STARBIZ TODAY - FOUR LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES CAPTAINS CANNOT IGNORE

 

FOUR LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES CAPTAINS CANNOT IGNORE

Dear Captains of Industry and Public Institutions,

Across industries and organisations, certain leadership concerns seem to repeat themselves decade after decade. The circumstances change, but when CEOs, Boards, and senior management discuss the challenges they face in developing their leaders, the same familiar concerns continue to surface.

They revolve around four primary issues: the inability to See the Big Picture; Move the Task, Team, and Individuals towards corporate goals; Build Relationships; and Practice Effective Followership.

We hear about silo mentality - managers who are very good within their own functions but struggle to see the organisation as a whole. We hear about managers who deliver results but bruise people along the way. Others build strong teams but inadvertently create turf and friction with other departments. Some are excellent at taking care of their people but become reluctant to hold them accountable. We hear about leaders who manage upwards but not downwards, or downwards but not sideways. And increasingly, we hear about execution - where clear corporate strategy becomes slowed, diluted, or resisted as it travels through the organisation.

These are not merely leadership-development issues; they directly affect productivity, efficiency, execution, collaboration, and succession planning.

SEE THE BIG PICTURE

The first challenge is probably the most familiar: silo mentality. Most people begin their careers by becoming good at something specific. An engineer becomes a good engineer, a finance professional becomes good at finance, and a salesperson develops expertise in markets. Organisations need specialists.

The difficulty begins when a person’s responsibilities expand, but their perspective does not expand with them. A department head continues to think primarily about the department, and a functional leader continues to see organizational issues mainly through the lens of their function. What was once a strength slowly becomes a limitation.

As responsibilities increase, the central question must change. It can no longer simply be: “What is best for my department?” It must increasingly become: “What is best for the organisation?”

Organisations are interconnected systems. What appears efficient for one department may create additional work or problems elsewhere. This is why senior leaders must develop an enterprise-wide perspective to understand corporate priorities, recognize interdependencies, and make decisions based on what moves the entire organisation forward. Otherwise, highly competent managers may successfully optimise individual parts while collectively sub-optimising the whole. The fundamental transition is clear: From MY AREA to OUR ORGANISATION.

MOVE THE TASK, TEAM AND INDIVIDUALS

The second challenge concerns how managers actually lead. Over time, many managers develop a preferred way of managing people. Broadly, we see three primary orientations: those who focus heavily on the Task, those who focus on the Team, and those who focus on the Individual. Each has considerable strengths, but problems begin when one orientation becomes dominant at the expense of the other two.

We all need task-oriented managers. They focus on targets, deadlines, standards, and results. They get things done. But when task orientation becomes excessive, the manager achieves results while bruising people along the way. Everything becomes about delivery, people are pushed rather than developed, and the manager becomes a bottleneck through which everything must pass. The challenge here is simple: Get the task done without unnecessarily bruising the people.

The team-oriented manager is very good at building camaraderie and belonging. However, there is a point where team building turns into turf building. The manager becomes fiercely protective of their resources and people, information is guarded, and other departments become competitors rather than collaborators. Ironically, the manager builds a highly cohesive team while simultaneously weakening the wider organisation. When loyalty to the team becomes stronger than commitment to the organisation, team orientation has turned into silo mentality. The challenge: Build a strong team without building turf.

The individual-oriented manager places strong emphasis on being supportive, caring, and approachable. The problem begins when the desire to care for people turns into a need to be liked by people. In their eagerness to stay popular, these managers avoid difficult conversations, tolerate underperformance, postpone tough decisions, and repeatedly make exceptions. A manager’s responsibility is not to win a popularity contest, but to help people succeed while achieving organizational goals. The challenge: Care for the individual without needing to be liked.

Effective leader-managers cannot choose between Task, Team, and Individual. Their responsibility is to balance and move all three towards corporate goals.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

We cannot effectively move the Task, Team, and Individuals if we cannot build relationships. Yet organizational relationships do not move in only one direction. Leaders need to manage in four distinct directions: upwards, sideways, downwards, and self.

Some managers are excellent at managing upwards, but their direct reports tell a completely different story. Others are great downwards, but struggle to collaborate across functions with peers because disagreements become personal and territorial. And then there are those who struggle with perhaps the most important direction of all: managing themselves. Ego, insecurity, and uncontrolled emotions eventually compromise decisions and professional conversations. A person who cannot manage themselves will eventually struggle to manage others.

Technical competence may get a manager promoted, but the further one moves upwards, the more results depend on the ability to build trust, manage oneself, and work effectively with people in every direction, especially those over whom one has no formal authority.

PRACTICE EFFECTIVE FOLLOWERSHIP

Standard leadership programs focus heavily on teaching people how to lead, but far less time teaching leaders how to follow. Yet no organisation can function effectively if everybody wants to lead but nobody knows when and how to follow.

At the senior level, a long-serving manager with deep credibility may quietly disagree with a new corporate strategy. Without open resistance, they can simply slow down execution, interpret instructions selectively, or delay implementation. A senior leader with tremendous personal influence can paradoxically become the biggest obstacle to organizational direction.

