghis employees.
Robert also holds a very positive and good attitude no
matterheisintheworkplaceorfamily.Tobeasuccessful
businessman, one must be straight, humble and do not
take advantage of people.Robert always remind himself
and others, saying “when is person is arrogant, his/her
guardwillautomaticallylowered.Asaresult,theperson
willbedefeatedeasilybyhis rivals.”
Robert also emphasised that one must always brush all
his senses. Generally speaking, he has the ability to be
stay positive and aware of his surroundings to react in
the most appropriate way. In spite of all achievements,
Robert remains humble and passed down the simple
values to his children to always be humble and handle
their wealthwisely.
Robert’s philosophy in the corporate world can be
summed up into four words, work hard, work smart.
Since young, Robert has not only learned the value of
hard work and diligence, but also became aware that it
takes a broad set of thinking to become successful in the
business andinlife.
Besides, he always makes a mission to also contribute
back to the society through philanthropic work by
establishing the Kuok Foundation. This charitable
foundation aims to give scholarships to students from
poor background to pursue tertiary education. Robert
stronglybelievedinsocialresponsibilitywhereheisable
tosharehis wealthwiththeless fortunate.
Despite being 91 years old this year, Robert continues
to actively participate in his business. Being a servant
leader, he still serves as a voice of counsel and reason,
always encouraging and motivating the next generation
toputintheir bestefforttoattaintheir goalsinlife.

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Have you ever thought of giving up on a dream? Are you taking good things in life
for granted? Do you think you are communicating effectively with the people
around you?
There are definitely key values and characteristics that can be
obtained from the article’s three inspirational leaders in regards
to the questions above. Looking at Tan Sri Tony Fernandes,
he dreamed about running an airline, owning a Formula
One racing team and owning an English football club
during his childhood. He took up the courage to dream big
and eventually achieved all of his dreams. On the other
hand, Robert Kwok managed to seize countless business
opportunities even knowing there was the possibility of
failing. Most of the time, we do not know what we
are capable of until we see the results. We have to
dream big, to be passionate about your goals in
life and have the courage to pursue them.
Demonstrated in particular by Robert Kwok
is the importance of always being humble
and never forgetting to help others. He set
up a foundation to help students with financial
difficulties, which would result in creating a better
future for the country. Helping others by motivating and
providing them guidance is an essential component in
life. By practicing sincerity, generosity and humility
along our life, it will enable future generations to be more
civilized and developed. In contrast, we should learn not
to be materialistic and greedy, as all these are common
characteristics that would lead to our downfall.
A great leader must be willing to work well with
his/her team members. Breaking down hierarchy,
and practicing active listening are key strategies to
become a good leader and team player. Learning
from Zeti’s leadership qualities, diversity is
important when it comes to strengthening your
organizational capability. Thus, leaders should
always encourage people to voice out their opinions and
participate more actively by breaking down the walls of formality.
Looking past fame and fortune, these three inspirational leaders have
already created their own legacy which the future generation of leaders could follow. Their
leadership traits which include courage, passion, hard work, humility and team play can not
only significantly impact our lives but others as well. It is easier said than done when we
wish to be more than what we could be. However, it still comes down to our own sheer
determination to reflect upon ourselves and make that change. One of life’s greatest lessons is
to be humble and learn from others and also to learn from your own mistakes. Remember, the
only thing you take with you when you’re gone is what you leave behind.
“The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you
can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it
will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.” - George Orwell ¶

13
Did your employees or subordinates feel
discouraged and perform poorly at your
workplace? Are you facing high turnover
rate and low productivity? Fret not! The 5
Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace
is a great tool for you not only to create
a more positive work environment, but also
to increase your company’s productivity and
reduce turnover rate.
The authors of the book, Gary
Chapman and Paul White are trying to help us
to understand the 5 languages of appreciation
which are (1) Words of affirmation; (2)
Quality Time; (3) Acts of Service; (4)
Tangible gifts and (5) Physical Touch and
identify our and others’ primary, secondary
and least meaningful language of appreciation.
Throughout this book, we can learn how to
retain talents and create a positive work
environment under a tight budget through
expressions of appreciation effectively.
In current business environment, the
employees are expected to work harder and
longer in hours with no increase in pay or
reductions of employees’ benefits. If they do
not feel appreciated by the higher management,
they may lose their morale in working which
in turn leads to high job turnover and poor
quality of services delivered. However, many
companies today cannot afford to express
appreciation to their staff through extrinsic
rewards due to a tight budget and economic
downturn.
Although extrinsic rewards may not
be the first option of expressing appreciation to
their staff for most companies, the companies
can use intrinsic rewards (5 languages of
appreciation) to express appreciation to
their staff. By using the intrinsic rewards,
the companies can increase the internal
satisfactions of employees and appeal to the
higher needs of employees as compared to
the extrinsic rewards (which only appeal to
the lower needs of employees).
In the ever-more-competitive
business environment, retaining talented
people is critical for every organization so the
organization is stayed competitive. Thus, if the
organisations failed to express appreciation,
they are failing to recognise one of the
company’s greatest assets. Servant leaders
will express their appreciation through intrinsic
positive approach to help their staff to enjoy
their work and gain a sense of accomplishment
as well as increase job satisfaction.
However, a general expression
of appreciation has very little impact on
motivation. Instead, appreciation is needed to
be tailored in accordance to the primary or
secondary language of the recipient. Thus,
for appreciation to be impactful for the
recipient, our actions of appreciation must be
individualized because each person will have
a different primary language of appreciation.
For example, if we are hungry but we are
offered a chair to sit, it is nice. However,
it does not meet the primary need of our
hunger. Similarly, if someone does not speak
our own primary language of appreciation, we
are not really encouraged.
What is your primary language of
appreciation? You may identify it from the
Motivating By Appreciation (MBA) Inventory
initiated by Paul and Gary. For more
information, please go to mbainventory.com.
In conclusion, creating a more
positive work environment through sincere
expression of appreciation is critical to every
leader. Believe me, this book is worth to
invest in order to fortify your legacy in your
organization!
REVIEWS: GREAT MOVIES, GREAT BOOKS, MAKE YOU DAY!
The 5
Languages
of
Appreciation
in the
Workplace - By Lee Hou Lek
“Synopsis:
To create a legacy in
an organisation, you
must empower its
people. To encourage
people, leaders have
to express sincere
appreciation to
their people so that
their people feel
appreciated.
”AUTHOR:
Gary Chapman & Paul White
PUBLISHER:
Northfield Publishing
DATE OF PUBLICATION:
2011
PLACE OF PURCHASE:
Popular Bookstores
PRICE:
RM 39.90

14
KARPAL
SINGH
- Tiger of Jelutong
Karpal Singh is considered a political and
legal force ever since he began his career in
both these areas. He joined the Democratic
Action Party and was made a Member of
Parliament in 1978 for the seat of Jelutong
in Penang. Many people would recognize
Karpal as ‘The Tiger of Jelutong’ due to
his fiery temperament and tenacious way in
defending his clients. In this book, I have
identified several scenarios which showcase
Karpal’s leadership traits.
In his early legal career, Karpal was
the unofficial lawyer for many communists
during the emergency period of Malaysia in
the 1970s. Being a strong opposer against
the death penalty, Karpal has the courage
to defend anyone including communists.
Besides that, I also believe Karpal has self
confidence and optimism. This was reflected
in the landmark case of Penang in 1976
where Karpal represented Teh who was
charged under the ISA and ESCAR. Despite
his unsuccessful previous attempts in
defending communists who faced the death
penalty when charged under the ESCAR,
Karpal remained confident and optimistic
that he could prevent Teh from having the
same fate. Karpal went all the way to the
Privy Council in London to appeal that the
ESCAR was unconstitutional. Although the
appeal was eventually unsuccessful, I can
see Karpal really went all out in defending
his client and learnt that we must not give
up hope easily.
Throughout the entire book, I can
clearly see a specific leadership quality in
Karpal which I believe is courage leadership.
Karpal’s courage can be seen in his quest
to subject Malaysian royals to the rule
of law as the rulers have immunity from
prosecution. From his action, I believe that
courage mean nonconformity where Karpal
decides to make a change for a larger ethical
purpose. Karpal has sued several sultans on
different cases and in one particular case
sued the sultan of Selangor for a statement
that he made where he will not pardon
convicted drug traffickers in his state and
led to the sultan being brought to court for
the first time. I am really inspired by his
courage which has led to the constitutional
change in 1993 that everyone including
sultans was subjected to the rule of law.
Besides that, I also believe that
Karpal has courage to fight for what he
believed in. Being a strong advocate of
human rights, he has defended numerous
foreigners who were convicted under the
Dangerous Drug Acts of Malaysia. One of
high profile cases will be involving New
Zealand mother and son Lorraine and Aaron
Cohen where Karpal successfully defended
them from death and life imprisonment. I
am really inspired by Karpal’s courage in
defending them despite being held under
the ISA at that time and learnt that courage
means fighting for what you truly believe
despite adversities.
During his imprisonment under the
ISA from 1987 to 1989 for 15 months, I
believe Karpal also found personal courage
to pull through that difficult period by drawing
strength from others. Poor living conditions
and his back issues did not break Karpal as
his family especially his wife has supported
him mentally and also helped run the law
firm during his imprisonment. In this case, it
has occurred to me that having support from
others is also a form of courage.
Reading this book, I have seen
numerous leadership traits in him where
courage leadership is the theme of his
story and career as he devoted his life into
fighting for what he believes in against all
odds. Despite his recent passing, Karpal
Singh will forever be remembered as a
fearless and courageous man.
AUTHOR:
Tim Donoghue
PUBLISHER:
Marhsall Cavendish Editions
DATE OF PUBLICATION:
2013
PLACE OF PURCHASE:
Popular Bookstores
PRICE:
RM 49.90
- By Kevin Chua
Synopsis
Karpal Singh is widely
regarded as one of the
most prominent legal
and political figures in
Malaysia. Being a strong
advocate for justicve
and human rights,
Karpal has also gained
international reputation
for his efforts. This book
has very well illustrated
Karpal’s long career in
the Malaysian legal and
political system and the
obstacles that
he faced.

15
Invictus is an uplifting movie which shows how prejudice and hatred
are overcome and, above all, a fascinating study of political leadership.
It has moments evoking great emotions as Nelson Mandela being
the first black South African President demonstrates how he works
towards the reconciliation of his nation. After many years under the
Apartheid ruling, having a black president was the black’s aspiration,
but the fear of the white Afrikaners. Thus, this movie portrays trust
and forgiveness to remove fear which became the key success factor
in building a rainbow nation.
The film unfolds with a montage that takes Nelson Mandela
from political prisoner on Robben Island to president of South Africa.
As played by Morgan Freeman, Mandela is calm and confident, but
fully aware that his country could erupt into political violence with the
least provocation. Mandela’s strategy is to embrace his opposition
which then distances him from his core supporters. Leaders often
make good decision but it may not be a popular decision.
Nelson Mandela is a leader who is clear of his goal
and has the courage to state his convictions openly. This was
demonstrated when Mandela personally travelled to the sports
committee to state his stand that the former name and colors of the
rugby team, Springbok has to be kept despite the vote of sports
committee unanimously agreed to change it. He justified that it is
one of the ways to reach out to the Afrikaners that mostly think their
presence would be get rid of. Although it did not went well with the
natives, Mandela still holds on to his believe and forges ahead with
his plans. In this event, Mandela can be seen as an emotionally
stable leader as he gave a calm and persuasive speech to convince
the sport committees.
Supportive leadership can also be seen to be applied by
Nelson Mandela as he shows concern for his people’s well-being
and personal needs. He knew that the team members of Springbok
needed inspiration to win the Rugby World Cup Championship.
Hence, he shared a Victorian poem, Invictus with Francois Pienaar
so to keep him motivated and can then influence his team members.
The most memorable and inspiring lines in the poem was ‘I am the
master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.’
Besides that, the most inspiriting scene in the movie is
when Mandela went over to the field just to shake hands with the
whole rugby team while wishing them good luck before the finals.
This shows us that Nelson Mandela is a servant leader as he
spends time to motivate people despite his busy schedule. The role
of a motivator can also be seen in Francois Pienaar as he brought
the spirit of the team up in the field when the opposing team was
leading.
Invictus is a great movie which incorporates sports to tell
us about the history of South Africa. The key message in this movie
is that nothing is impossible; there are no limits on what you can
achieve.
STARRING: Morgan Freeman,
Matt Damon
DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood
RELEASE DATE: December11, 2009
Synopsis - ThefilmisaboutaninspiringtruestoryofhowNelson
Mandela joined forces with the captain of South
Africa’srugbyteam,FrancoisPienaar,tohelpunitetheircountry.NelsonMandela
being the newly elected president knows that his nation remains racially and
economicallydividedinthewakeofapartheid.Believingthattheuniversallanguage
ofsportwillbringthepeopletogether,MandelaralliesSouthAfrica’srugbyteamas
theymaketheirhistoricruntothe1995RugbyWorldCupChampionshipmatch.
- By Sek Ying Phin

16
The Shawshank Redemption is not your typical prison movie.
There is just something about it that generates a warm
feeling in our hearts when watching it. This unique movie
features the story of men who have forged a friendship
behind bars. It contains a deeper meaning compared to
most other films; about the journey through life, based on
friendship and hope. To top it off, the story is narrated in a
calm and observant voice which further amplifies the feeling
of being involved in the movie.
One of the many key characteristics of being a
leader is the capability to positively affect those around you,
and this characteristic is evidently displayed in this movie.
The protagonist, Andy Dufresne, is portrayed as an average
man that has been thrown into a dire situation. However, in
a situation where most people would have given up hope,
he instead decides continue living life in an extraordinary
way. Following this, he deeply impacts the lives of his fellow
prison mates - in particular his close friend ‘Red’.
Andy is not your typical leader as he does not
have any duties or obligations to act as a leader. But, his
strong sense of willpower motivates him to perform various
selfless acts of compassion to lift the spirits of the people
around him.
Examples of his unselfish act include obtaining
beers for his fellow inmates while risking being caught by the
brutal and merciless Captain Hadley. He also does his best
to improve the condition and facilities of the prison library,
and even provides academic guidance to a fellow inmate in
order to assist him in obtaining his high school certificate.
In one of the movies most iconic scenes, Andy
disables a guard in order to provide his prison mates a
short period of inspiring opera music that is broadcasted over
the prison radio. It is in these small but significant acts of
courage that Andy is portrayed as an unselfish leader - a
leader that is willing to make some sacrifices for the sake
of inspiring others.
Andy and Red both share a similar dream of being
able to live a new and renowned life, and leaving behind
their days at prison in the past. While Andy is confident of
achieving this vision, Red is doubtful as he is worried that
he would not be able to adjust to the life outside prison.
Eventually with the support and motivation from Andy, Red
is able to get over his fears and move on to a new life.
The Shawshank Redemption promises a great story
of leadership with a key message to takeaway: no matter
how bad a situation may turn out, it can be overcome as
long as you do not give up hope.
STARRING: Tim Robbins,
Morgan Freeman
DIRECTOR: Frank Darabot
RELEASE DATE: September 10, 1994
Synopsis
- By Danny Tiah
Andy Dufresne is a banker who has been
wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife
and as a result imprisoned in Shawshank
Prison. It is in the prison where he meets and
befriends Ellis ‘Red’ Redding, and through
sheer determination and not losing hope,
changes his own fate as well as the lives of the
inmates around him.

