But people can see through the facade of lies, the fraud and the bankruptcy and the stupidity of our leaders statements’, says Abdul Rashid Hanafi.
Leadership is more about what you do than what you say. Leadership is about performance not position. Leadership is not definitely found by asking “Who has the most power?” As a society, we need to make a distinction between who is really a leader and who is just in a position of leadership.
We have come to realise that we have a prime minister and many other elected representatives in parliment and state assemblies who hold important position in the government but what have they done? What problems have they solved? What vision have they communicated?
In prior decades, with limited access to information, administration based on the old military archtype pyramidal structure made sense especially when you were dealing with uneducated people; it was very effective.
Now, with the advent of computer technology, so many people have access to so much information that it levels out our leadership structure, flattens out many organisational hierarchies, and puts long-held assumptions in question. And censorship is not effective anymore.
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The world is changing all around us and the old military command-and-control types of leadership – barking out orders and coercing, criticising and intimidating the citizens – is not acceptable anymore. We are in a totally different context now and that outdated style of leadership is not going to inspire the people in any way.
Lies, half-truths and distortions do not the whole truth make. People are reading and commenting. They can see through the facade of lies, the fraud and the bankruptcy and the stupidity of our leaders’ statements.
Hence, we see the leadership’s desperation to “save face” and their futile attempts to convince themselves and the world that their decisions and actions are not wrong. They use flawed logic to avoid the real questions. But their dishonest nature is exposed as they lack ‘talent’ in conjuring up more lies and deception.
The Truth is only ONE, and it can withstand the tidal effect of intense scrutiny.
Lies, on the other hand, can be MANY, and they are built on shaky ground; they are weak and need protection. They cannot survive on their own and need the help of more lies. Unlike truth, lies easily collapse like a house of cards even when blown by a gentle breeze.
When you can admit your own failures and mistakes then you build a bond between you and your followers. A leader who must always be right sends the message that he or she has low self-esteem and low self-confidence. A leader who won’t accept responsibilities for his or her mistakes and failures loses credibility.
Some people view mistakes and failures as weakness. They think that a leader must be perfect. But the opposite is true. By not admitting their errors or failures, these leaders let followers believe it is not acceptable to make mistakes.
The consequences can be detrimental. The distinction between legal and illegal, moral and immoral has become blurred. Greed has a way of blurring and making fuzzy one’s ethics.
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