At the middle-management level, strategy travels through managers before reaching the workforce. Middle managers translate corporate intentions into daily priorities and behaviours. Because change is uncomfortable, middle managers can easily become bottlenecks where strategy is diluted, reinterpreted, or quietly allowed to die.

Even at the operational level, responsible followership is essential. Good followers are not passive; they contribute ideas and challenge assumptions constructively. But once a legitimate organizational decision has been made, discussion must turn into alignment, and alignment into execution.

FOUR CHALLENGES, ONE ORGANISATION

Dear Captains, these four challenges are deeply connected. A leader who cannot See the Big Picture protects the silo; one who cannot Move the Task, Team, and Individuals remains trapped in a single management style; one who cannot Build Relationships struggles beyond formal authority; and one who cannot Practice Effective Followership becomes the obstacle standing between direction and execution.

These capabilities rarely develop naturally through seniority or titles alone. They need to be deliberately developed through structured management development, coaching, and mentoring.

Perhaps we Captains should regularly ask four questions about our leaders: Can they think for the whole organisation? Can they move the Task, Team, and Individuals together? Can they build relationships in all four directions? And can they practice followership and know when to align and execute?

If we are not happy with the answers, then perhaps these are areas that deserve greater attention in how we prepare and develop our leaders for the future. After all, we cannot prepare people for bigger responsibilities simply by giving them bigger titles. We have to deliberately develop them for the responsibilities ahead.

THE QUR'AN, THE DOG AND MAN

 

THE QUR'AN, THE DOG AND MAN

Once again, the dog has become the subject of religious controversy in Malaysia.

Recently, celebrity preacher Haris Ismail, better known as PU Riz, suggested that ordinary Malaysians should no longer keep dogs. He explained that he personally dislikes the presence of dogs, including those belonging to his non-Muslim neighbours.

In making his case, he referred to the mazhab and religious restrictions surrounding dogs. Yet noticeably, he did not refer to the Qur'an.

To me, this is a serious flaw in any argument presented in the name of Islam. A mazhab represents the accumulated reasoning and interpretation of Muslim scholars. It deserves respect, but it is not the Qur'an.

Before asking what a mazhab says, surely we must first ask what Allah says.

So what does the Qur'an actually say about dogs?

WHAT DOES THE QUR'AN SAY?

The dog appears explicitly in only a handful of Qur'anic verses.

In Al-A'raf 7:176, the dog is used metaphorically. A dog pants whether it is driven away or left alone. This is a parable about human behaviour. It is neither a command to keep dogs nor a prohibition against them.

Then we have the remarkable story of the Companions of the Cave.

In Al-Kahf 18:18, their dog lies at the entrance of the cave with its forelegs stretched out. In 18:22, it is mentioned repeatedly when discussing their number - three and their dog the fourth; five and their dog the sixth; seven and their dog the eighth.

The Qur'an calls it simply "their dog"  -  kalbuhum.

There is no condemnation. The dog accompanies a group of faithful young people whose story Allah chose to preserve in the Qur'an.

But perhaps the most interesting verse is Al-Ma'idah 5:4.

Allah permits believers to eat what trained hunting animals catch for them. The verse speaks generally of al-jawarih  -  hunting animals  -  but uses the fascinating word mukallibin in describing their training.

Mukallibin comes from the same Arabic root as kalb  -  dog. This explains why Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall translated the expression as animals that "ye have trained as hounds are trained."

Think about that.

When discussing the training of hunting animals generally, the Qur'an uses language derived from the dog. Linguistically, dog-training becomes a paradigm for training hunting animals.

And properly training a hunting dog requires an extraordinary relationship between human and animal. The dog learns our instructions, recognises our signals, controls its instincts and acts for its human companion.

Such training cannot realistically happen through complete physical separation. It requires proximity, handling, feeding, touching, guiding, rewarding, caring and, above all, trust.

The Qur'an does not call the dog "man's best friend." But I would suggest that man's best friend sits very comfortably within the Qur'anic picture of the dog.

THEN COME THE HADITH

Hadith are an important second source for Muslims. Here the picture becomes more complicated.

Some hadith have contributed significantly to negative attitudes towards dogs. One says that keeping a dog, except for purposes such as hunting, livestock or agriculture, reduces one's reward each day. The Quran does not.

Another famously says:

"Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture."

Yet the hadith literature gives us another side of the dog.

One of the most beautiful accounts tells of a prostitute who saw a dog dying of thirst beside a well. She took off her shoe, drew water and gave the dog a drink. The Prophet reportedly taught that Allah forgave her because of this act of kindness to the dog.

What an extraordinary lesson.

A human being whom society might condemn shows compassion towards an animal some people consider unclean, and that act becomes the reason for divine forgiveness.

Clearly, even within the hadith literature, the picture is not simply "dogs are bad."

BUT THE QUR'AN MUST REMAIN THE CRITERION

This is where Muslims need to exercise greater care.