17
Without losing his charismatic old fashioned personalities with bionic
muscles, Steve Roger entered into the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D
as a field agent doing dangerous missions. However, Cap doubts
whether the work has fully lived up to his moral code. After a
devastating and shocking incident, the climax started when Cap is
no anymore longer to trust anyone or anything, and leads him on a
track to know the truth about who is really in charge and who he
is really working for.
In the movie, Cap is able to adapt postmodern essentials
like sarcasm, cynicism, some sense of humor and the art of the
passionate kiss. In crisis time, Cap stays his true logo, as for the
people goodness not the government power, and go rogue to deal
with powerful but evil men. I learnt that leaders need to make the
right decision when a situation needs him. Eventually, he leads the
team and save the world from a global termination threat. The movie
shows a sign of a great edit and a great script as audience will not
find a single extraneous scene when looking back. The script is well
structured and concise where the layers of movie’s mysteries unfold
in a gradual way and leading to a strong third act filled with impactful
follow ups.
Both assisting and opposing of Cap roles plays their
characters successfully where they expand and deepen the movie’s
plot. Natasha Romanoff, alias Black Widow plays a great contrast to
the Captain America, as her shades of grey worldview is not quite
compatible to Cap’s black and white view of morality. Yet, they work
and stand on each other sides with trusts. Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick
Fury, as the top man of S.H.I.E.L.D, finally gets involved to play an
action-heavy, expanded role in Marvel Studios Film. There is also a
new member known as Falcon (Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson), a
retired soldier who used to work in a specialized airborne unit. He
has the charisma and servant leadership, hence meshes so well with
Cap all along the movie fighting together against the threat and villain
while always motivating each other. The values of strong courage
and the willingness to sacrifice in all 4 characters inspire audiences
showing what a leader truly means.
The major villain this time is the Winter Soldier, played
by Sebastian Stan. The brainwashed assassin has his tremendous
plot presence, both thematically and actively. The soldier exists and
disappear all around the world literally like a ghost, turn up to be
a terrifying foe for Captain America, possessing amazing agility,
incredible strength, and a crushing metal arm. While battling against
the Winter Soldier and the reappearing HYDRA organization, Captain
struggles even that he is given power beyond normal men. However,
the real strength of Captain America isn’t his ability to throw his
shield, it’s his courage to keep getting back up, to keep going, no
matter what’s the cost. Transformed from a puny guy to Captain
America, he showed us that one must understand the true value of
strength by always being humble.
The First Avenger was no doubt an interesting fun
adventurer with wonderful storyline about honor and duty. In an era
where audiences are obsessed with brooding and dark superheroes,
the movie gives us a fresh breath, reminding us that a great hero
don’t have to be disturbed and dark to be interesting. The Winter
Soldier expands on those ideas while we still see what’s noble
and actions of humanity. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a
exceptionally-made, tense, thrilling ride, and whether you are going to
the cinema for the exciting story or a blockbuster action, you’ll leave
more than satisfied.
STARRING: Chris Evans,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Scarlett Johansson,
Sebastian Stan
DIRECTOR: Anthony Russo,
Joe Russo
RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2014
Synopsis - Steve Rogers, the Captain America
struggles to embrace his character
in the modern world and battles a new danger from old history: the
Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier.
- By Liew Jun Zhen

18
This movie is indeed a mind-blowing one that keeps you engrossed
from start to finish. Even from the beginning, it has started with an
unforeseen tragic and devastating accident which causes the death
of the First Lady.
I believe that every leader can be a follower and every
follower can be a leader. This can be reflected in the character of
Mike Banning when he is striving to save the President from the
terrorist, Kang. If I were to describe the type of follower for Mike,
I would say he is no doubt an effective follower. Not only he is
independent and takes up responsibilities, he is also a critical thinker
from many aspects. During the accident, he saves the President
from going down with the car when it almost goes down the cliff.
Unfortunately, the First Lady is sacrificed in the event. This portrays
that sometimes, something important must be sacrificed for the
greater good. He has also mustered up the necessary courage in
the event of rescuing the President where the most essential one is
the courage to assume responsibility. Although he is no longer the
presidential protector of the President’s family, he still decides to run
into the White House to save the President despite knowing that he
might be sacrificed in the event and never have the chance to see
his beloved wife again. One of the most indispensable things he has
done is that he has acted fast and rescued the President’s son,
Connor from being held hostage and this prevents Kang from using
Connor to threaten the President for the Cerberus code which might
cause nuclear disaster. Mike becomes the sole hope of saving the
President and preventing a potential nuclear disaster that would end
all American lives. His strong willpower, determination and able to
think rationally when he is in danger are reasons of him manages
to keep the President alive.
President Asher has also displayed leadership qualities as
he does not negotiate even when his life is being threatened by
Kang. He is a servant leader which inspires me because he leads
by putting service before self-interest. He is willing to sacrifice himself
to save his people. For instance, he allows his Secretary of Defense,
McMillan who endures the rough treatment by Kang, to give away
the Cerberus code when he sees her being tortured and assures her
that Kang will never get his code no matter what happens to him.
Not to forget the Speaker of the House who is the acting
president, he knows how to control the situation and what to prioritize
when he is between devil and the deep blue sea. He chooses to
believe Mike because Mike is their sole hope. He is very tough and
stands very strong as a leader when he feels that General Clegg
has gone beyond his order. He is able to stay calm when situation
needs him to make the right decision. Eventually, he has worked
with the team and Mike and successfully save the President from the
terrorists.
I can’t think of the last time I watched a movie at such
rapt attention. “Olympus Has Fallen” makes me understand that
sacrifice is part of life. Sometimes, sacrifices ought to be made
by leaders for the greater good. It is not something to regret but
something to aspire to.
STARRING: Gerard Butler,
Aaron Eckhart,
Morgan Freeman
DIRECTOR: Antoine Fuqua
RELEASE DATE: March 22, 2013
Synopsis - When the White House (Secret Service Code:
“Olympus”) is captured by a North Korean
terrorist mastermind, Kang, and the President is kidnapped, disgraced former
Presidential Secret Service Agent Mike Banning finds himself trapped within
the building. As our national security team scrambles to respond, their only
choice is to rely on Banning’s inside knowledge to help retake the White House,
save the President from the kidnappers and avert an even bigger disaster.
- By Lee Phui Yee

19
Movies had long graced us with action, thrill and drama
however little do we know that many values can be drawn
from the characters in those movies to better improve our
lives. Stacker Pentecost played by Idris Elba, is one of these
character from the movie that bring forth soul and energy
into Pacific Rim from his outstanding leadership role displayed
in the Jaeger programme. At the helm of the driving wheel,
Pentecost keeps the Jaeger program together while inspiring
the crew to move forward and is the smart witted tactician
behind the last ditch effort to save the world. From his strange
personal vulnerability to his relationship with Mako Mori, there
is no shortage of excitement and intrigue that Elba brings to
the table through the eyes of Pentecost.
One of the skills required to be a successful virtual
team leader is to select right team members. Due to the
death of his father and sister, Luna along with the illness
and subsequent death of his co-pilot, Tamsin, Pentecost was
burdened with the responsibility of protecting the world from the
Kaiju and makes him responsible for Mako. Though he believes
she can pilot a Jaeger as well as anyone, there is little to
hide of his fear that her desire for revenge in the name of her
family will consume her. Their relationship is built on mutual
respect and understanding for one another.
One of the greatest traits of leadership within
Pentecost is the trait of servent leader. A servant leader do
not want sympathy from his team member but require his team
members’ compliance and skills, at the same time understand
their situation, strength and weakness to put them in the best
place in order for them to contribute to the team. Pentecost
is a decisive leader and this can be proved from the scene
when he insists of proceeding with his plan and heads for
the Anti-Kaiju Wall to find Raleigh when the UN is not willing
to help. Furthermore, he sacrifices his life to try and kill the
Kaiju, through the arming of the thermonuclear bomb – the
Gipsy Danger’s nuclear reactor during the process of fighting
the Category IV and V Kaiju.
A good leader generates the best result from what
is happening, a great leader generates the greatest result
from what is going to happen after the storm. This is exactly
how far sighted Pentecost is as a leader. During Anchorage
Shatterdome, he orders the Becket brothers to defend the
city against the approaching category III Kaiju. However when
Yancy realize the approach of a boat, Pentecost decided to
look onto the bigger picture and focus on the true task at
hand, saving the city from destruction. A leader knows when to
sacrifice something for the greater good no matter how harsh
and terrible the decision is.
STARRING: Charlie Hunnam,
Idris Elba,
Rinko Kikuchi
DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro
RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2013
To combat them, humans devised massive robots called jaegers
as weapons. But even Jaegers proved nearly defenseless against
creatures. Now on the verge of defeat, mankind must turn to two
unlikely heroes, teamed in a seemingly obsolete Jaeger, as the last
hope against a mounting apocalypse.
- By Ding Sze Ling
“The man who led the MONSTERS to fight MONSTERS”
Synopsis- When legions of monstrous alien
creatures stared rising from
the sea, a deadly war began.

20
True Colors Personality Test
For each box, read the words and decide which of the four letter choices
suits
you the most. Rank the order from “4” (most like you) to “1” (least like
you) for each box. You will end up with a box of four letter choices, ranked
from “4” Continue this process with the remaining four boxes until each
have a 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Active
Opportunistic
Spontaneous
A _____
Parental
Traditional
Responsible
B _____
Authentic
Harmonious
Compassionate
C _____
Versatile
Inventive
Competent
D _____
Curious
Conceptual
Knowledgeable
E _____
Unique
Empathetic
Communicative
F _____
Practical
Sensible
Dependable
G _____
Competitive
Impetuous
Impactful
H _____
Loyal
Conservative
Organized
I _____
Devoted
Warm
Poetic
J _____
Realistic
Open-minded
Adventuresome
K _____
Theoretical
Seeking
Ingenious
L _____
Concerned
Procedural
Cooperative
M _____
Daring
Impulsive
Fun
N _____
Tender
Inspirational
Dramatic
O _____
Determined
Complex
Composed
P _____
Box 5
Philosophical
Principled
Rational
Q _____
Vivacious
Affectionate
Sympathetic
R _____
Exciting
Courageous
Skillful
S _____
Orderly
Conventional
Caring
T _____
Now Sum up and see which color has the highest score, and that’s your
personality group:
A,H,K,N,S orange= _______ B,G,I,M,T red= _______
C,F,J,O,R blue = _______ D,E,L,P,Q green= _______

21
I need to feel unique and authentic
Enthusiastic, Sympathetic, Personal
I look for meaning and significance in life
Warm, Communicative, Compassionate
I need to contribute, to encourage,
and to care
Idealistic, Spiritual, Sincere
I value integrity and unity in relationships
Peaceful, Flexible, Imaginative
I am a natural romantic, a poet, a nurturer
I act on a moment's notice
Witty, Charming, Spontaneous
I consider life a game, here and now
Impulsive, Generous, Impactful
I need fun, variety, stimulation, and excitement
Optimistic, Eager, Bold
I value skill, resourcefulness, and courage
Physical, Immediate, Fraternal
I am a natural trouble shooter, a performer, a
competitor
I need to follow rules and respect authority
Loyal, Dependable, Prepared
I have a strong sense of what is right and wrong
in life
Thorough, Sensible, Punctual
I need to be useful and belong
Faithful, Stable, Organized
I value home, family, and tradition
Caring, Concerned, Concrete
I am a natural preserver, a parent, a helper
I seek knowledge and understanding
Analytical, Global, Conceptual
I live by my own standards
Cool, Calm, Collected
I need explanation and answers
Inventive, Logical, Perfectionist
I value intelligence, insight, fairness, and justice
Abstract, Hypothetical, Investigative
I am a natural non-conformist, a visionary,
a problem solver
nderstanding

