The following is an excerpt from one of the two additional chapters included in the Chinese version of the book, “The Leader, The Teacher & You”.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS OF AN OUTSTANDING FIGURE: INTERVIEW WITH MR LIM SIONG GUAN (PART II)
By Ms Poon Sing Wah
HOW TO BE A GREAT MENTOR
Mr Lim thinks that it is his good fortune that he had both Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Dr Goh Keng Swee as mentors during his career.
“These two leaders made bold and strategic decisions. When faced with new challenges, some leaders might not grasp the opportunity to make timely decisions. But both Mr Lee and Dr Goh were very wise, and they chose to face challenges head on and not avoid them.
Working with such leaders made work extremely satisfying. Not only did they dare to make tough decisions, they also gave me the chance to work on difficult issues. If my boss does not give me the chance to grow and try new things, I would be frustrated and unhappy, but I never faced such a problem whilst working under Mr Lee and Dr Goh. We had our own work to do but when we came together to work on something, we achieved excellent results.
Founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew was a great mentor. Regardless of how big or small the meeting was, or even if it was not related to my work, he would let me participate. He did it in order to expand my understanding of things so that I would be well prepared for any problems that I might face in the future. He also took the time to explain government policies to me so that I would have a complete understanding of them and be able to better understand policy formulation.
Mr Lee taught me that when it comes to nurturing the next generation of leaders, we must do our best and make the effort to help them fully understand the meaning of government policies, as well as the various problems that we faced in the past to teach them that policies are dependent on the external environment that constantly changes,” said Mr Lim.
LEAD WITH THE SPIRIT OF A TEACHER
Mr Lim’s mother, wife and sister were all teachers. From them, he learnt that all teachers expect their students to do better than their teachers and it is such an extraordinary concept that all leaders should embrace.
“Leaders must treat others the way teachers treat their students. They must want others to do better and to even surpass their own achievements. I believe a great leader must be a teacher. A great leader must do all he can to help others to succeed, to help others to be more competent so that they can contribute more. This will do well for him as a person and for his career as well.” explained Mr Lim.
CONTINUOUSLY REFLECT AND SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES
Mr Lim does not see himself as someone who is intelligent enough to spot problems, but rather as someone who is willing to listen to others.
“Wherever I go, I hope to help my staff be the best that they can be. When I’m at a new organization, I will ask the staff, regardless of their rank in the organization, which practices should be stopped and if they have any new ideas that should be implemented.
By doing so, I will be able to quickly know the areas that need to be improved on because no matter where you go, most people want to do a good job. That’s an indisputable fact. Once you have determined what the problem is, then you can think about how to make things better, what else you can do for the organization etc. Therefore, I think of myself as a motivator and not the source of all wonderful ideas. I don’t solve the problem on my own. Instead, I find people who understand the problem to solve the problem. I will not give up until I have exhausted all means and I have tried out many different ideas,” said Mr Lim.