The Qur'an is our primary source. Hadith come after it. The Prophet cannot teach something that contradicts the revelation he himself followed.

Al-A'raf 7:158 describes Muhammad as:

"...the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allah and His words. And follow him, so that you may be guided."

The instruction to follow Muhammad is therefore inseparable from the description of Muhammad as one who believes in Allah and His words.

This is why I have argued for many years that our scholars should continuously examine the corpus of hadith against the Qur'an.

This does not mean casually discarding hadith we dislike or pretending that centuries of hadith scholarship have no value.

But surely the Qur'an must remain the criterion.

Consider the hadith that angels will not enter a house containing a dog or a picture. Read absolutely, it raises questions when placed beside the Qur'an.

The Qur'an tells us that angels are appointed over human beings. They record our deeds, guard us by Allah's command and ultimately take our souls. If a dog can prevent all angels from entering a place, what happens to these angels?

Classical scholars themselves recognised the need to qualify the hadith and commonly understood it as referring to particular angels, especially angels of mercy.

That interpretation may reconcile the texts. But notice what has happened  -  the Qur'anic understanding helps us determine how the hadith should be understood.

That, to me, is precisely the hierarchy that should operate.

If our understanding of a hadith clearly contradicts the Qur'an, we must question the interpretation, the context or ultimately the attribution. To attribute to the Prophet something fundamentally contrary to the revelation he followed would itself be an injustice - a fitnah  - against our Prophet.

HUNTING WAS THEN. WHAT ABOUT TODAY?

There is another mistake we should avoid.

Some argue that dogs may be kept only for purposes specifically mentioned in early sources  -  hunting, livestock and agriculture.

But this risks confusing historical examples with underlying purposes.

The Qur'an speaks of horses, camels and other forms of transportation familiar to its first audience. We do not conclude that Muslims cannot travel by aeroplane because aeroplanes were not mentioned in seventh-century Arabia.

We understand the underlying function  -  transportation.

The same reasoning deserves consideration with dogs.

Hunting was one important function of a trained dog at the time. Today dogs guide the blind, assist people with disabilities, detect explosives and drugs, locate missing persons, search collapsed buildings, work with police and security services, detect medical emergencies, protect homes and families and, yes, provide companionship.

The uses have evolved. The extraordinary dog-human relationship remains.

This makes Al-Ma'idah 5:4 more interesting than hunting alone. Allah has created an animal capable of being taught by human beings. Indeed, the verse describes us as teaching these animals "from what Allah has taught you."

Knowledge flows from Allah to us, and through us to another creature.

PERHAPS THE PROBLEM WAS NEVER THE DOG

Perhaps somewhere along the way, we allowed our understanding of the dog to become more negative than the Qur'an itself.

And here Muslims need to be particularly careful. The Qur'an repeatedly warns against declaring something haram when Allah Himself has not declared it haram.

In An-Nahl 16:116:

"Do not say falsely with your tongues, 'This is lawful and this is unlawful,' inventing lies against Allah."

And Yunus 10:59 asks an even more uncomfortable question:

"Has Allah given you permission, or are you inventing lies against Allah?"

That should make every Muslim pause before declaring something haram in God's name.

Where does the Qur'an prohibit keeping a dog? It does not.

Where does the Qur'an say dogs may only be kept for hunting? It does not.

On the contrary, Al-Kahf presents faithful young believers accompanied by "their dog." Al-Ma'idah recognises the human relationship with trained animals and even uses dog-derived language to describe their training.

We should therefore be careful that, in our desire to protect religion, we do not create religious prohibitions that Allah Himself did not create.

There is a profound difference between saying:

• "I personally do not like dogs." and
• "God does not want you to keep dogs."

The first is personal preference. The second requires evidence from God.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE PICTURES?

Before we end, let us return to the hadith:

“Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture.”

Notice something.

It does not say only dog. It also says picture.

Muslim scholars themselves recognised that this hadith could not simply be understood without interpretation and context. They asked which angels were meant, commonly explaining that it referred to particular angels, especially angels of mercy, rather than all angels.

They also interpreted the word “picture”. Scholars distinguished between different kinds of images, how they were displayed and their purposes. With the arrival of photography, further interpretation became necessary, and Muslim scholars have differed over how photographs and modern images should be treated.

In other words, the “picture” in this very same hadith has already been interpreted and contextualised.

And today, pictures are everywhere - in our homes, schools, hospitals, offices and government buildings. Pictures of our leaders, and sometimes their spouses, are displayed throughout our institutions. Our phones, computers and televisions are filled with images.

So let us ask some simple questions.

Why do we focus so much on the dog, but so little on the picture?

If scholars recognise the need to interpret and contextualise “picture”, why should we not exercise the same care when interpreting “dog” in the very same hadith?

And since PU Riz raised this matter publicly, perhaps he too should reflect:

Are there photographs or pictures in his own home?