23
1
What are the 3 most important values you strive to
demonstrate as a leader within your firm?
The first value is humility. It is about saying sorry. A leader
must seek to acknowledge his/her mistakes. No one is perfect,
even a leader. The second value is empathy. It means putting
yourself in the shoes of a team to understand their position and
point of view. The third value is trust and forgiveness. A leader
needs to entrust and empower employees when performing their
tasks. Such will lead the employees to be more accountable for their
actions and results. Forgiving someone who did not perform well
the first time is important. Everybody deserves a second chance.
2
What approaches or strategies do you use to
influence others on an important issue or your
decision made?
There are some circumstances where you need to support your
people, while there are circumstances where you need to make
firm decisions even though it might not a very popular one. At the
end of the day, it is important that a leader takes accountability.
The leader must be ready to be answerable for the decisions
made and whatever the outcome of the decisions. A leader must
also listen to advice pertaining to areas they may overlook before
making a decision. Consider the possible outcomes and weigh the
options carefully. As a leader, you can make a decision and you
can influence the decision, but more importantly be accountable
for the outcome of the decision we made!
3
Can you share some of the challenges faced at your
workplace as a leader and how did you deal with it?
The challenges begin when clients are unreasonable, and
this in turn puts undue pressure onto the staff. Other challenges
I face also include managing staff members who don’t work as a
team. Hence, people management is an important area for leaders
because it takes up a lot of time. To solve all these issues, I
always fall back onto my motto: The problems are caused by
people, thus people should have the solutions to all these issues.
Emotional intelligence is important for people management. Before
we do anything on emotion or on impulse, let’s take a step back
first. It is very important to control your own emotions in order to
deal with issues objectively.
4
How did you rally your team members and build
morale as well as gain commitment from your team
during peak period?
Firstly, be present with my staff. During peak periods, the staff
work late. To me, a supportive leader should be with the staff
when he/she is needed most. My business travels are therefore
deferred where possible to minimise my absence. Secondly,
showing your team that you care is crucial. For example, the
simple act of having “makan session” or running sessions with
my team is a good step in keeping a team cohesive.
5
What do you understand by the term ‘legacy’,
especially in the context of leadership? What do
you believe your legacy will be?
For me, legacy in the context of leadership is a tradition passed
down from previous leaders. However, as a current leader, it is
more important to be flexible, adapt to change, and be willing to
listen. Good traditions should be continued but if there is room
for improvement, why not? As for my own legacy, hopefully I can
inspire future leaders to focus on being people-oriented where
these leaders are able to speak to everyone as peers and foster
close relationships with his/her employees.
6
What advice would you like to share with the fresh
graduates who are inspired to be leaders?
Perhaps the more pertinent question to ask yourself is -
do you really aspire to be a leader? Some of us perform better
as specialists of our fields, despite having the potentials to be
a leader. On the flip side, if a person is chosen (not elected)
to lead, we should also consider whether that person will be
accepted as a leader. I don’t think it is a bad thing if you prefer
to be a specialist in your role instead of leading a team. In
my personal view, there are many roles people can play in the
society. It is only you who will know best when the time comes.
Ms.AngWeina(FCPA(S),FCPA(A),CA(M),ACTIM,B.Acc)
is a Tax Partner at Deloitte Malaysia’s tax practice and leads
Deloitte’s Global Employer Services (GES) team. She has
more than 20 years’ experience with Deloitte in Singapore,
Japan and Malaysia dealing in mobility, rewards and talent
issues ranging from tax compliance and immigration matters
of employees and employers to advisory on mobility policy,
equity incentive design and payroll compliance review. She
is also one of the advisors of Monash University – School of
Business (Sunway Campus).
INTERVIEW: MEET THE LEADERS!
Image: Kevin Chua, Ang Weina, Lee Hou Lek (from the left)
DO YOU
ASPIRE
TO BE A
LEADER?
- By Lee Hou Lek

24
1
What are the most important
values that you demonstrate as
a leader?
Well like I said a leader first has to be a
servant. A leader has to be a people person
and he needs to have the soft skills, not just
the technical skills. He needs to be able to
understand people and be able to get the
best. In other words, enhance their strengths
and correct their weaknesses so that whoever
works under the leader will be a better person.
A leader also has to inspire and coach the
person and sometimes have to take hard
decisions where the person many not be the
right fit for the organization. So a leader has
to be firm, but also has to be fair and has
the credibility in the organization. Credibility
means trust, being able to be charismatic
or a leader that people can respect. Those
are the values I demonstrate as a leader.
2
Can you share some of the
challenges faced in your
workplace as a leader and how
did you deal with it?
Not everyone shares the same vision and the
goals of the company. So the challenge for
me in this place is actually trying to understand
the different staff in terms of their age groups
because every age group has a different drives
and motivations as well as work habits. Thus, I
cannot categorize the workforce as homogenous
and I will have to adapt my leadership style
to the different diverse groups. In leadership,
there are many kinds of theories and leadership
styles. Some are situational leadership, directive
kind of leadership and participative where you
allow the candidates to participate and share in
the consensus building. Therefore I will have
to apply leadership styles to different diverse
groups and cannot have a one size fits all
leadership style.
3
What are the approaches did
you use to influence others on
an important issue?
Before doing anything I will have to accept that
companies are political organizations. So if I
have a project that involves other departments,
I will actually have to touch base with those
affected groups and gain their support first,
so that’s politics. So how would I be able to
influence them? Firstly, I will have to share with
them and agree on the common objectives of
the project. Now I don’t believe in forcing upon
the staff. It’s better to get them to buy into your
projects and share with them the same vision
that you have. As a result, they will be much
more motivated and inspired to do well in the
project. That’s the approach I will use in getting
the support and trust of others.
4
How do you rally your team
members and build morale as
well as gaining commitment
from them?
In order to get the team together and build
morale is to share with them the rationale for
doing a particular project. Once they accept
that rationale, the next thing I would do is to
actually coach and inspire them. Participative
and yet directive leadership is important in
gaining morale and commitment because you
know the purpose of the project but you have
to gain the trust and commitment of your staff.
There are also situations where the staff did
something which is not in line with the purpose
of the project. So my action will be to personally
counsel them. By doing this, I am respecting
the staff and also his pride. So I will tell him
where he went wrong and show him how he
should improve. The most important thing is
don’t demoralize a person because once you
demoralize a person it’s very difficult to build the
person up again.
5
All leaders have to deal with
conflict situations. What
strategies or approaches that
you have used in resolving conflicts?
As a leader, I have come across different
people or departments that are always in a
collusion path with each other. The manner
which I resolve conflict is by bringing the
conflicting parties together where I act as the
neutral mediator. As a neutral mediator, I will
have to dissect the conflict by taking away the
personal issues first and define what really the
problem is. Once you take out the personal and
you deal with it in on a neutral basis with the
two conflicting parties, I think you can actually
solve conflicts. I always mention to my staff that
you don’t have to like one another but you can
work with one another.
6
What is the legacy that you will
like to pass on to others?
What I would like to pass on to this
organization is that I would like to see a team
that works well together and be able to share
the same vision and goals of the company. So
building such a team is the legacy I would like
to leave in this organization.
7
Lastly, what advice do you
have for the young generation
who aspire to be leaders in the
future?
So my advice to the young generation would
be to learn the soft skills if you want to be
a leader. Learn how to interact with people
and most important is to be humble. There is
nothing to lose in being a humble but everything
to gain. So what makes you different is can
you motivate the next person to do what you
want? So that is the big challenge and not how
intelligent you are. Can you get the whole group
to believe and trust in you as well to share the
same goals as you? That is the difference and
that is what leadership is all about.
Image: Kevin Chua, Y.P. Lim (from the left)
Conquering
Diversity- By Kevin Chua
Mr. Y.P. Lim graduated from University Malaya in the 1970s and subsequently
obtained an MBA in the later part of his career. He started off his career as an
accounting trainee in GoodyearTyres which is an American multinational corporation
and got promoted to a directorial role. Mr Lim eventually left GoodyearTyres and
served as the group executive director in another local conglomerate. Currently, he
is the executive director of Q-Dees Worldwide, a company which specializes in pre-
schooleducation.

25
1
Looking over your life, what
is your greatest achievement
to date?
To me the most satisfying is the
relationship I had with my farm workers
at the farm. They were all Orang Asli.
They had very little education. They
were considered as people with little
skills and knowledge. But I proved to a
lot of people that that’s a myth, that’s
not true. They learnt things far better
than a lot of people that I’ve met in
my life. That to me has been a great
achievement because it’s against a lot
of odds. And more importantly, I’ve
made a difference to their life.
2
What are the most important
values and ethics you think a
leader should demonstrate?
Honesty, fairness and firm decision
making. We only live one life. So let’s
not be haunted by dishonest values.
3
Can you share what is the
biggest challenge that you
have faced in your career?
It had been my current business,
which is TJM Perth, a 4 wheel drive
accessories concern. Being a trained
lawyer, I knew nothing about this.
And I was in a new country, with no
friends, no history and nobody to fall
back on. I had to train myself and
proof myself. The challenge here was
that I knew very little about the industry
and I hardly knew anybody. I had to
depend on people to start the business
so that I can learn more about the
business. Besides applying business
principles, you have to know about the
business so that you are not overly
dependent on your staff. I was very
conscious of the fact that my staffs
might walk out on me one day. So,
people management becomes important.
You want them to respect you as the
owner and at the same time you want
them to do their job properly for which
they are paid for.
4
How do you stay motivated
in times of adversity? Are
there any quotes that kept u
motivated?
I always remembered when I was a
school boy, I passed by a bookshop
and saw a poster which says that ‘The
heights that great men reached and
kept were not attained through sudden
flight, but while their companions slept,
they were toiling through the night’. I
saved up money and bought that poster
and bought another poster which says
‘Be true to your highest convictions’.
These are the quotes I remember till
today.
5
What would be your legacy
that you want to pass on to
the younger generation?
It’s values more than anything. I
don’t believe in things like materials,
properties, wealth and so forth. It
only spoils the younger generation.
Just provide what is enough. It’s not
so much of being remembered but
probably being remembered for having
important values which would make a
difference in their life. And this differs
from person to person.
6
Lastly, as an entrepreneur,
what advice do you have for
the new entrepreneurs who
aspire to be successful?
First, work hard. Second work smart.
Third, know what is relevant and what is
not relevant to your career or business.
I use to spend quite a substantial part
of my budget for advertising. About
6 years ago, when search engine
was very new, I decided to have a
serious consideration on it. I started
reading about it, talking to people about
it. Then, I decided to invest money
in it and cut of traditional mode of
advertising. A lot of people think I was
doing the wrong thing. But now a lot of
people realised that I had a good head
start. I proved them wrong. This has
really increased my bottom line quite
big time. It’s much cheaper to advertise
through internet and you can reach the
customers quickly. So I felt that if I did
not know what is relevant and what is
not, I may not be where I am today.
And what is relevant today may not be
relevant tomorrow, what was relevant
yesterday may not be relevant today.
That’s what it’s all about.
Image: Koo Patrick, Sek Ying Phin (from the left)
Courage to
Change &
Excel! - By Sek Ying Phin
Mr. Koo Patrickstarted off his career as a deputy public prosecutor and then moved on to private practice as a legal
assistant and eventually owned a law practice firm. After 13 years of working in the legal industry, he called it a day and
madeabolddecisiontobeagoatfarmer.Hehasledagroupoforangasliwhohelpedhimmanagethefarmandinlessthan2
years,hegotanawardfromthePrimeMinisterforbeingthetopgoatbreederinthecountry.AftermigratingtoAustralia,
he started a new business venture in the auto industry and has successfully turned around the company to be the top
distributor in Southern Australia.

26
1
What is the one characteristic that you believe
every leader should possess?
I think an important characteristic is to have a clear vision
and purpose in life.
This serves as a strong foundation for all the activities a
leader performs because it helps prioritizes the important and
filter out the not important goals in life. For example, Tony
Fernandes childhood dream was to owning a budget airline, a
football club and a race car team.
Having that dream in mind, it was a strong driving force in his
life to achieve his vision and goals. This is also evident in
other great leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa
whom all had a clear vision of their calling in life.
2
What are the greatest challenges you have faced
as a leader?
Leaving a comfortable corporate job and stepping out to
finance and start a new business. Some of the challenges
include looking for client and hiring people for the company.
The biggest challenge going into my mind was “Why and
what would attract a potential employee to join a small and
unknown start up company?” I didn’t have an answer. Over
time, I learnt to build and communicate your dream and
vision that is bigger than just yourself and to include your
people. This draws people together when they can identify
and resonate with your vision. I realized this when we had
people from our competitors applying to join us.
3
What are you doing to ensure you continue to
grow and develop as a leader?
By adopting the attitude of being a life long learner. Always
wanting to learn, viewing different perspectives and building
discipline habits in life.
This can include taking time to attend seminar/courses, seeking
our mentors in life and mentoring the younger generation. I’ve
had mentoring groups which some have lasted more than 13
years. Small groups like these help me to have accountability
partners and keep me grounded to my feet to become a
better person.
4
Do you have any roles models that influenced
your leadership philosophy or development?
One of the the business role model I look up to is David
Ong who is the founder of Reapfield real estate service. He
came from a humble beginning from Penang, went astray in
his younger life as a drug addict before turning around his
life anew in his family and business in being one of the top
real estate company in Malaysia. Another great business
leader is Malek Ali the founder of BFM radio station which
is a relatively new business radio station. His journey from
securing the loan, recruiting his team, obtaining the radio
license, facing resistance from authorities for standing up to
his ethics and having a “start up” attitude has helped the
company to grow very successfully.
5
How do you perceive legacy?
Legacy is moving from success to building a life of significance.
You are not only successful but you leave behind a significant
benefit or lasting blessing.
6
What do you want people to remember the most
about you?
The people who are closest to me would definitely be my
family. I would like my three sons to remember me as being
a hero! And my wife remembers me for being a good husband
who loves her dearly. To my friends, I see myself as both
a career coach and a life coach. I hope in my time spent
with them, I have had the opportunity to encourage, direct
and point them to live life significantly to the fullest everyday.
7
Lastly, what is the best advice you would want to
pass to the younger generation?
My 8 years old son favorite word is “PLAY” which is his
motto as a young child. Likewise for the younger generation, I
hope they can identify what keeps them happy, motivated and
successful. Know what and how to “press the right buttons” in
your life journey. What is worth your time and energy to PLAY
to the fullest in life?
Mr.VincentgraduatedfromSunwayUniversityin1995.Hestartedoffhiscareer
with PricewaterhouseCoopers in HR consulting before moving into Receuitment
in the year 2000. He has since started his own company, Pentagonplus where he
currently serves as a Director.
Image:VincentandDannyTiah(fromtheleft)
“Follow your
Dreams” - By Danny Tiah

