Best leaders inspire others, says don

KUALA LUMPUR: Leadership is something a person should be ready for and not a role that one just assumes, said academician Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.

"While it is reckoned that now 'everyone can lead', it must be done to follow a purpose and to preserve and enhance relationships involved. The best leaders are those who inspire others to come together for the achievement of a higher purpose," he said in his keynote speech at the 9th Tun Suffian Memorial Lecture at Universiti Malaya yesterday.

"While it is nice to be important, it is more important to be nice," said Dzulkifli, who is also a columnist for theSun.

He added that a leader must understand the "meaning and higher purpose" of leadership and always uphold justice for subordinates or followers.

"Every community and organisation has its own unique culture and tradition consisting of norms and attitudes based on its collective history and consciousness. A leader who harbours a hidden unethical agenda can render the entire leadership unproductive because his 'primary or internal' relationship is poor."

He said the entire leadership would be worse if the followers suspect that the leadership is unethical.

“For a balanced leadership, a leader should possess four traits – justice, wisdom, courage and temperance.” – by Vathani Panirchellvum