Peace,
Anas Zubedy

 

HARI MERDEKA 2026 - VISION 2057 - WHY START ON 31/08/26

 

VISION 2057 – Why Start on 31st August 2026

Tomorrow is Hari Merdeka 2026.

As we celebrate 69 years of independence, perhaps we should ask ourselves not only how far we have come, but how far ahead we are prepared to look.

Accordingly, during US President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972, Zhou Enlai was asked what he thought about the impact of the French Revolution, which had occurred nearly two centuries earlier. He famously replied, “It is still too early to tell.”

Perhaps that should not surprise us. After all, there is an old Chinese saying: “It takes ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to cultivate people.”

Similarly, in the Islamic tradition there is a popular saying familiar to generations of Muslims: “Work for your worldly life as though you will live forever, and work for your Hereafter as though you will die tomorrow.”

It reminds us to hold two horizons at once: to recognise the urgency of today, while building and planning for a future well beyond ourselves.

I find these two traditions, Chinese and Islamic, remarkably in tune with the thinking of Peter Drucker. In The Dimensions of Management, Drucker stressed that management must always live in both the present and the future.

We must perform today, otherwise there may be no tomorrow. But we must also build for tomorrow, otherwise what we achieve today cannot last.

In other words, we must manage today while simultaneously managing tomorrow.

Malaysia at 100

This is why, on this Merdeka, I would like to bring up again something I believe deserves our collective attention:

Vision 2057, Malaysia at 100.

On 31st August 2057, our nation will celebrate its 100th year of independence.

What kind of Malaysia do we want to see on that day?

A more peaceful Malaysia? A more united and integrated Malaysia? A prosperous and advanced Malaysia? A fairer and more just Malaysia? A nation with strong and trusted institutions? A nation where our children believe they can build their lives and their future?

What, in other words, would a truly great Malaysia look like at 100?

But perhaps there is an even more fundamental question we need to ask:

What kind of Malaysian should we be in 2057?

Because ultimately, a great Malaysia can only be built by great Malaysians.

We can build better institutions, better infrastructure, better schools and universities, better companies and a stronger economy. All these are important.

But at the centre of all of them is a person, a citizen, someone we call a Malaysian.

Who should that Malaysian be?

What should an excellent Malaysian look like? How should we behave? How should we treat one another? What values should we carry? What should our relationship be with people of different races, religions, cultures and backgrounds?

How should we balance our rights with our responsibilities? How should we behave when nobody is watching? How should we contribute to our families, organisations, communities and country?

These questions, I believe, must sit at the heart of Vision 2057.

One year to talk

I suggest that we approach Vision 2057 in two time dimensions.

The first is very near: one year.

From 31st August 2026 to 31st August 2027, let us come together as Malaysians and seriously discuss where we want our country, and ourselves as its citizens, to be.

But before discussing 2057, we must have the honesty to understand 2026.

Where are we today?

What have we done right? What are we proud of and should preserve? What have we done wrong? What needs correcting? What should we strengthen and enhance?

What practices, attitudes and ways of thinking have outlived their usefulness and should be abandoned? And what new things must we learn?

This requires honesty.

Loving Malaysia does not mean pretending everything is fine. Neither does loving Malaysia mean finding fault with everything. We must be mature enough to recognise both.

And we should apply the same honesty to ourselves.

What is good about us as Malaysians today? What is not?

What qualities should we preserve? What behaviours must we change? What artificial boundaries have we created between ourselves that we need to dismantle? What new attitudes and capabilities will Malaysians need to thrive in the next thirty years?

Only then should we ask:

Where do we want to be?

By 31st August 2027, perhaps we can arrive at a clearer picture not only of the Malaysia we want in 2057, but also the Malaysian we need to become to create it.

We will not agree on everything. We should not expect to.

But surely there are important aspirations upon which most Malaysians can agree.

For this conversation, we need to try to rise above partisan politics, race, religion, ethnicity, geography, social position and personal interests.

The bigger question must always be:

What is good for Malaysia and for the generations that come after us?

And this conversation belongs to everyone.

Government and opposition. Businesses and workers. Schools and universities. Religious organisations. NGOs and NPOs. Professional bodies. Community groups. Parents and families. Young Malaysians. Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak and throughout the Peninsula. Malaysians living overseas.

Let the conversations happen everywhere.

Then begins the 30-year work

Once we are clearer about where we are and where we want to go, the second time dimension begins:

31st August 2027 to 31st August 2057. Thirty years.

Then comes the harder question:

What must we do to get there?

For government, this may mean translating our long-term aspirations into perhaps six five-year plans, and then further into annual budgets, programmes and measurable actions.

But Vision 2057 cannot be only a government plan.

Every institution and organisation has a role. So does every family.

And so does every individual Malaysian.

Consider a young parent with a child below five years old today. In 2057, that child will be in their thirties, perhaps a parent, a professional, an entrepreneur or a leader themselves.

What kind of Malaysian do we want that child to become?

If we want that person to be honest, responsible, hardworking, competent, caring, disciplined, united with fellow Malaysians and able to work comfortably across race and religion, we cannot begin teaching these things in 2056.