27
1
What are the elements that you like and dislike in this
company?
The people in the company have one objective and mission
and all of us are in the same page. And it is a company that I look
forward to work with. The company has clear targets , strategies,
strategic application, foresight and most important the support from
senior management and the marketing team. Of course we all have
our own different opinions, but we will not involve anything personal.
Sometimes people may disagree which are all personal opinion, yet I
always fight for my rights. However, it is only good provided you have
the basics, where your conscious is clear and your thoughts are not
malicious, which your intentions are noble towards your client support,
directions and the company’s objective.
2
How do you demonstrate leadership in your personal
life or work place?
Working in the assurance industry, the environment is people
oriented, which is more into building relationship and connection. In order
for you to do this business, you need to be motivated by yourself, and
your biggest motivation comes from your customers and the ability to
secure their account. In terms of leadership, you need to have a very
focus mind on what you want to do and what you want your team
to achieve. And in each of them they have their own characteristics,
you need to identify those and make sure they are falling in line. So
once you have identified the employees personalities and potentials,
you work towards them. A good leadership is to listen what people
want to say, regardless right or wrong. It is good to work as a team
to understand and move together. If you do not listen to your staff
or heads of department, and you do not know the policy, you cannot
move forward. Also, dealing with Y-generation, you have to educate
and talk to them about the career, the potentials of the industry can
provide, and the possibilities of them enhancing their education in this
industry. You need to guide and motivate them, if you let them work
by themselves, they are very independent and will not have a clear
vision of the future. I always believe in 3 objectives: to be sincere, be
honest and transparent. When you have these 3 qualities, people will
respect and look up to you.
3
As a leader so far, what is the greatest challenge you
encountered and how did you cope with it?
It is usually difficult going into bigger client accounts, fighting
against competitors and brokers. At the end of the day, we still have
to be sincere and honest towards our customers. For me, sometimes
some big accounts I went in I lose out. But when you lose out, you
take it as a positive outcome and a lesson. I will be more prepared
when I am approaching similar issues again. There was one scenario,
a particular account my team and I working for 9 months, and for 9
months I have been trying to knock on their door and convince them to
move with me. The company was very comfortable working with other
assurance firm and it was reluctant to make changes. I did not give
up and eventually, I got my letter of appointment successfully from the
client, because I promised to give my best effort and provide the best
quality of assurance. Sometimes you cannot take things for granted, you
have to sit down, wait for the opportunity, size up the customers and
work towards his expectation.
4
What is your legacy that you want to pass on to others?
In terms of dealing with customers and achieving targeted
accounts. I did the ways which were different from others, I
always tend to build a solid business relationship. Of course, styles might
have to change from time to time, but I would want people to remember
few areas of me and my team did. During the time we implemented
the Airasia account, the market and my team never thought we could
succeed. The whole market thought that local company cannot do the
business because we are taking over from foreign company - AIG. In
the end, we succeed dealing with the partners outside Malaysia. The
business module we have been practicing is to understand and know
others before working with them. This communication and relationship
bonding is important especially when people come to deal with
foreigners. This is the principle I would like other people to emulate for
the future. Another aspect is that my leadership and management style
might not be agreeable by everybody, but I think I have been quite
successful in achieving success of things by always going flexible and
adapt to the situation with the positive mindset. And Lastly never give
up to do your best.
5
Lastly, what advice would you like to give to someone
that is going into a leadership position for the first time?
The first thing I would suggest is one must dare to take up
challenges, be more matured, focused, willing to learn from mistakes
and most importantly learning from the failure. This is because when
you are from the position of rank and file, you will understand how
the operation works. If you are going straight to a leadership position,
then you must be prepared to learn, even an office boy may give
you a value-add proposal because he is a specialist and expert in
his own field. And if you are willing to learn and sacrifice the time to
learn working with people and understanding, will help you to win the
heart of people, you will find yourself achieving things more effectively.
Leadership requires time to learn and take steps to build relationships,
don’t rush because success automatically comes when you are ready.
Mr.PaulDavisisthegeneralmanagerinMulti-PurposeInsuranceBerhad(MPIB).
Hewasselfemployedin1981to1984doingvideotaperentingbusinessandalso
was supplying medical solutions to the government. Now, he has almost 30 years
experience in the assurance industry.He is currently in charge of corporate and
agency departments under agency business in MPIB.
Image:LiewJunZhenandPaulDavis(fromtheleft)
“Be positive, Be ready”
- By Liew Jun Zhen

28
1
What kind of leader do you think you are, task-
oriented or relationship-oriented?
I think you need to be both, to be fair. To be a leader, you
need to be flexible. One of the characteristics of being a good leader
is to be able to quickly analyse and judge what kind of leadership is
needed at different levels. Also, you have to consider the individual
that you are leading. Some individuals would need more directions
while others would thrive if you empower them and let them run but
of course with guidance along the way. I wouldn’t say I’m solely
either task oriented (directive) or relationship oriented (empowering)
but I continue try to refine my ability to adapt my leadership skills
to the individual.
2
Which event would you consider as a significant
turning point in your life?
One of the persons that I look up to and respect tremendously
is YB Dato Seri Idris Jala, the guy who brought me into MAS.
One of his key to success is Divine Intervention. It means if you
look back in your life, often times you realize that you didn’t plan
to be where you are today. Things conspire to happen to allow
you to be where you are today, things that perhaps you may look
at it negatively when it first occurred, but you know that if it didn’t
happen, you will be totally a different person, be at a totally different
place, and the circumstances would be different. Every point in my
life has contributed to who I am and where I am today. I think one
that is perhaps impactful for me which happened to me at a young
age is that I was very fortunate to receive a conditional
offer to study Economics in Cambridge together with a
scholarship. However, I think at that time I was a little bit
young, a little full of myself for the knowledge of getting
into such a prestigious university got to my head a little bit.
The conditional offer was not too difficult in my opinion
it was 3As at A-levels. I kind of took it for granted.
To cut a long story short, I didn’t meet the conditional
offer so I had to go to another university consequently.
But the most important thing is what I learned from the
episode. I learned never to take anything for granted. I
think I had to work for everything I achieved in life. That
episode also taught me humility. The point is that we are
all put into this world as equals, if you’re too sure of
yourself and if you’re too proud or arrogant, somehow
things come and bite you eventually.
3
What is one characteristic that you believe every
leader should possess?
Humility. As one climbs in the ladder and leads more people,
it’s very easy then to be full of yourself and naturally one becomes
very arrogant and doesn’t believe that they can do any wrong. The
larger the leader, the more they need to realize that no human
knows everything and can be correct all the time. The bottom line
is I’ve seen leaders believe too much in the respect that they are
given and it gets to their head and they lose sight of who they really
are. You need to be true to yourself and have their feet planted
firmly on the ground to be able to accept honest feedback and
opinions. This in turn encourages those around the leader to give
the honest assessment of the situation which would allow a good
leader to make an informed decision. It’s a virtuous cycle. Being fed
with only good news doesn’t provide key information for leaders to
make good decisions.
4
What are you doing to ensure that you continueto
grow and develop as a leader?
I continue to learn, observe, reflect on my actions, and
seek guidance from my seniors, mentors and people around me. I
continue to get honest feedbacks without fear or repercussion from
my peers and subordinates as well. Doing that periodic check or
reflection is very important. Not everything somebody tells you might
be true. Different people have different views. So at the end of the
day it’s for me to sit down and reflect on what I have done, what
are the feedbacks, how can I improve things and continue to ask
myself questions like how I would do things differently.
5
How do you perceive legacy? What kind of
legacy do you want to pass on to the others?
I think it ties to a lot of things. We are measured
by the things that we do and the things that we say. If
we are guided by our conscience, we hope to do the
best that we can. If things don’t turn out as planned,
that’s ok, we must have the humility to accept it, to
change and to try to remedy the situation, to try to
improve. It’s a learning process, to know that we
cannot change everything we want to change and
it’s also to be true to ourselves. Make the best
possible decision with all angles hopefully covered.
So 3 lessons which I hope to pass on to those just
starting out is to be guided by conscience, to have
humility and to always to continue to learn.
Mr. Song Eu Jin is currently the General Manager for the
Corporate Affairs Division at Bumi Armada Bhd. Most of his
careershavebeeninfinancebutinthelast5years,hehasmoved
on more to communication work. In the past, he has been an
analystinKualaLumpurOptionsandFinancialFuturesExchange,
an investment banker with Schroder Salomon Smith Barney in
London,afundmanagerwithMaybankLife(nowknownasEtika),
Senior Equity Research Analyst in ECM Libra, Vice President
of Strategic Transactions at MAS, Director for Corporate
and Finance practice in Ogilvy Public Relations in Singapore and
founderofhisownbusiness.
“What every leader needs”
Image:SongEuJinandLeePhuiYee(fromtheleft)
- By Lee Phui Yee

29
1
Firstly, could you share with me your career path and
what are your responsibilities in your current position?
I graduated in Finance & Economic back in 1998 while selling
air freshener as my first job. Subsequently, I was relocated to a
chemical manufacturing company servicing its existing customers based
in northern region. About few months later, I was offered a marketing
role in FMCG industry to promote a new brand which then became a
nationwide success. Spending about a year there, I decided to shift to
IT industry which gave me access to valuable IT knowledge. The next
few years saw me getting exposed to a few international companies
in charge of business development and market penetration strategies in
south East Asia.
Currently I owned a few companies that specialize from event
management, IT software, e-commerce to mobile application. Two of
my current responsibilities are ensuring that my businesses are being
run smoothly while constantly seeking out new opportunities.
2
How do you build relationships with other members of
your team?
Dealing with people is an essential part in corporate life; it is
a rite of passage that cannot be avoided. Therefore establishing good
rapports among team members is crucial to grasp. Brisk conversation
is a good starter and being a good listener would attract more friends.
Through these conversations, I’m able to discover their hobbies and
interest. Getting involved with them in common activities is a great
place to bring conversation to the next level. Through these activities,
I can converse and express my expectation and goals with them in a
stress-free environment.
3
Was there a point in your life as a leader where you
think that you didn’t do as well as you thought?
Well I believe everybody will eventually hit a wall during leadership
role. In my case I was too reliant and complacent when good times
are rolling which cause me to lose out on profitable projects. When I
did the post-mortem, I found out couple of factors leading to the loss.
Firstly, I found out that the project team was not properly structured.
There were too many layers of reporting in between. Secondly, each
of the team members’ job scope was not clearly specified. There was
a lack of initiative and pro-activeness in the team. Thirdly, there was
only a meeting at the end of the month – thus no close monitoring
process was conducted. Soon after failure of securing the project, I had
restructured my company and set up a “special task force” of which of
the project members were assessed with a set of KPIs. Weekly meeting
was conducted and individual’s performance was evaluated.
4
Describe a situation where you were able to influence
others on an important issue. What are the approaches
that you have used in resolving conflicts?
Most of the time I call the shot based on factual information supported
by data and numbers. I normally try to resolve it in harmonic manner.
However, there are few approaches that I could share to resolve
conflicts. I usually avoid the conflict by not appearing to be interested
into the subject matter or by accommodating which mean sacrificing your
own interest by allowing the other party’s interests to take precedence.
I will also compromise such as making a concession by accepting a
solution that could partially satisfy the other party’s interests. The next
approach would be collaboration where a solution can satisfy both
parties’ interest. The last resort would be confrontation where I will
dominate and interrupt the other party right away.
5
Whatisthelegacythatyouwillliketopassontoothers?
When things get tougher, it makes us stronger. Take a break,
rethink your strategy and always be open to third’s party
suggestions. Be willing to talk to more people and share your ideas.
When it comes to a point where change is inevitable, do it as change
is the only constant thing in life. However, be always inspired of what
your end objective is. Keep your eyes open and be ready to take on
challenges that may arise. And only when you are ready, both mentally
and physically, the opportunity would knock at your doorstep. I want
to be a reminder to the readers that your network is always your net
worth. Do expand your people network and business circles. You will
find them precious when you are in need of help one day.
Mr. Vilsonm Wong, who was the graduate of Victoria University
(VU)MBAprogrammein2008,istheCEOofFRAMEITSdnBhd,owner
of CatchTheEye Events & Production House, and project consultant
for Alibaba group responsible for the promotion of Malaysia Tourism
to china tourists. His forte are mainly into exploring new businesses
in this region and market penetration strategy. He was recently the
recipient of Digital Malaysia Corporate Accelerator Programme II
2014 nationwide organized by TM, MDec, and StartupMalaysia for a
mobile application, TANYA, that provides an alternative Q&A problem-
solvingtoMalaysian.TANYAisaimedtolaunchinSunwayUniversityby
July2014.
Image:VilsonmWongandDingSzeLing(Fromtheleft)
“Build
Bridges”- By Ding Sze Ling

31
Justin Salisbury is a super-franchiser for a
large chain of soup-and-sandwich
shops. He owns twelve shops in the same region, having
invested $2 million to own these stores. One-half the
investment in the stores came from inheritance and
investments Justin had made prior to becoming a
franchiser. The other half of the money was borrowed,
so Justin feels considerable pressure to earn enough
gross profit from the stores to make his debt payments
and earn a living.
Justin concluded that he needed to increase
revenues from his stores about 15 percent in order to
net enough profit for a comfortable living. He believed
that his business processes were good enough to make
a profit, and that the company was giving his franchise
operations enough marketing and advertising support.
Justin also thought that his managers were running
efficient operations. He was concerned, however,
that they weren’t trying hard enough to achieve good
customer service by encouraging the order takers at the
stores to pay more attention to customers. For example,
when Justin visited the stores (or sent a family member
in his place), the order takers didn’t smile enough or ask
frequently enough, “What else would you like with your
order?”
Justin decided that he shouldn’t micromanage
by telling the store managers how to motivate their
staffs. Yet he decided to discuss with his managers
what he wanted – more profit by doing a better job
of motivating the order takers and cashiers. He also
pointed out his twelve store managers that he would
be rewarding and recognizing their accomplishments
in boosting store revenues. After consulting with the
managers, Justin established the goal of a 15 percent
increases in revenues within twelve months.
Two weeks after the goal-setting discussions
with the twelve store managers, Justin announced that
he would be recognizing and rewarding attaining a 15
percent or better increase in revenue with two of the
following forms of recognition:
• A wall plaque designating the manager as a “Store
Manager of the Year”.
• A year’s membership in an athletic club for the
manager and a spouse or partner.
• A bonus equivalent to 2 percent of annual salary
Choice of an iPad or an iPod.
• An expense-paid trip for the manager and his or
her family to one day at an amusement park or
theme park.
Justin waited for responses from his managers
to the proposed recognition plan. He received several
e-mail messages acknowledging an appreciation of his
program, yet no burst of enthusiasm. Justin thought
to himself, “I guess the managers don’t understand
yet how great it feels to be recognized for making a
tough financial target. I think that when they earn their
recognition awards, I will see a lot more enthusiasm.”
Justin
Salisbury
Tries a Little
Recognition - By Lee Hou Lek
CASE STUDIES: PROBLEMS RESOLVED!

