Leadership

I have always been in awe (in fear to be precise) of the word "Leadership".

Two weeks ago, a speaker, Mr Viswa Sadasivan, CEO of Strategic Moves Pte Ltd, at the 3rd Educators' Summit, left a very deep impression in me. I believe he has captivated the whole auditorium of participants.
The title of his talk was "Leadership Role in Crisis Communication". He illustrated his points with how the respective leaders responded at events such as the MI185, SQ006 air crash, BP and Exxon Valdez oil spills and one of Johnson & Johnson's crisis.
The main points that keep ringing in my head:

• composure & clarity
• moral compass
• putting others before self
• strategic thinking 
• confidence vs faith
• adversity quotient

Clutter must be gotten rid of to have space to think, strategise and lead. Leaders are being put to high scrutiny as they are expected to be accountable and one of integrity. Every word that a leader says, every action he takes spells a lot about his ethos. Leaders must use his moral compass to make judgement calls and do the right things. Takes responsibilities; not to lay blames. This way faith in the leader is being built. Viswas has wisely differentitiated the words "confidence" and "faith"

confidence = sure of the person's competence in doing things right.
faith = trust in the person in doing the right things

Viswa has illustrated in one of J&J crisis that because of the leader's action in doing the right thing. This has led to public faith in the company which help the company survived another similar crisis years later as the public gives the company the benefit of doubt.

Surely, there is no instructional manual on how to be a leader. It takes a lot of moral courage and high adversity quotient to do the right thing. I cannot expect everyone to listen to / follow me but I need to stick to my guts when the judgement calls needs to be made. I think that is the most difficult part. On hindsight, in my earlier teaching career, I was not afraid to "bang tables" when needed. But as I grow older, I seem to lose that courage a bit... or is it because I have shifted focus?
A leader also have to withhold emotions that will block logical thinking.

In every sense of the word "leadership", one has to rise to the occasion and exhibit all the qualities as stated above. A leader has to to be constantly critical of self and keep improving himself for respect and the larger good of the organisation. A leader has to become a being larger than self. I think that is what's driving the fear in me about leadership. To become a much better and powerful person than myself. To stretch the limits of human potential.

However, I strongly believe that moral leadership is a must in every leader. We can see many examples of leaders who failed, lack moral leadership. Viswa believe that moral leadership is an innate ability. It can be and must be developed. I think so too.

To sum it up,
"easier said than done"
But I will keep trying. So what do my team mates think of me?
Do they have confidence in me? or do they have faith in me?
I would like to believe it's the latter.

There is another thing that Viswa said that struck me and I want to record it here.
Personal conduct is a reflection of his ethos and that of his organisation.
Principals have to be very careful with what they say in media. Because of public perception, his/ her words will be representative of his/ her school and all principals!!!
How true!
This spells out why I have been struggling with certain issues about professional conduct!
Likewise, a teacher's conduct will be a reflection of his/ her ethos and that of the school in the eye of the public (parents).