We begin today.

And perhaps we adults need to look at ourselves first.

Children learn not only from what we teach them, but from what they see us practise.

So what must we relearn? What must we correct? What must we stop passing from one generation to another?

At the end of the day, Malaysia is not merely its government, its buildings, its economy or its institutions.

Malaysia is Malaysians.

If we want an excellent Malaysia in 2057, our most important long-term project must therefore be the cultivation of excellent Malaysians.

Perhaps that brings us back to the old Chinese wisdom with which we began:

It takes ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to cultivate people.

Tomorrow, Malaysia turns 69.

We have 31 years before Malaysia turns 100.

Let us use the first year to come together, ask questions, listen, disagree constructively and decide both what kind of Malaysia we want and what kind of Malaysians we need to become.

Then let us give ourselves thirty years to work towards it.

One year to decide who and where we want to be.

Thirty years to build the Malaysians, and the Malaysia, we want at 100.

And we begin tomorrow, 31st August 2026.

Peace,

anas zubedy

Kuala Lumpur

 

LAPAN BULATAN SEORANG PEMIMPIN-PENGURUS - Sinar Harian Hari Ini

LAPAN BULATAN SEORANG PEMIMPIN-PENGURUS

Yang dihormati Kapten Industri dan Perkhidmatan Awam,

Tugas seorang Pemimpin-Pengurus ringkas untuk dinyatakan, tetapi mencabar untuk dilaksanakan: menggerakkan Tugasan, Pasukan, dan Individu ke arah Matlamat Korporat. Untuk mencapai hasrat ini, seorang Pemimpin-Pengurus mesti memimpin dan mengurus empat bidang kritikal: diri sendiri, orang lain, pelaksanaan proses serta sistem, dan juga perubahan.

Daripada keempat-empat bidang ini, memimpin dan mengurus diri sendiri kerap menerima perhatian paling sedikit. Kebanyakan program kepimpinan memberi fokus kepada pengurusan orang lain. Walaupun ia penting, kepimpinan diri kekal sebagai asas utama. Seseorang yang tidak mampu mengurus dirinya sendiri akhirnya akan bergelut untuk memimpin orang lain. Pepatah ada menyebut, ikan membusuk bermula daripada kepalanya; apabila seorang pemimpin gagal mengurus diri, kesannya akan dirasai oleh semua.

Bidang kedua, iaitu memimpin orang lain, merupakan perkara yang paling biasa bagi kita. Bidang ketiga, iaitu pelaksanaan, adalah sama penting kerana pemimpin diamanahkan untuk memastikan tugasan menjadi serta menterjemahkan matlamat menjadi tindakan. Akhir sekali, pemimpin mesti berupaya mengurus perubahan. Mereka perlu berbuat demikian sambil menguruskan diri, orang lain, dan pelaksanaan secara serentak, kerana perubahan bukanlah peristiwa sesekali sahaja, melainkan persekitaran sebenar di mana dunia kepimpinan itu wujud.

Lapan Bulatan (Circles) Pemimpin-Pengurus menyediakan satu kerangka kerja praktikal bagi membantu para pemimpin memenuhi tanggungjawab ini dengan lebih berkesan:

Bulatan 1: Penetapan Matlamat dan Jangkaan

Tugas pertama mana-mana Pemimpin-Pengurus adalah menghapuskan ketidakpastian. Warga kerja berprestasi lebih baik apabila tahu apa yang dijangkakan daripada mereka. Penetapan matlamat yang berkesan bermula dengan dua perkara: jelas tentang matlamat yang dikehendaki dan mengajukan soalan yang betul terhadap matlamat tersebut. Matlamat memberi arah tuju, manakala soalan memastikan kejelasan. Kedua-duanya sangat diperlukan.

Kejelasan juga mesti diiringi dengan erti makna matlamat. Tanpa kedua-dua elemen ini, warga kerja hanya melihat tugas sebagai rutin untuk diselesaikan, bukannya hasil yang perlu dicapai. Tiga amalan berikut dapat memperkukuh penetapan matlamat:

·        Mewujudkan kontrak sosial yang jelas supaya semua pihak memahami tingkah laku yang dijangkakan antara atasan, rakan sejawat, staf seliaan, dan pemegang taruh.

·        Mewujudkan bahasa prestasi bersama agar warga kerja memahami apa yang dikategorikan sebagai cemerlang, baik, boleh diterima, atau tidak boleh diterima.

·        Memastikan setiap orang mengetahui garis dasar (baseline): di mana mereka berada hari ini, di mana mereka perlu berada, bila sasaran tersebut perlu dicapai, dan strategi yang telah dipersetujui untuk menuju ke sana.

Bulatan 2: Perancangan dan Penyelesaian Masalah

Cara terbaik memotivasikan warga kerja adalah dengan membantu mereka mencapai kejayaan. Tiada apa yang lebih memotivasikan berbanding perkembangan, pembangunan diri, dan kejayaan.