32
1
What advice can you give
Justin Salisbury about the
most likely motivational
consequences of his recognition
program?
Justin’s recognition program is an
extrinsic reward for their store managers.
It is undeniable that Justin’s recognition
program can improve the performance of
the store managers. However, implementing
his recognition program solely may not
motivate his store managers to the extent
of achieving his goal of 15% increases
in revenue. One of the rationales is his
recognition programme appeals to lower
needs of his store managers. Justin’s
recognition programme is to control the
behaviour of his store managers by
manipulating their decisions about how to
act. By doing so, the higher needs of the
managers are unmet with his recognition
programme. This is due to the fact that
the managers do not receive intrinsic
satisfaction from their work.
Furthermore, according to
Chapman and White, managers may feel
that Justin’s recognition program is top-
down recognition which lack of genuineness
in communicating appreciation and only
focuses on what the person does instead of
on who the person is. The managers may
feel that the recognition program is a means
to help Justin to achieve his own goal of
living comfortably, rather than appreciating
their efforts to achieve the financial target.
In other words, the managers feel that
the program is an impersonal, top-down
corporate policy approach instead of being
personal and individualized. Furthermore,
not all managers are high achievers,
but all managers need appreciation and
encouragement.
Good leaders will not only rely
on their extrinsic rewards as their primary
motivational tool. From my perspective,
his recognition program has little effect in
stimulating a lot more enthusiasm from his
store managers even after the managers
get a taste of recognition because the
managers will only perform adequately to
receive the rewards. Nevertheless, they will
not be motivated to perform beyond the
standards to receive the rewards although
they have the abilities and competencies to
perform better.
2
What other form of
recognition should Justin offer
the store managers?
In my view, in order to understand
what form of recognition or appreciation the
store managers prefer, Justin should talk
with all the store managers individually and
observe them carefully to discover what
form of recognition and/or appreciation
suits each manager most.
Moreover, Justin’s recognition
program (extrinsic rewards) should not
be implemented at the current stage.
Instead, Justin can consider implementing
a recognition programme which focuses
on people. In other words, Justin should
motivate his people by using the intrinsic
rewards because it can satisfy the higher
needs of managers and become intrinsically
rewarded. One of these “People First”
recognition programmes is Motivating
by Appreciation (MBA) Model which
is initiated by Gary Chapman and Paul
White. The MBA model focuses on the
5 languages of appreciation, e.g. (1)
Words of affirmation; (2) quality time;
(3) acts of service; (4) tangible gifts
and (5) physical touch. By implementing
the MBA model, Justin understands the
primary appreciating language of each store
manager as different individuals, tend to
have preferential languages of appreciation
of being shown that they are appreciated
and valued. In other words, motivation and
encouragement effects will occur when the
messages of appreciation are sent in the
language of appreciation which is most
valued by the receiver. For example, if
the primary language of appreciation of the
store manager is quality time, then Justin
should go to the stores to motivate them
and listen to their difficulties in achieving
the financial target and come out with the
solutions together with the store managers.
The advantages of implementing
MBA model into Justin’s franchise business
are to enhance the emotional climate in
Justin’s twelve stores and increase the level
of productivity in store managers. Moreover,
MBA model might help the business to
lower the financial cost incurred from
recognition or extrinsic rewards approach as
the recognition approach increases the cost
of a business and is not a “good fit” in
today’s competitive business environment.
Furthermore, the MBA model also
encourages the leaders to empower their
employees. Other than appreciating the
efforts of managers, Justin can give them
more control over their work and power
to achieve the goals and outcomes they
want. This allows them to have freedom to
choose their preferred actions, the managers
will feel good and rewarded intrinsically for
their good performance. This in turn leads
the managers to become more creative,
innovative, and have a greater commitment
in their work and strive to best possible
performance.
In future, Justin’s recognition
program (which focuses mainly on extrinsic
rewards) can be implemented hand-in-
hand with MBA model because the lower
and higher needs of the managers would
be recognized. His recognition program
would be more effective if Justin allows his
store managers to choose freely whether
or not they would like to participate as the
primary language of appreciation of some
individuals might not be the recognition
rewards.
3
Would it be better for Justin
to have a recognition program
aimed directly at the order
takers and cashiers than at their
managers? Explain your reasoning.
No, I do not agree that Justin’s
recognition program only aims directly at
the order takers and cashiers than at their
managers. Undoubtedly, it would be a
great idea to motivate the order takers and
cashier through the recognition program as
they are the first group of people who
contact with the customers. However, the
store managers should not be neglected as
they are the individuals who come out with
all the strategies to attract the customers.
Hence, in my opinion, the recognition
program should include managers and
order takers and cashiers as well as every
employee in the stores because every
member in the stores has his/her own
respective role to play and contribute.
Eveyone’s role and responsibility is crucial
in achieving the goal or mission of the
organization.
Justin’s recognition programme
should not only focus on order takers
and cashiers. Instead, his recognition
programme should include his managers
because his managers play an important
role in determining the ways cashiers and
order takers as well as other employees
are engaged and motivated. In his franchise
business, Justin is unable to apply cookie-
cutter approach as each individual or
employee is different. Therefore, Justin
should not forget to motivate and empower
his managers as they are the intermediates
to motivate his order takers and cashiers.¶

33
Heather Osaka had worked ten years
in the hospital administration
field, at two hospitals, one HMO, and one nursing home.
However, she had yet to hold a chief administrator
position. One afternoon, she received a text message from
Jake Wofford, a former classmate who was now in the
executive recruiting business. “Maybe a great opportunity
for you. Get back,” said the message.
Osaka did get back to Wofford quickly. The
opportunity to which he referred was a position as the
director of Willow Pond, a medium-size assisted living
home in the same city where Osaka now lived. “Assisted
living” refers to helping older residents who are not quite
able to care for themselves, yet do not require the level
of care provided by a nursing home. Jake was frank in
informing Heather that Willow Pond was troubled and
that the previous director had been fired. Yet, the home
still complied enough with state regulations to remain in
operation.
The most recent problem at the home receiving
publicity involved a man with a criminal record who
walked into Willow Pond, sneaked into a resident’s studio
apartment, and sexually molested her. To gain entrance to
the living area, the intruder donned a “Friends of Willow
Pond” smock designated for volunteers. Wearing the
smock facilitated his roaming the living area.
Before finally accepting the position, Heather
spoke with the owners, who also operated several other
homes for the elderly. She also consulted with a few
supervisors and, with permission, interviewed four
Willow Pond residents. The owners and Heather agreed
that the following issues were among the most pressing:
• The residents and their families complain that the
food is poor.
• Many of the residents are treated callously by the
staff, and often told to “shut up” when they make a
special demand, such as having a button sewn on, or
ask for an off-menu item.
• The staff turnover rate is far higher than the industry
average, with many young staffers just taking
resident-care jobs as a last resort. Many of the people
with experience in resident care who take a position
with Willow Pond quickly leave for a higher pay or
for a more congenial atmosphere.
• Sanitation at the facility barely meets state
requirements, and the building has a grungy,
neglected appearance.
• Much of the equipment and furniture is old and
shabby. Many of the TV sets produce blurry images.
Willow Pond does not have high speed Internet
accessfortheresidents,leavingthosewithcomputers
in their rooms and apartments struggling to use the
Internet.
• The physician and registered nurses service is not as
reliable as at most assisted-care facilities.
• Willow Pond has shown a slight operating loss for
three consecutive years.
The first day on the job, Heather thought to herself,
“This looks like a job for Superwoman, or at least a
great turnaround artist. So where do I begin making a
difference?”
- By Kevin Chua
Time to Rebound
at Willow
Pond

34
1
Why is this case included in a chapter about
charismatic and transformational leadership?
Being on the verge of failure, it is obvious that Willow Pond
requires a charismatic and transformational leader who can
lead it to success. Transformational leadership can be defined
as the ability of the leader to influence the values and beliefs
of others by working with them in order to accomplish the
organization’s mission and purpose. Looking at the issues of
Willow Pond, it will most definitely require a transformational
leader who can bring about significant changes and inspire
all stakeholders who include the employees and owners to
embrace a new vision where Willow Pond can be successful
and be the industry leader. In order to realize this vision,
Heather will need to fully influence her followers into accepting
her leadership style and vision and implement a phased
approach to meet her goals.
In contrast with transformational leadership,
charismatic leadership revolves around the ability to impact
people emotionally and also to inspire them to achieve more
despite obstacles. According to Max Weber, charisma can
occur during a crisis, where a leader surfaces with a vision
to solve the crisis and attract followers who believe in the
vision.
Willow Pond will require a charismatic leader who can come
up with innovative ideas and solutions to realize the vision
of making Willow Pond successful despite scarce resources.
Even before accepting her new role in Willow Pond, Heather
has already spoken to the employees, owners and the
residents there regarding the current condition of Willow Pond.
This shows that Heather has already shown an attribute of
a charismatic leader by understanding the importance of
communication.
Overall, the theme of charismatic and transformational
leadership is unmistakably the main theme of this case since
Willow Pond is in dire need of a leader which possesses both
these leadership traits.
2
What aspects of transformational leadership
should Heather emphasize in her approach to
rehabilitating Willow Pond?
One of the aspects that Heather can emphasize would
be emotional intelligence where it is a specific attribute of
transformational leaders where they can read emotions well.
She will need to understand her staff emotionally and able to
influence them to put in the hard work and commitment to
achieve her vision. According to a study conducted by Daniel
Goleman, in What Makes a Leader (1998), successful
leaders who possess self awareness and regulation, empathy,
motivation and social skills can understand the emotional
makeup of others better in order to move them to accomplish
the goals of the organization. In other words, understanding
the staff will be an integral part of Heather’s transformational
leadership if she were to influence the staff to have the same
vision as her.
The other aspect that Heather should also focus is
on creating a vision. By communicating a vision, they convey
a set of values that guide and motivate the staff because
there won’t be any transformation without vision. Heather will
need to inspire the staff to look beyond their own personal
interest. Looking at the high turnover rate at Willow Pond,
Heather will need to convince the existing staff to not look
at the short run benefits but to stay on and work together
to realize her vision. Heather can further motivate and boost
morale of her staff by practicing individual consideration where
she takes the time to encourage the personal development of
the staff by coaching them and providing feedback on their
performances. By doing this, the staff will be more motivated
in aligning themselves with Heather’s vision.
Finally the last aspect that Heather should emphasize
is empowerment whereby team members are involved in
the decision making process. Conger and Kanungo, in The
Empowerment Process (1998) stated that empowerment
is an effective method in facilitating motivated behaviours
and productivity in organizations. Heather can practice
empowerment by delegating her staff projects to address the
current issues of Willow Pond. With low resources available,
Heather will need to come up with a flow of challenging
new ideas and encourage employees to look at problems in
different approaches. In other words, by stimulating employees
to think differently by empowering them with tasks, productivity
can be increased and problems can be solved innovatively.
WillowPondwhichamediumsizeassistedlivinghomeisplaguedbynumerousproblems
such as poor living facilities, unprofessional staff and continued operating
losses. Heather being the new director must have the traits of a transformational and
charismaticleadertoturnthingsaroundforWillowPond.

