Power Play

Academic term is almost drawing to a close, with it, I think my term as ct rep ends with it too. Perhaps its time to reflect abit, the essence of leadership. Well, I have played different leader roles for different occasions, in different circumstances, and with different style. I have also observed how others lead, their style, the results, etc.

My classmates must think i'm a pretty useless ct rep; true true, i have little regard for adminstrative matters (unnecessary red tape in my opinion), but then again the essence of leadership is not whether you are good are dealing with paper work. Well, maybe leadership is how one leads. You definitely can see im not at all successful with that. I used to have that iniative, but i must have lost it somewhere along the way, because i quickly learnt that initiative in any situations does not earn you any bonus points. People quickly identify you as a smart aleck, analogous to the jealous neighbour syndrome that Singapore suffers from occasionally. Truly, for an initiative to work, it must be 2 way process. Someone proposes, and the rest agrees and acts on it. Even the most enthusiastic proposer would be dampened by repeated spurning of his advances, a kind of phenomena that im sure all of you all know as moral drift.

Leadership styles varies, must can be summarised into primarily 3 categories: Lead from the front, Lead from the side, and Lead from the back. Most NJcians would be familiar with the lead from the back. It encompasses the idea to lead, one must first serve. Everyone in the Council would talk about how they would want to serve in their rally speeches. Leading from the back in a good idea, but i find it becomes a kinda passive, if followed to the letter. Perhaps, spending an extended time leading from the back would lead to the general masses not even knowing who their leaders are. Leaders have in effect become servants.

Sure, to lead is to serve, but one should not forget first and foremost, the idea of leading, is to be at the forefront. So one starts leading by serving, and remembering to lead from the front as the situation demands. I wish the Council can understand this point.

Leading from the front is like the army general, giving orders at the head of the squad with uncomprising decisions. The good thing, is that leading from the front requires one to have respect, and the leading from the front earns it. However, more than often, to earn this respect, many leaders have used fear. Its the fastest way to gain respect, at the expense of the silent mutiny running through the general masses. Being uncomprising can make the leader appear inhumane, without apparent regard for the needs of the masses. So, maybe extended periods of leading from the front may result in loss of respect from the masses, even if they dont like to voice it openly.

Gaining respect is difficult, one that requires time to be build properly. And time is one thing that many governments do not have in this world. 2 years, is it time for proper building of respect and trust? And so we pass to the last, leading from the side. Working side by side, treating your subjects with equal measure of respect, and placing your trust in them. The mutual benefit is the best. The leader and the general masses lead together. However, this skill is tricky to achieve, one that requires the test of time. Sadly, time has no place in the politics, because the system is such as to eliminate incapable leaders. 1 year is definitely too short...

In all relationships, equal respect. Treat each other as equals, for surely neither being dominant nor submissive can result in an equal or effective relationship.

I just wish more people could understand how hard being a leader is. Alas, its always easy to criticise. Such is the imperfection of the system.