Gabungan Bulatan 1 dan Bulatan 2 membentuk teras kepimpinan dan pengurusan. Pertama, pemimpin menetapkan matlamat yang jelas. Kemudian, mereka membantu warga kerja mencapai matlamat tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, tidak semua orang bermula dengan tahap kesediaan yang sama. Ada yang memerlukan penambahan pengetahuan, ada yang memerlukan bimbingan, dan ada pula yang memerlukan pemantauan rapat. Pemimpin-Pengurus yang berkesan menyedari perbezaan ini: mereka tahu bila masa untuk menjadi mentor, bila untuk melatih (coach), dan bila untuk menyelia. Peranan mereka bukan sekadar mengagihkan tugas, tetapi membantu warga kerja merancang secara berkesan dan menyelesaikan masalah, di samping memastikan mereka mempunyai alatan serta sokongan yang diperlukan untuk berjaya. Apabila warga kerja belajar cara mengatasi rintangan, keyakinan mereka akan bertambah dan motivasi hadir secara semula jadi.

Bulatan 3: Membina Pasukan Berprestasi Tinggi

Untuk membantu warga kerja mencapai kejayaan, pemimpin mesti membina pasukan berprestasi tinggi, kerana bekerja secara berseorangan menyukarkan pencapaian matlamat.

Kebanyakan pemimpin biasa dengan fasa perkembangan pasukan oleh Tuckman: pembentukan (forming), konflik (storming), penyesuaian (norming), dan pelaksanaan berprestasi (performing). Namun, apa yang kerap terlepas pandang ialah pemimpin mesti mengurus fasa transisi antara fasa-fasa tersebut secara aktif, sentiasa berada di hadapan untuk membimbing pasukan. Satu kesilapan biasa adalah menganggap fasa konflik (storming) sebagai satu masalah. Hakikatnya, konflik adalah tanda kemajuan—fasa di mana warga kerja mula bersikap jujur dan tidak lagi berpura-pura sopan secara berlebihan. Perbezaan pandangan mula timbul, isu dibincangkan, dan rasa percaya mula bertambah mendalam. Pemimpin-Pengurus yang berkesan tidak takut akan taufan konflik ini; sebaliknya mereka memimpin pasukan merentasinya menuju fasa penyesuaian dan prestasi tinggi.

Bulatan 4: Maklum Balas dan Perbincangan Sukar

Tiada pasukan mampu menunjukkan prestasi tinggi tanpa persekitaran maklum balas yang sihat dan keupayaan mengendalikan perbincangan yang sukar. Ini amat penting terutamanya semasa fasa konflik (storming), iaitu apabila ketidaksepakatan mula timbul.

Pemimpin-Pengurus mesti mewujudkan budaya di mana maklum balas dilihat sebagai suatu hadiah, bukannya ancaman. Ini bermula dengan pemimpin itu sendiri. Pemimpin yang terbuka menerima maklum balas dan menggunakannya untuk penambahbaikan akan menetapkan nada positif bagi orang lain. Begitu juga, pemimpin mesti menunjukkan teladan apabila berhadapan dengan perbincangan yang sukar—tidak mengelak, tetapi mengendalikannya secara hormat, pantas, dan konstruktif. Apabila maklum balas diberi secara lancar dan perbincangan sukar dikendalikan dengan baik, tahap kepercayaan akan meningkat, masalah dapat diselesaikan, dan pasukan akan berkembang maju.

Bulatan 5: Mengurus Emosi dan Ketegangan

Maklum balas yang baik dan perbincangan sukar amat bergantung kepada keupayaan mengurus emosi dan ketegangan.

Emosi ialah satu sumber tenaga. Jika diurus dengan baik, ia membawa kepada penglibatan dan prestasi; jika diurus dengan buruk, ia merosakkan hubungan dan organisasi. Pemimpin-Pengurus harus belajar mengurus emosi sendiri sambil memberi respons yang wajar terhadap emosi orang lain. Sama juga halnya dengan ketegangan; tidak semua ketegangan itu membawa keburukan. Pemimpin tidak dibayar gaji untuk menghapuskan ketegangan, tetapi untuk mengurusnya. Ketegangan prestasi, akauntabiliti, inovasi, dan perubahan semuanya diperlukan untuk perkembangan. Objektif utamanya adalah memastikan ketegangan kekal produktif, bukannya merosakkan.

Bulatan 6: Komunikasi dan Pembinaan Jalinan Hubungan

Komunikasi dan pembinaan jalinan hubungan merupakan asas pengurusan manusia, yang bermula dengan kefahaman mudah: orang lain juga adalah manusia seperti kita.

Setiap daripada kita mempunyai keperluan yang hanya boleh dipenuhi melalui orang lain: pengiktirafan, pujian, kepastian, empati, dan rasa hormat. Oleh itu, pembinaan hubungan memerlukan kebertanggungjawaban peribadi dan keprihatinan tulus terhadap orang lain. Komunikasi yang baik bermula dengan budi bahasa serta kesediaan memberikan masa dan tenaga. Salah satu platform paling berkuasa untuk tujuan ini ialah perbualan. Bercakap dan mendengar kekal menjadi alat paling penting bagi seorang Pemimpin-Pengurus untuk membina kepercayaan dan meningkatkan prestasi.