35
3
How might emphasizing the charismatic aspects
of her personality help Heather bring about the
necessary changes?
Looking at the financial status of Willow Pond, it will not
be able to pay substantial financial bonuses to the staff
who contribute in helping Willow Pond. Therefore in order to
accomplish the required changes, Heather may need to rely
more on her charismatic aspect which includes the ability to
inspire trust. She can build trust and support from her staff
by showing commitment to the needs of the staff over self-
interest and also seeking advice and feedback from them too.
By doing this, the staff working under her will not feel isolated
and they will also have a sense of being part of something
big. If Heather is able to inspire her staff, it will definitely
result in a greater cooperation between her and her staff in
achieving her vision.
Another charismatic aspect that Heather should focus
on is to be high in energy and action orientated. She should
be energetic and serve as a role model to the rest of her
staff. She has to be in a positive attitude and full of energy
in realizing her vision. Looking at such a motivated leader,
the staff under her will also be equally motivated and inspired
to continue working in Willow Pond. She also has to be
optimistic that she can bring the changes to Willow Pond and
can express her optimism to the owners and staff in the form
of her vision where Willow Pond can be a success with some
hard work and commitment. As a result of being optimistic, the
staff will also feel more connected to Heather. Being action
orientated mean that Heather will have to open up to new
ideas by others and perform the necessary actions which are
in line with her vision. In a way, empowerment can also be
part of being action orientated as delegating tasks to the staff
will enable them to gain experience and also be part of the
decision making process of changing Willow Pond.
Therefore, the ability to inspire and being motivated
as well as being action orientated are important components of
a charismatic leader that Heather must possess if she were to
bring the necessary changes.
4
Why might the job at Willow Pond prove to be
a wonderful career opportunity for Heather
Osaka?
One of the true measures of a leader is the ability to conquer
a crisis. In the case of Willow Pond where it is on the brink
of failure, Heather will definitely have an opportunity to develop
her transformational leadership skills and test herself. The
biggest obstacles that Heather will face in her new role in
Willow Pond will be scarce resources and unmotivated staff.
In order to make things right, Heather would first need to set
a vision for Willow Pond where she intends to make it the
industry leader despite the many issues that it is facing. Setting
a vision is one the vital components that Heather must perform
if she wishes to perform as a transformational leader. She will
need to communicate her vision to all stakeholders of Willow
Pond and instill pride and faith that she will be able to realize
her vision with commitment, loyalty and patience from all the
stakeholders.
Besides that, being a transformational leader, Heather
can practice her empowerment skills. She would need to learn
to empower her staff with tasks so that her staff do not feel
alienated from the whole decision making process. She can
give them new ideas to solve problems and motivate them by
giving them feedbacks on how to improve themselves. Thus,
the staff will be more comfortable working with Heather because
they feel connected to her throughout the entire process.
In conclusion, Heather will gain some valuable experience in
Willow Pond if she successfully utilizes her capabilities as a
transformational leader which can be of vital use in her future
leadership roles. ¶

37
Against from Long Realty in Tucson,
Arizona were eager to find a safe
place to discuss the complexities of the real estate market
after the housing bubble burst a few years ago. Some of
the agents began exchanging information on Facebook,
but anyone could read their comments including clients
and bankers.
Having that conversation on Facebook wasn’t
the appropriate venue, said Kevin Kaplan, vice president
of marketing and technology at Long Realty.
Asaresult,LongRealtylaunchedarevolutionary
new agent-to-agent social media networking platform
called Long Connects that enables their agents to connect
to other Long Realty professionals in a safe, online
environment.ThisisyetanotherwayLongRealtyistaking
the industry lead to help their real estate professionals
work smarter and more efficiently to provide the highest
level of service.
For several years, real estate agents have been
using social media for marketing purposes. By using
photo and video sharing to make listings more attractive,
many agents have been able to attract more buyers. An
example would be presenting a story about an unusual
home for sale. Real estate veterans also use professional
networking sites to hone their sales skills. Yet using social
networking to enhance network within a real estate
company is a recent development.
Long Realty is one of the first real estate
companies to implement this type of internal social
media network. It is an entirely new way for their agents
to interact, network, and accomplish their work. By
implementing this new online agent community, Long
Realty is setting the technological standard to help further
extend cooperation and teamwork among their agents.
Agents can network with each other and share
information more efficiently to help match buyers and
sellers. Long Realty agents can also use this new platform
to learn from each other and from the company by
keeping one another up to date with the latest industry
developments, newest marketing and technology trends,
and best business practices.
Rosey Koberlein, CEO of the Long Companies,
says: “Long Connects uses the latest Enterprise
2.0 technology to empower our team of real estate
professionals to provide the best service possible while
increasing their knowledge and level of productivity.”
“Long Connects uses a powerful social media
technology suite in a secure intranet environment to
connect our sales associates, Core Services teams and
employees,”statesKaplan.Thefeaturesthatenablethereal
estate professionals to connect with each other include
online forums, media galleries, micro blogging, and
community groups. Long has taken a giant step forward
integrating social media into its everyday business
practice.
Long Connects is making it possible for Long
Realty agents to develop their professional relationships,
advance their real estate skills, and grow their business
into a robust business model that could help shape the
future of real estate.
Kevin Kaplan
of Long Realty
Builds Teamwork
with Internal
Social
Networking - By Sek Ying Phin

38
1
How does the internal social networking site Long
Connects facilitate teamwork?
The cause to the dysfunction of teams is often the lack
of knowledge about each other’s values, beliefs and culture.
Through the internal social networking site Long Connects, agents
of Long Realty are able to interact, network and accomplish their
work more efficiently. By interacting with one another, agents
will get to know their fellow colleagues better and have a better
understanding of each other’s backgrounds. This will then result
in high team cohesiveness among agents.
Furthermore, for a team to successfully accomplish a
task, the team has to ensure coordination, information sharing
and exchange of materials. Long Connects does fulfill the three
requirements and hence enabling agents to accomplish their
work more efficiently. One of the common dysfunction of teams
is lack of trust where people do not feel safe to reveal mistakes,
share concerns or express ideas. As such, Long Connects
provides a secure intranet environment which encourages agents
to share information and sharpen their sales skills. There are
also features like online forum and community groups which
could further enhance interaction among agents. With such
features, agents will be able to overcome the issue of lack of
trust and hence will be able to work as a team to achieve a
shared goal.
As Long Connects enables information to be shared
more efficiently, the matching of buyers and sellers has become
much easier and faster. By posting up a notice to buy or sell
a house on Long Connects, all the other agents could help
to match the buyers and sellers. Teamwork is fostered in the
sense that all agents can help each other in growing each
other’s’ business.
2
Why might Long Connects be better for enhancing
cooperation among agents than old fashioned
methods such as making phone calls or having
lunch together?
Long Connects, an internal social network which was primarily
launched for the purpose of having a safe ground where
discussion among agents can be carried out has now become
a norm for many large corporations. Companies with internal
social networks want to satisfy their employees’ need to feel
connected. Employers realized that social networks are important
as it provides a platform in which employees can raise their
concerns and share ideas.
With the use of Long Connects, agents can share
information with each other in a more efficient manner as social
media networking is a medium that has the nature of “one to
many”. With such nature, the company will also be able to keep
agents up to date with the latest industry developments, newest
marketing and technology trends and best business practices.
Such complex information may be hard to explain over the
phone as visual aid is absent. Hence, Long Connects improves
the understanding of agents towards the information shared by
company. Despite being able to do so with email, agents can
only get feedbacks or enquire from the company. This is more
of a one to one communication. On the other hand, when the
information is shared through Long Connects, all other agents
will be able to see each other’s concerns and queries and
can then help to clear each other’s doubt or queries. As such,
agents will not feel left out knowing that there are many agents
out there working towards a shared goal.
Besides that, in Long Realty where there are many
agents in different offices around the world, Long Connects
serves as a primary means of connecting the agents. Agents
who are geographically and organizationally dispersed can be
linked through the features of Long Connects which are online
forum, media galleries, micro blog, and community groups.
With these facilities, agents from different office in different
states can then share their success stories or useful information
with one another. Without having to meet face to face to
share information, agents could save time and travel expenses
especially when seeking for buyers and sellers across the states
which would then provide high level of service to the customers.
When difficult problems arise in the company, Long
Connects serves as a platform that allows agents or the core
service teams to suggest feasible solutions. By giving the
opportunity to agents to voice out their ideas to solve the
problem, they will think that problems can be solved as a team
and will feel belonged. Problems could also then be solved
quickly using the best way.
3
WhattypeofleadershipisKevinKaplanexercising?
Leadership is an influence based relationship among
leaders and followers who intend real changes and
outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. Kevin Kaplan being
the vice president of marketing and technology at Long Realty
has the power and authority to make changes in the company
so as to ensure agents have common goals. As the nature of
the real estate industry requires agents or sales associates to
act as the middle person for the sale and purchase of houses,
the staffs in Long Realty are mainly agents or sales associates.
The agents and sales associates can be said to be working
in a self-directed team because there is minimum supervision
from the leader. A self-directed team is member-centered rather
than leader-centered and –directed. Furthermore, the team being
not completely autonomous for organizational leaders set overall
direction and monitor the team’s work on a regular basis, it fits
perfectly into the definition of a self-directed team.
As a result, Kevin Kaplan is said to exercise team-
based leadership. The team he has is in pooled interdependence,
the lowest form of interdependence where members’ work is
fairly independent of one another, participating on a team, but
not as a team. By recognizing the characteristic of the team,
Kevin Kaplan realized that agents wish to connect with each
other and hence need to have a safe platform to discuss their
problems. He then came up with Long Connects, a social
media networking platform that can facilitate coordination and
communication among agents.
Besides that, Kevin Kaplan was able to influence the
team cohesiveness through Long Connects. Long Connects has
encouraged frequent interaction between agents which enabled
them to know each other more. The greater understanding
of one another will then form a more cohesive team. The
consequence of high cohesiveness in teams is that the morale
and performance of the team will be improved.
Kevin Kaplan has also successfully used technology
to build relationship in a virtual team. Through Long Connects,
agents who are geographically dispersed have the opportunity to
know one another even across the states. This has given agents
the sense of belonging and establishing trusting relationships
within the team. ¶

39
Heather Wyoming was feeling great
because she believed that today
would be a turning point. As the director of marketing for
West Coast Wellness, she was to meet with the executive
committee, which included her boss, the CEO. Heather’s
purpose was to get approval to hire three new sales and
marketing representatives. The meeting to discuss her
plans took place at 8.30 a.m. A partial transcript of the
meeting follows:
Heather: Thanks so much for meeting with me this
morning. In appreciation, you can see that we have snacks
that will make you well. All the pastries, doughnuts, and
bagels are made without trans-fats. And all the juices
served are freshly squeezed. I am glad to see that you are
looking well, because today we are celebrating wellness.
West Coast Wellness is on the go. We have signed up six
new companies and three HMOs in the last few months
to use our services. We have also broken the ground by
offering individual memberships. I need your approval to
hire three new sales and marketing representatives so we
can keep the momentum rolling on our expansion.
CEO: How much will these new hires cost West Coast?
Heather:Nocostatall.Wewillbeinvestingabout$30,000
per year for each rep. They will be working on mostly
commission. I estimate that each successful rep will bring
in a net of about $200,000 in revenue. So there is really no
cost involved.
Exec Committee Member 1: Yet, Heather, we cannot
overlook the fact that you want to bring three new
employees on board, a situation that creates an immediate
financial liability for West Coast Wellness.
Heather: I understand your point of view. If the reps
produce nothing, we lose a lot of money. However, by
hiring the right reps we will turn this potential liability
into a great asset. I understand the need for prudent
financial management, but I think that I am asking you to
take a prudent risk.
Exec Committee Member 2: The regional economy has
cooled down considerably, and there are many layoffs.
Heather, what makes you optimistic that we can expand
the market for wellness services?
Heather: I share your concern about the economy.
However, keeping employees well is a fabulous
investment. We can demonstrate to potential clients that
helping employees stay well increases productivity. When
employees lose fewer days to absenteeism and less time to
tardiness, they are more productive. Another great selling
point we have is that when employees use our services,
their medical insurance premiums typically go down.
Exec Committee Member 3: Heather, we all share your
enthusiasm for wellness – otherwise, we wouldn’t be
members of the executive committee. But I am a little
concerned that the market for our services is saturating.
Hiring three more reps might be too optimistic.
Heather:Youmakeagreatpoint,yetawarenessofwellness
isontherise.Companiesareevengivingworkersfinancial
rewards to get in shape. Obesity is being attacked on all
fronts, and smokers are treated like criminals. Wellness is
on the move, and we can get a bigger share of the market.
CEO: Heather, I am proposing to you and the committee
that you begin by hiring one new sales and marketing
rep. If that person proves to be a good investment, we will
authorize you to hire another rep.
Heather: I can buy that logic. Just give me a chance to
prove how much I can expand our market. I just want to
get started on the path to success. One rep it is for now.
West
Coast
Wellness
on the Go - By Danny Tiah

