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Jim’s Learning & Inspirational Moments (Jun 2008)

Leadership Legacy

Hi my friends,

I am back rather quickly this month. Yes, time to catch on my writings,

reflections and sharing.

2. Thanks for all your sharing and appreciation for my Apr/May Learning
Moments on Leading from within. I had learnt quite a bit from all your sharing and
comments on the topic of leadership as well.

3. I always held this mental model that the growth and development of
people is the highest calling for leadership. The better the players, the better the
leader. A Chinese proverb says, “If you are planning for one year, grow rice.
If you are planning for twenty years, grow trees. If you are planning for
centuries, grow men.”

4. This month, I will be sharing some of my thinking on one of the most

important lesson of leadership (in my humble opinion) - STAFF DEVELOPMENT.

5. I hope this month’ s Learning & Inspirational Moments will provoke

some further reflections on leadership. Have an awesome day and know that
someone has thought about you today...I did.

p/s: For those of you whom are new to this. Hi! Just added you to my mailing list.
I try to exercise my brain muscle by reflecting on life, personal and important
organisational issues and articulate them in writing once every month and share
it with people I care about. Yes, you are now one of those people I would like to
keep in touch with. I hope you will find my writings useful and reflective.

Check out my past monthly reflections, writings and inspirational thoughts

on this website.

http://www.esnips.com/web/LearningInspirationalMoments

Peace Be With you

Love. JIMMY LEE

We cannot do all the good the world needs,

But the world needs all the good we can do!

“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”
 H H
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Leadership Legacy

1. No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or to get all
the credit for doing it. The day that I realised I could no longer do everything
myself was a major step in my development as a person and a leader.

To know how to do a job is the accomplishment of labour;

To be available to tell others is the accomplishment of the teacher;
To inspire others to do better work is the accomplishment of management;
To be able to do all three is the accomplishment of true leaders!

- Guy Ferguson

2. The greatest leadership legacy we can leave for the people we lead is
more future leaders. We are walking examples for future leaders around us,
shaping how they perceive what leadership is all about. I always don’
t believe in
giving the fish but always teach others how to fish.

3. The person who works better with people is a follower. The person who
helps people work better is a manager. The person who develops better people
to work is a leader.

4. Great leaders I have encountered (which I have a privilege to meet quite a

few in my short career) are very often remembered by their impact on other
people’s lives as a source of inspiration, support or development. Leadership
without the development of people is just merely execution. Execution without
development is limiting, unable to move beyond the leader himself. Personal
growth through development, however, is unbounded.

5. Please allow me to share 3 key principles that I feel are important in

people development…

• People development take times

- This cannot happen overnight. You need time, patience and ability.

• People skills are essential for success

- In order to develop others, you must have the abilities to work with
people and how to get along with them! A lot of leaders do not have
these abilities.

• Be a model others can follow

- People do what people see. The speed of the leader determines
the speed of the followers. And followers will never go any further
than their leader. I always tell my officers, if they want their
subordinates to work hard, they have to work twice as hard!
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6. To develop people successfully, I feel that we must have the right

assumptions about people. Our mental models drive our behaviour and attitude
in everything we do. If we have the right mental models and ask the right
questions, we will be able to become better people developers.

7. From my own experience and through observation of other leaders who

excel, I have discovered 3 key areas of successful people developers. They are,

• They make the right assumptions about people;

• They ask the right questions about people; and
• They give the right assistance to the people.

8. 3 Key questions you must ask yourself if you want to develop people…

• Am I building people, or am I building my dream and using

people to do it?

- Manipulation is moving together for my advantage,

- Motivation is moving together for mutual advantage!
- Leaders must care for people before they can develop them.

• Am I listening to people with more than my ears, that is, am I

hearing more than words?

- Am I a good listener?
- I listen with the intention to understand or to be understood?

• What are the strengths of this individual?

- See their light and not their shadows!

- Focus on what is right with the individual rather than what is
wrong.

9. According to William J. H Boetcker, people divide themselves into four

classes:

1. Those who always do less then they are told

2. Those who will do what they are told
3. Those who will do things without being told
4. Those who will inspire others to do things

Well, it’s up to us.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said. “Trust men and they will be true to you: treat
them greatly and they will show themselves great.”
 H H
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10. Some of the best advice you can find about being a good leader is found
in a poster that I display in my office (an old Chinese poem):

Go to the people, Live among them.

Learn from them. Love them.

Start with what they know,

Build on what they have.

But of the best leaders,

When their task is accomplished,
Their work is done,

The people will remark,

“We have done it ourselves.”

Love. JIMMY LEE