Bulatan 7: Memotivasikan

Pemimpin-Pengurus tidak memotivasikan warga kerja melalui ucapan hebat atau slogan. Tanggungjawab mereka adalah merangka persekitaran yang mendorong prestasi melalui 'gabungan motivasi' (motivational mix) yang berkesan dan terancang.

Ganjaran kewangan seperti gaji dan bonus memang penting, tetapi ia hanyalah sebahagian daripada kerangka motivasi yang lebih luas. Pengiktirafan, peluang perkembangan, kerja yang bermakna, kepimpinan yang menyokong, dan budaya yang sihat adalah elemen penting lain dalam mewujudkan persekitaran berprestasi cemerlang. Jika dilihat secara mendalam, enam bulatan pertama itu sendiri merupakan sebahagian daripada gabungan elemen motivasi tersebut. Warga kerja secara semula jadi akan lebih bermotivasi apabila matlamat jelas, mereka mencapai kejayaan, bekerja dalam pasukan berprestasi tinggi, menerima maklum balas membina, mengurus emosi dengan baik, dan menikmati hubungan yang kukuh. Semakin kondusif persekitaran motivasi, semakin mampu warga kerja mendepani ketegangan kerja, membolehkan organisasi mencapai produktiviti dan hasil yang jauh lebih tinggi.

Bulatan 8: Muhasabah Diri

Jika Pemimpin-Pengurus tidak meluangkan masa untuk muhasabah diri, mereka lama-kelamaan mungkin terjerumus menjadi insan yang tidak dihajati, sekali gus kehilangan peluang untuk belajar dan berkembang.

Muhasabah diri bermula dengan soalan-soalan mudah tetapi mendalam: Di manakah saya hari ini? Di manakah saya mahu berada kelak? Bagaimana untuk saya sampai ke sana? Pemimpin-Pengurus yang berkesan kerap berhenti sejenak untuk menilai kemajuan, mencabar andaian, dan belajar daripada pengalaman. Mereka aktif mencari maklum balas dan menilai diri secara jujur berdasarkan tujuh bulatan pertama—menjadi pengkritik sekaligus pemotivasi kepada diri sendiri. Muhasabah diri ialah tanggungjawab kepimpinan amat penting yang wajar mendapat keutamaan tertinggi.

Para Kapten yang dihormati, Lapan Bulatan Pemimpin-Pengurus membentuk satu sistem bersepadu di mana setiap bulatan saling menyokong. Apabila diamalkan secara konsisten, ia akan menggerakkan Tugasan, Pasukan, dan Individu ke arah Matlamat Korporat.

Amat penting untuk para pemimpin melaburkan masa bagi memperkukuh setiap bulatan ini. Seperti mana-mana keupayaan lain, kepimpinan bertambah baik melalui pembelajaran, latihan, dan penambahbaikan berterusan. Organisasi mesti memastikan pengurus mereka dilatih, dibimbing, dan dididik untuk menerapkan bulatan-bulatan ini secara berkesan.

Pada masa yang sama, kita sebagai Kapten Industri mesti menjadi orang pertama yang mengamalkannya. Kita yang menetapkan piawaian; warga kerja tidak mengikut apa yang kita perkatakan, mereka mengikut apa yang kita lakukan. Apabila kita memimpin melalui teladan, kita mewujudkan organisasi di mana kecemerlangan kepimpinan dapat berkembang dengan jayanya.

 

THE EIGHT CIRCLES OF A LEADER-MANAGER - STARBIZ 15/08/26

THE EIGHT CIRCLES OF A LEADER-MANAGER

Dear Captains,

The task of a Leader-Manager is simple to state but challenging to accomplish: moving the Task, the Team and the Individual towards Corporate Goals. To achieve this, a Leader-Manager must lead and manage four critical areas: oneself, others, the execution of processes and systems, and change.

Of the four, leading and managing oneself receives the least attention. Most leadership programmes focus on managing others. While important, self-leadership remains the foundation. A person who cannot manage themselves will eventually struggle to lead others. The fish rots from the head; when a leader fails to manage themselves, the consequences are felt by everyone.

The second area, leading others, is the one most of us are familiar with. The third area, execution, is equally important because leaders are ultimately entrusted to make things happen, translating goals into action. Finally, leaders must be able to manage change. They must do so while simultaneously managing themselves, others, and execution, because change is not an occasional event - it is the very environment within which leadership takes place.

The Eight Circles of a Leader-Manager provide a practical framework for helping leaders fulfil these responsibilities more effectively.

Circle 1: Expectation Setting

The first task of any Leader-Manager is to remove uncertainty. People perform better when they know what is expected of them. Effective expectation setting begins with two things: being clear about the goal and asking the right questions. Goals provide direction; questions create understanding. Both are necessary.