40
1
How successful has Heather been at negotiating
her demands?
Heather demands were met with considerable resistance
from the committee. Although she was constantly questioned
about her intentions, she remained confident and continued to
persuade the board in order to get her demands across. She
did not get emotional and was persistent by providing valid
and practical reasons to backup her idea. From this, we can
already see that she is making good progress at negotiating
her demands.
Heather employed a collaborative style in order to
resolve the conflict with the board. Heather started strong
with her argument, but at the same time also acknowledged
everyone’s point of view and was willing to accept criticism.
She addressed their concerns by providing them assurance
her plan would work. In the end, she managed to come out
with a win-win situation where both parties gained something
of value.
Although her ultimate goal of hiring three new sales
and marketing representatives was not achieved, she still
managed to convince the board to hire one representative.
Therefore, it can be said that Heather was partially successful
in negotiating her demands.
2
Identify at least three leadership roles Todman
emphasizes as president of Whirlpool,
International.
During the meeting, Heather mentioned a number of issues
to the committee.
First and foremost, Heather brought up the issue
about hiring three new additional sales and marketing
representatives. She said by taking into account the revenue
that the new employees would bring in, it would not cost
West Coast Wellness anything.
Secondly, Heather provided reasons how the
company could expand in Wellness services. Despite the
regional economy cooling down, she used the fact that keeping
employees well would not only increase their productivity but
would also result in the reduction of their employee’s medical
insurance claims.
Last but not least, Heather reassured the executive
board regarding how they could obtain a larger share in the
Wellness market. Although one of the committee members
was concerned that the market for their services seems to be
saturating, Heather instead replies that awareness regarding
wellness has been increasing, reassuring him that her idea
would actually be beneficial to the company.
Overall, one may be able to argue that Heather
could have tried harder to hire two more representatives;
nonetheless she had actually arrived at an admirable
compromise that provides her with the possibility of hiring three
new representatives. Heather would be given the authority
to hire another representative given that the representative
that she hires turns out to be a good asset for West Coast
Wellness. Therefore, given all the points above, it can be
said that Heather did not leave anything on the table.
3
What leadership characteristics has Heather
displayed?
One of the leadership characteristics portrayed by Heather
is that she was assertive when negotiating her demands.
Assertiveness when not applied properly is often associated
with aggressiveness. Being assertive can be defined as being
direct about your requests but you still take into account
the wants and needs of others. In other words, you do not
necessarily get what you request for. Being assertive means
having a strong sense of yourself and realising that you
have a right to get what you want. And it means standing
up for yourself especially in tough circumstances. In this
case, Heather is assertive by constantly explaining that hiring
new sales representatives would be a good investment. She
asserted her rights while recognising the needs of the board
that hiring new representatives would incur costs to the
company.
Moreover, another leadership characteristic displayed
by Heather would be good listening skills. Listening is one of
the key management and leadership skills that are important
as the foundation for good exchanges, recognising setbacks
and negotiation. There are two common issues that would
hinder a leader’s listening skills. One of them is that leader’s
are usually overloaded with information, making listening hard.
The other one is due to mind wandering, as individuals
normally listen faster than others speak. It is depicted in this
case that numerous times that Heather shows good listening
skills when she says, ‘I understand your point of view’, ‘I
share your concern’ and ‘You make a great point’. While
attempting to get your views across, she always listens and
acknowledges the replies of the opposition in an attempt to
understand their point of view.
Heather also displays significant enthusiasm,
optimism and passion about the service of the company she
is working in. Enthusiasm is usually recognised as a incentive
for constructive behaviour and results in positive response from
team members. Optimism is frequently related with enthusiasm
which enables an individual to be kept in a positive mood,
and confident about achieving difficult objectives. On the other
hand, being passionate about their work is another major
characteristic of successful leaders. In the world of business,
being passionate can also serve as a major success factor for
a business’s survival and growth. Heather showed all three
of these characteristics during the meeting with the executive
committee. This was clearly evident when she was trying
her best to convince the board. Her extensive knowledge,
intention for company growth and feasible ideas all display
the three characteristics mentioned above. ¶

41
Margot is the sales development
manager of an online retailer
that specializes in the sale of upscale clothing for men
and women, at drastically low prices. Most of the
clothing sold stems from reselling of inventory from
high-end retailers that have gone out of business
are bankrupt, or liquidating merchandise for other
reasons such as needing cash desperately.
Based in Los Angeles, the online store has
an office and a distribution warehouse. Yet some sales
are shipped directly from the distressed retailers who
receive a small payment for making the shipments.
Margot was raised in Mexico. She speaks
both English and Spanish fluently, which facilitates
her working well in Los Angeles. However, Margot
considers herself to be multicultural beyond working
well with Americans, Latinos, and Mexican-
Americans. “Give me anybody, whatever ethnicity
and race, and i’ll warm up to that person.” she
says. Not all the staff members at the company are
so convinced about the effectiveness of Margot’s
multicultural skills.
Derek, the company website designer, who
is African-American, said this about Margot: “I love
the lady, but sometimes i think she patronizes me.
She starts almost all our conversation asking me
something about professional basketball. Oh, yes,
I know that the vast majority of NBA players are
black, but so are almost all the doctors, scientists,
and lawyers in Africa. To please Margot, I make
a few general comments about basketball so the
conversation can proceed.”
Lucie, an order-fulfilment specialist, is
a Latina raised in Costa Rica. She said that she
appreciates Margot’s working hard to establish
rapport with her, but that she gets tired of Margot so
frequently asking her questions about Costa Rican
cooking and holidays. “Okay, I was raised in Costa
Rica. That doesn’t mean that i think about my home
country every day. I am here living and working in
L.A.”
Basil, a purchasing specialist, is the only
senior working at the company. He has forty years
of experience in merchandising women’s clothing.
“To me, Margot is like a niece, but i don’t think she
gets it about dealing with a senior. Margot keeps
talking to me about my health, retirement planning,
and how i like working with younger people in an
online business. I just don’t like talking about senior
concerns.”
Margot,
the Cross-
Cultural
Communicator - By Liew Jun Zhen

42
1
What suggestions can you make to Margot
about overcoming cross-cultural communication
barriers?
Firstly, Margot should always keep in mind that cross-
cultural communication barriers are existing. Margot needs
to be attentive to individual differences in appearance. While
Margot challenge her own cultural assumptions, she needs to
stop assuming that she knows everything from people with
different backgrounds, ages and races. Margot should focus
on her work instead of talking deep relates to the personal
background of the staff, unless they approach the subjects
first. She should always observe cross-cultural difference in
the sense of etiquette. Also, she cannot be easily diverted
by others style, personal appearance or accent. Listening
is a fundamental leadership skill, and it is important to
overcome communication problem and conflicts. It provides
the opportunity for an open dialogue, in which people can
understand each other better from different perspectives. Lack
of communication will eventually lead into low morale, unmet
goals and stiffed creativity. For a leader like Margot to
establish a rapport with her colleagues, active listening is
required.
During the communication, Margot should also show
respect for all staff. Once she noticed that her listener shows
an unfavourable or uninterested expression, she should give
respect and change or stop the conversation. Instead, Margot
should look for signs of understanding when she is delivering
her messages. In addition, making the rounds is important. As
a leader, casually dropping by to listen to problems, concerns
and to share information will overcome the uneasiness among
Margot and her colleagues.
The most useful way to overcome cross-cultural
communication problem is to get parties in conflict in a
problem solving and confrontation. Both of these can help in
terms of discussing the real problem and finding a way to
resolve the conflict. It is preferable to have a one on one
discussion so that only one side is encouraged to talk about
the problem.
2
What might be the factor or factors contributing
to any errors Margot might be making in terms
of cross-cultural communication?
The first factor contributing to the cross-cultural communication
error is Margot’s over-confidence. Margot has diverse
experiences within Latino, Mexican, American, and Mexican-
American culture, and she is very confidence that these
experiences enable her to be culturally competent towards all
different culture which is wrong. She is too confident assuming
that everyone would like her and like being patronized. She
also thought that she manages and handle her colleagues
fairly good just because she knows everyone well based on
their background.
The next problem of Margot’s way of communication
is that she is using stereotypes and biases to form her
interactions with coworkers. The reasons why stereotypes exist
are such: Must all black people play basketball? All women in
Costa Rica love to cook? Old men only talk about retirement
planning? Margot is creating assumptions based on ethnicity,
race and age. Therefore in the process of communication,
the staff feel degraded, uncomfortable and patronized. Afterall
Margot should throw the stereotype mindset away., more
general questions such as “how is your day going?” or “how
are you doing today?” should be asked. If Margot applies
active listening on others responses, she can determine how
to structure questions suited to the person as an individual.
This way people will not feel like she is being disrespectful
targeting a particular thing about them such as age or race
Margot is lack of sensitivity to the fact which cross-
cultural communication barriers exist. She did not challenge
her own cultural assumptions, and while communicating with
the co workers, no matter how well her message means, she
is not showing the respect to her colleagues. Although Margot
tries to establish rapport and tries to maker her rounds, she
makes assumption about people based on his/her race and
age. It is suggested that Margot shall attend a training which
is to learn to approach workers without stereotypes, and from
there she can be an effective leader. Due to the workplace
diversity, leaders who can handle a cross-cultural work force
are in strong demand.
3
To what extent do you think the three staff
members are being too harsh in judging Margot’s
attempts at establishing rapport?
For Derek, he misunderstood Margot’s intention that she is
just trying to form a rapport. He thought that Margot is being
racist towards him because he is seen as black and hence
must know a lot about basketball.
During the conversation between Margot and Lucie,
Margot talked and repeated a lot of topics about cooking and
holiday in Costa Rica. Lucie is behaving impatiently every
time she is listening to the points carried out by Margot.
Lucie does not really appreciate the rapport established by
Margot.
While for Basil who is a senior, the age difference
makes him to judge Margot wrongly. From Margot’s
perspective, she just want to be concern about Basil’s welfare
and insurance in the future. However, Basil never convey
about his thoughts and interests which eventually leads to the
awkwardness during the conversation.
Overall, Margot’s coworkers did not take enough
consideration that she is just trying to establish a connection
with them on a closer and personal level. If they can put
themselves in Margot’s shoes, and instead try to initiate
conversations with her on other matters. At the end, they
could have a more harmonious and interesting conversation.
From there, Margot also able to see how to be more
culturally diverse by understanding each of the different staff.¶

43
By the time the financial crisis hit, the brutal
economy forced its executive leadership team
to stay focused on a recently drafted strategic plan to
turn its business around. Michael A. Todman, president
of Whirlpool International, recalled the overarching
goal: “Let’s control the things we can. We had already
changed our business model, and we had to make some
really tough decisions.”
Senior management concentrated on three
priorities: aligning costs to meet the demands of the
turbulent business climate; managing cash for greater
liquidity; and maximizing market share by targeting
consumers in more effective, efficient manner. As a
result, the company abandoned brand advertising,
shifting to promotional and point-of-sales methods.
“We spent our time taking directly to them so we used
more digital media,” Todman said.
To underscore the urgency, management also
ramped up internal communications. It was critical to
make and implement decisions at a faster pace and,
at the same time, secure employee buy-in. So board
members met once a month instead of six times a year
while managers spent more time meeting with the
rank and file. “Philosophically, our approach is to be
straight, be honest, tell people exactly what is going on,”
Todman.
During the challenging financial period,
Todman focused on the North American market.
He also completed the integration of Maytag into
the Whirlpool product line. Todman focused on
revamping the product line by closing costly plants and
educating the entire staff on both companies before
introducing the new models. Todman oversees brands
in Europe, Latin America, and Asia with duties that
include management of global information systems
and global strategic initiatives, including efficiency and
innovation.

Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool Corp. CEDO and
chairman, said, “Mike has a number of strengths. First,
he’s got great expertise in being a global leader. He
knows how to operate effectively with different cultures
and different people. He also knows our operations very
well – our strengths and weaknesses, what we can do
and what we can’t do – he’s instrumental in helping us
to set the right priorities and then running disciplined
operations to help us deliver our expected results.”
Born and raised in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin
Islands, Todman has been described as a robust man
with a gentle demeanor that’s not easily ruffled. His
colleagues describe him as consistent, engaging, and
extremely personable. A Whirlpool executive said
about Todman: “He’s able to analyze really complex
business problems and make the right decisions so that
the company can make money.”
CommunicationisanintegralpartofTodman’s
management style: dissecting trend information,
disseminating company goals and objectives, and
pushing employees to think more broadly, more
creatively, but as an interconnected unit that functions
across the globe. It’s a twenty-four-hour job, he says of
managing the various time zones through phone calls
and video conferencing. Todman spends two weeks out
of every month in the marketplace visiting the team as
well as customers. “I understand how consumers are
living and that keeps you on the pulse.”
Todman has a bachelor’s degree in business
administration from Georgetown University. He
joined Whirlpool in 1993 in London as director of
finance, eventually running the customer service
business in Europe. For his leadership role in helping
bolster Whirlpool’s financial performance through his
strategic vision in accessing global markets and ability
to effectively drive innovation, Todman was selected as
the 2010 Black Enterprise Corporate Executive of the
Year.
Mike Todman
Makes a
Splash at
Whirlpool - By Lee Phui Yee

44
1
In what way is Michael A. Todman exercising
leadership?
Many people view leadership differently. Leadership can
be defined as an influence relationship among leaders and
followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect
their shared purposed. In other words, leadership involves
influence, it occurs among people who intentionally desire
changes and these changes reflect purposes shared by
leaders and followers which in this case refer to Todman and
his employees.
A leader must be able to display confidence in his
or her own capability to lead in order to gain confidence
from his or her followers. It is obvious that Todman is able
to gain confidence from the people as according to the
comments from Whirlpool Corp. CEDO and chairman, Jeff
Fettig and Todman’s fellow colleagues. Jett Fetigg said, “Mike
has a number of strengths. First, he’s got great expertise in
being a global leader. He knows how to operate effectively
with different cultures and different people.” This shows that
Todman is doing the right thing and decisions when facing
the big challenges to be able to gain confidence from the
people.
Todman exercises a lot of leadership qualities in
turning around the fortunes of Whirlpool. He has also made
some drastic decisions on revamping the product line by
closing costly plants and started educating his staff before
introducing the new model to the consumers. No matter
this decision is right or wrong, it requires a lot of courage
because his decision might affect the going concern of
Whirlpool. One of the leadership qualities that Todman
possesses is that he has to be tough and determined in his
decision to make the corporation successful. When Todman
took over Whirlpool to be the president, the corporation
was encountering performance challenges due to the global
recession which started from Europe. Thus, handling and
turning Whirlpool around is definitely not an easy task.
This is where his leadership qualities must be applied.
Todman discovers the real problem faced by Whirlpool
and he exercises his leadership by changing the business
model, shifting marketing strategies, and ramping up the
internal communications. He has made the right decision by
developing a market action and corresponding strategy that
he feels workable for Whirpool International.
Furthermore, he shows his leadership qualities by
being loyal to the corporation. Todman joined Whirlpool in
1993 in London as director of finance, eventually running the
customer service business in Europe. He was even selected
as the 2010 Black Enterprise Executive of the Year. This
shows that he is very loyal to the corporation as he has been
working in Whirlpool for more than 10 years.
2
Identify at least three leadership roles Todman
emphasizes as president of Whirlpool,
International.
As a president, Todman emphasizes a few leadership roles.
The most conspicuous one is that he is a motivator and
adopts participative management. As a leader, he determines
the purpose and goals of the corporation and he makes
the final decisions. Nonetheless, he motivates, coaches and
actively involves his employees by pushing them to think more
broadly and more creatively but as an interconnected unit that
functions across the globe. This shows that he helps others
to grow by providing them opportunities to gain materially
and emotionally.
Also, he emphasizes on communication in his
management style. Todman says it’s a twenty-four-hour job
because he manages various time zones through phone calls
and video conferencing. He also spends two weeks every
month in the marketplace to visit the team and customers to
understand how consumers live to keep him on the pulse.
Moreover, he has ramped up internal communications by
increasing the number of meeting with board members. This
indicates that Todman is a leader who is a communication
champion who believes that communication is essential to
building trust and gaining commitment to a vision.
He is also a strategic planner as he focuses on
revamping the product line to make the corporation more
successful. He is also adaptive as he adopts a different
marketing strategy which is to be straight, be honest and tell
people exactly what is going on. Another important leadership
role is that he is able to understand complex business
problems and he has a clear vision and priorities to what he
wants to implement in the corporation.
Todman is also tasked to turn the business around
during financial crisis and he has a duty to position Whirlpool
International as a global leader in the global market. It is
one of the most difficult tasks to lead a change initiative in
an organization in this competitive market and Todman has
successful led the change in changing their business model.
The only thing that is constant in this world is change.
Leaders must always learn to deal with contradictions and
unexpected change in this global dynamic world.
Afinancial crisis has hit the economy. Michael A. Todman, president of Whirlpool
International is leading his team to turn the business around by implementing
theirstrategicplan.