Clarity must also be accompanied by meaning and purpose. Without them, people see work merely as tasks to complete rather than outcomes to achieve.

Three practices strengthen expectation setting:

1. Establish a clear social contract so everyone understands the expected behaviours between superiors, colleagues, subordinates, and stakeholders.
2. Create a common language of performance so people understand what is excellent, good, acceptable, or unacceptable.
3. Ensure everyone knows the baseline: where they are today, where they need to be, by when, and the agreed strategies to get there.

Circle 2: Planning and Problem Solving

The best way to motivate people is to help them achieve. Nothing motivates people more than growth, development and success.

Together, Circle 1 and Circle 2 form the core of leadership and management. First, leaders set clear expectations. Then, they help people achieve those expectations.

However, not everyone starts with the same level of readiness. Some need more knowledge, some need guidance, and others need closer monitoring. Effective Leader-Managers recognise these differences and respond accordingly, knowing when to mentor, when to coach and when to supervise.

Their role is not simply to assign tasks but to help people plan effectively and solve problems along the way, ensuring they have the tools and support needed to succeed. When people learn how to overcome obstacles, confidence grows, and motivation follows naturally.

Circle 3: Building High-Performing Teams

To help people succeed, leaders must build high-performing teams, as very few goals can be achieved alone.

Most leaders are familiar with Tuckman's stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. What many overlook is that leaders must actively manage the transitions between these stages, staying ahead of the team to guide it forward.

One common mistake is viewing storming as a problem. In reality, storming is a sign of progress. It is when people stop being overly polite and start being authentic. Differences surface, issues are discussed, and trust begins to deepen. Effective Leader-Managers do not fear the storm; they guide the team through it toward norming and performing.

Circle 4: Feedback and Difficult Conversations

No team becomes high-performing without a healthy environment of feedback and the ability to handle difficult conversations. This is especially important during the storming stage, when disagreements surface.

The Leader-Manager must create a culture where feedback is seen as a gift rather than a threat. This begins with leading oneself. Leaders who welcome feedback and use it to improve set the tone for everyone else.

Likewise, leaders must lead by example when dealing with difficult conversations. Rather than avoiding issues, they address them respectfully, promptly, and constructively. When feedback flows and difficult conversations are handled well, trust grows, problems are resolved, and teams thrive.

Circle 5: Managing Emotions and Tension

Good feedback and difficult conversations depend heavily on the ability to manage emotions and tension.

Emotion is a source of energy. Managed well, it drives engagement and performance; managed poorly, it damages relationships and organisations. Leader-Managers must learn to manage their own emotions while responding appropriately to the emotions of others.

Likewise, not all tension is bad. Leaders are not paid to eliminate tension; they are paid to manage it. Performance tension, accountability tension, innovation tension, and change tension are all necessary for growth. The objective is to ensure tension remains productive rather than destructive.

Circle 6: Communication and Relationship Building

Communication and relationship building are the foundation of people management, beginning with a simple understanding: other people are human beings just like us.

All of us have needs that can only be fulfilled through others - we seek approval, praise, reassurance, empathy, and respect. Building relationships therefore requires personal ownership and a genuine concern for others.

Good communication starts with good manners and the willingness to give time and energy to others. One of the most powerful platforms for doing this is conversation. Talking and listening remain the Leader-Manager's most important tools for building trust and improving performance.

Circle 7: Motivating

Leader-Managers do not motivate people through grand speeches or occasional slogans. Their responsibility is to design a motivating environment that encourages performance.

This requires the deliberate design of an effective motivational mix. Financial rewards like salary and bonuses are important, but they are only part of the equation. Recognition, growth opportunities, meaningful work, supportive leadership, and a healthy culture are equally important.

In many ways, the first six circles are themselves part of this motivational mix. People are naturally more motivated when goals are clear, they are successful, work within high-performing teams, receive constructive feedback, manage emotions well, and enjoy strong relationships. The more motivating the environment, the more performance tension people can productively transform into achievement.

Circle 8: Reflecting

If Leader-Managers do not make time to reflect, they may slowly become the person they never intended to be, losing opportunities to learn and grow.

Reflection begins with simple questions: Where am I today? Where do I want to be? How do I get there? Effective Leader-Managers regularly pause to assess progress, challenge assumptions, and learn from experience. They must seek feedback and honestly evaluate themselves against the first seven circles, becoming their own critic and motivator. Reflection is an essential leadership responsibility that deserves a place among a leader's highest priorities.

Dear Captains, The Eight Circles of a Leader-Manager form an integrated system where each circle supports the others. Practised consistently, they move the Task, the Team, and the Individual towards Corporate Goals.

It is vital that leaders invest time in strengthening each circle. Like any capability, leadership improves through learning, practice, and continuous improvement. Organisations must ensure their managers are trained, mentored, and coached to apply these circles effectively.

At the same time, we as Captains of Industry must be the first to practise them. We set the standards; people do not follow what we say, they follow what we do. When we lead by example, we create organisations where leadership excellence can flourish.