45
3
To what extent does it appear that Todman
is showing a good balance between strategic
thinking and focusing on people?
Strategic thinking is essential to be applied in an organization
to achieve success. Nevertheless, focusing on people is also
equally important because they are both interconnected.
Todman has managed to balance both strategic
thinking and focusing on people well. He adopts the approach
of “be straight, be honest, tell people exactly what is going
on”. He also welcomes ideas from others and pushes his
employees to think more broadly and creatively. He thinks
strategically by welcoming ideas from his staff and others
and at the same time focuses on people as he tells them
the truth. He believes that by doing these it will improve the
performance of the organization.
He focuses on people. Todman has created a vision
in an organizational culture that employees believe in. He
exercises cultural leadership as it was shown that Todman
is able to communicate effectively with different people from
different cultures. He even understands how his consumers live
by visiting the customers in the marketplace.
He is a strategic planner. He is able to determine
the core competencies of Whirlpool which are the strengths
and weaknesses. As evidences, he has revamped the product
line by closing costly plants and educating entire staff on
both companies before introducing new models. He has also
ramped up internal communications by increasing the number
of times of meeting with the board members.
All these prove that Todman shows a good balance
between strategic thinking and focusing on people. He sees this
as a twenty-four-hour job and being a great leader, sometimes
it is inevitable to sacrifice the time for your family life.
4
What advice might you offer Todman to be even
more successful as the head of Whirlpool?
Todman might want to lead or give training to his employees
to think more broadly and creatively to be more successful.
Besides, he should give rewards to them to encourage them
to think out of the box.
Furthermore, Todman should consider moving from
low task high relationship to high task high relationship.
This is because he handles most of the tasks himself for
example working 24 hours in managing different time zones
through telecommunication technologies. Also, he has to spend
two weeks every month to visit his employees and customers.
He should adopt the “high-high” leader in order to be more
successful as the head of Whirlpool. There is a belief that
“high-high” leadership is a desirable quality, because the
leader will meet both needs simultaneously. In other words,
Todman should be high in both people-oriented and task-
oriented behavior. Hence, one suggestion would be to delegate
some of the responsibilities to his subordinates. By doing this,
he would have more time to rest a nd ponder on how to
further improve Whirlpool International.
By giving more incentives and rewards and delegating
some of his responsibilities to his staff, it is believed that he
would be even more successful in being the president of the
organization as he brings Whirlpool International to a whole
new level in the global market. ¶
No man will make a
Great Leader
who wants to do it all himself,
or to get all the credit for doing it.
- Andrew Carnegie

47
Sally Gorman is the manager of the mortgage
department of a suburban bank branch.
She has six direct reports, including three mortgage
consultants. Although the consultants work full-
time at the bank, they are considered subcontractors
who work only on commission – without any salary
and benefits. A consequence of this compensation
arrangement is that the mortgage consultants are
under considerable pressure to sell home mortgages
to bank customers. Until a mortgage is approved, the
consultant receives zero financial compensation.
Tony Costello, a 28-year-old mortgage
consultant, asked for an appointment to speak to Sally
about his recent problems in nailing down mortgages.
Sally was eager to meet with Tony because she was also
under pressure for the mortgage department to place
more mortgages. A partial transcript of their meeting
follows:
Tony: Sally, I’ve come to you for help. For several
months, I haven’t been closing enough mortgages to
make a living. My wife and I have two children, and
we can’t make ends meet on her salary alone. Is there
any way the bank can put me on salary? Or maybe give
me a few months’ advance? I’ve been a great producer
in the past.
Sally: Grow up, Tony. When you took this job, you
knew it did not include a salary and that the bank does
not allow advances. We need you to produce, but we
can’t change the bank rules. We are not a mom-and-
pop operation.
Tony: Do you know how brutal it is out there? Home
sales are down 20 percent in our area. I don’t have
enough warm leads coming into the bank to shop for
a mortgage. Besides that, our approval committee has
been shooting down too many deals on me lately.
Sally: Wake up, Tony. The mortgage business has
changed recently. We can’t add any more high-risk
loans to our portfolio. It’s very difficult to resell those
mortgages to other institutions.
Tony: Okay, then, what do you propose I do to generate
more mortgage applications that the mortgage
committee will approve?
Sally: Do what you do best. You’re a professional. Just
bear down harder on good mortgage possibilities who
visit your desk. Be persuasive. Turn up the heat. Do
something good or be gone.
Tony: I am trying. I want my commissions as much as
the bank wants its mortgages.
Sally: Just keep trying harder, and get back to me with
results, not excuses.
Tony: I guess that the bank and I are in the same boat.
I’ll talk to you later, Sally.
Coach
Sally
Gorman - By Ding Sze Ling
“Coaching usually able to improve an individual’s performance where at the
same time, performance improvement may be hard to attain.”

48
1
What advice can you offer Sally
Gorman to do a better job of
coaching Tony Costello?
“A good coach will make his players
see what they can be rather than what
they are.” A good leader will coach
and ensure his team members to excel.
However, a leader shall put him into his
team members’ shoes before giving any
feedback and instructions. Sally needs to
step back and understand Tony’s situation
to ascertain the reason for the sudden
drop in Tony performance. Supervision
is not everything, Sally need to coach
and guide Tony toward the right path
in achieving the target together. As a
leader, establishing a clear mission with
a strong vision will provide the members
with purpose and a sense of duty to go
beyond what is expected. As a result,
Sally really needs to start establishing
herself as a mentor rather than a boss
to Tony. Remove the barrier of animosity
between these two parties and Sally will
understand Tony more, delving into the
more emotional side of Tony behavior
to encourage, inspire and lead Tony out
of the abyss of low self-esteemed and
helplessness.
In this case above, Sally
appears to be too brutal. She should
have given more encouragement to
Tony by setting collaborative goals and
evaluate the progress subsequently. This
is mainly to motivate his behavior by
using goals and as result it would benefit
both Sally and Tony to achieve their
work target. Sally can choose either
directive coaching which assist Tony by
telling or demonstrating what need to be
done, or supportive coaching by serving
as a resource, letting Tony to learn
through the process and improve along
the journey.
2
What advice can you offer
Tony Costello to get more out
of the coaching session?
Obviously, the mortgage business is being
a total pain to both parties since Tony
is seeking for an earlier wage to lighten
his load while Sally and the bank is
demanding for more stones to be carried
by Tony. The main concern for these
three parties is about how to increase the
placement of mortgage. Sadly, Tony only
asked for the way to get the approval
from the mortgage committee but not
looking for other assistance like how
to work smart instead or working hard.
Tony can also work on his negotiating
skills to help ask instead of demand for
a redesigning of his working scope to
take advantage of his strengths or seek
help from the bank to relax its policy on
financial compensation.
The main problem here
is the bank and Sally are not giving
enough motivation which causes job
dissatisfaction of Tony. Theoretically,
coaching could help team members a
step further from feedback to upgrades
their skills and enhance their career
development. In this case, Sally may
not provide a good coaching session.
Perhaps, Tony shall be more assertive
and aggressive in finding solutions such
as setting goals with Sally, functional
strategy, participative management and
job redesign programs. Tony can try to
negotiate with the bank and see any
better offers that the bank can give him.
3
What is the most positive
thing Sally did as a coach?
“Do what you do best. You’re a
professional. Just bear down harder on
good mortgage possibilities.” This is
one of the most positive words can be
found in the conversation and it possible
energize Tony as Sally does to recognize
Tony as a professional which may
empower Tony and give him confidence.
She can further enable him by supporting
him and expressing confidence in him.
In the leadership coaching
process created by Boston, Sally has
demonstrated the second step which is
discussion and agreement. Tony shows
his interest in improving himself and get
some coaching from Sally. Sally created
a meet-up with Tony and discussed with
him the problems which faced by both
of them and the bank. She also agreed
with the hard work done by Tony and
wanted him to keep it up to increase his
sales performance.
Although others words like
“Grow up”, “Wake up” sound harsh, it
may help Tony to realize if this job suit
him. Tony has to start face the reality
that the bank will not change the terms
in the contract such as the commission
and salary just for him. This job may
more suitable to an individual who does
not have any family issue tie down.
From the case, we understand that Tony
is concerning about his family financial
status and this means that what Tony
really what is a job with a fixed monthly
income. At the same time, Sally also
exhorts Tony that it is unlikely that he
will receive any help from the bank like
salary in advance. Hence, Tony shall
take into serious consideration if there is
a need for him to find a different type of
job.
4
What is the most negative
thing Sally did as a coach?
Fierce is a good motivator. If you overuse
it, it will bring undesired result. Although
Sally tried to make Tony understand the
reality is never be good, she also said
lot of insulting and discouraging words to
Tony. She has little compassion towards
Tony and her probably only think for
herself, the target she has to meet. It
is true that we have to wake Tony into
reality as mentioned earlier, however, it
does not means giving her a chance to
pour cold water to Tony. Tony was just
looking help and advice from Sally but
at the same Sally fails to motivate Tony.
It’s important to note that “Do
something good or be gone” is a rather
harsh statement that should not be used
because it will hammer down on the
target individual and obliterate his/her
will to achieve. This will ultimately crush
the person passion which is the most
terrible thing to enact upon an individual
– crushing their dream. While sometimes
this statement may be true, a key part of
the coaching role is to be supportive and
helpful to facilitate improved performance.
Selection of word to suit the current
situation and tension is crucial too in
establishing clear line of communication.
Sally shall understand the fact that when
a worker believes he receives special
attention from the management, there is
a tendency of increase in productivity. In
this case, Sally does not give attention
to Tony which causes him do not
have the passion in the work anymore.
Although Sally does recognize Tony as a
professional but she does not recognize
him in the work place and this will lower
the tendency of his work. Also, Sally
also fails to get the best offer from the
bank as a leader which is a basic salary
and salary in few months’ advance. ¶

49
“Live as if you
were to die
tomorrow.
Learn as if
you were
to live forever.”
- Mahatma- Mahatma
Gandhi
“If you can
dream it,
you can
do it.”
- Walt Disney
“You can never
cross the ocean
until you have the
courage to lose
sight of the
shore.”
- Christopher
ColumColumbus
“Strive not to be a success,
but rather to be of value.”
- Albert Einstein
“We know only too well
that what we are doing
is nothing more than a
drop in the ocean. But
if the drop were not
there, the ocean would
be missing something.”
- Mother Teresa- Mother Teresa
“When we seek to
discover the
best in others, we
somehow bring out
the best in
ourselves.”
- William Arthur- William Arthur
Ward
“Don't wait for
extraordinary
opportunities.
Seize common
occasions
and make them
great.”great.”
- Orison
Swett Marden
“It is during our
darkest mo-
ments that we
must focus to
see the light.”
- Aristotle
Onassis
“I hated every minute
of training, but I said,
don’t quit. Suffer now
and live the rest of your
life as a champion.”
- Muhammmmad Ali
“Life isn’t about
getting and
having, it’s
about giving
and being.”
- Kevin Kruse
“The art of
leadership is
saying NO,
not yes. It is
very easy to
say yes.”
- Tony Blair
“It takes 20 years to
build a reputation
and five minutes to
ruin it. If you think
about that you’ll do
things differently.”
- Warren Buffett
“Don’t limit yourself. Many
people limit themselves to
what they think they can do.
You can go as far
as your mind lets you.
What you believe,
remember, you can achieve.”
- Mary Kay Ash- Mary Kay Ash
“Remember no
one can make
you feel inferior
without your
consent.”
- Eleanor
Roosevelt
“Believe
the
unbelievable,
dream the
impossible
and don’t take NO
for an answer.”for an answer.”
- Tony Fernandes
“Nothing is
impossible,
the word
itself says
'I'm possible'!”
- Audrey Hepburn
“The best of learn-
ing about anything is
by doing.”
- Sir Richard
Branson
“If you’re offered
a seat on a
rocket ship,
don’t ask what
seat!
Just get on.”
- Sheryl
SandbergSandberg
Who doesn’t love a good quote. We’ve compiled some of our favourite quotes that we hope
will spur you on. To make things estra easy for you, you’ll notice that you can cut any of these
out. Paste them on your workstation, share them with colleagues, and they’ll fit right in your
wallet too.
Inspirational Quotes

50
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Our magazine comprises of fruitful cover articles, great
movies and great books reviews, inspiring interviews and
some interesting case studies. Our magazine is here for you
to sharpen your leadership skills and inspire you to create
your own legacy.
The ability to influence, lead, inspire others is a major
determining factor in reaching your full potential. It’s no
secret! Leaders are not born, but are made.
Start your leadership with our magazine!
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