[Vnbiz] Leadership -- A little more on Honesty

Fri Jul 27 13:01:47 PDT 2007

I second HPP's post: context and/or kind of leader sought are key criteria
to focusing this conflagration/confabulation.  But i'm still somehow
suspecting A Hoanh might just pull a rabbit out of his hat after he's had
some time to digest all this.  Either way, it's been very edutaining thread.

On 7/28/07, Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
> This is an interesting but time consuming exercise that will not result in
> a final list that is universally agreeable to everyone.
> However, there is still value in discussing, if reaching a single final
> list is not a goal.
> I have observed a couple of things.
> 1.  This discussion on leadership qualities did not establish necessary
> parameters.
> Instead of qualities/attributes for all leaders, it may be necessary to
> define the specific type of leadership/situation.
> War-time leader vs. peace-time leaders?  Religious leaders vs. secular
> leaders.
> 2.  It is impossible to have a perfect leader with all the "good"
> attributes and no faults.
> A leader should be judged on whether and how he accomplished his mission.
>  I use the "and"  rather than the "but" test.
> Ex.  He improved women's right according to his campaign pledge,* and* he
> was unfaithful to his wife = he was a good leader. vs.
>  He improved women's right according to his campaign pledge,* but *he was
> unfaithful to his wife = he was a bad leader.
> HPP
>
>
>
>  *"Tran Dinh Hoanh" <tdhoanh at gmail.com>*
> Sent by: vnbiz-bounces at mail.saigon.com
>
> 07/27/2007 11:29 AM  Please respond to
> vnbiz at vietlinks.net
>
>   To
> vnbiz at vietlinks.net  cc
>
>  Subject
> Re: [Vnbiz] Leadership -- A little more on Honesty
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
> Dear anh Shane,
>
> I don't think the discussion is falling apart though.  That is the nature
> of discussion.  More often than not, we come up with opinions so far apart
> that the only final agreement we have is "We agree to disagree."    That is
> both the human nature (to be different from each other here and there) and
> the nature of democracy (trying to live peacefully and happily :-( with the
> jerk next door :-)
>
> Vigorous differences are a very good sign--the sign that everyone has
> opinion, and is willing to contribute his/her opinion, and is strong enough
> to take the stand for his/her opinion.  That is the sign of intellectual
> vigor.  Agreement is good, but agreeing all the time may be a sign of
> lethargy.
>
> As long as we don't hit each other in the head, let's quarrel a bit here
> and there to make life more interesting.
>
> Have a great day!
>
> Hoanh
> ___________
>
> On 7/27/07, *Shane Wall* <*shane.wall at translingualexpress.com*<shane.wall at translingualexpress.com>>
> wrote:
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
> I agree Bro. Hoanh, it seems the discussion is "falling apart" and we
> are no closer to actually finding out the qualities that we, as a
> family, think are the qualities all leaders should have.
>
> To be very frank and honest, the reason that this discussion has not
> achieved its original purpose and has gone a long way off from the
> original is simply because THERE IS NO LEADER in this discussion!
>
> My CACE, I will "lead" this discussion if you would like me too, but
> please be aware that I try very, very hard to adhere to the 10
> principles/ideas I have previously posted (appended again after my
> address block).
>
> Something that nobody has mentioned yet is the willingness of a leader
> to "step-up" and voluntarily take responsibility for the situation. I
> love it when somebody does that. I work extremely hard for them because
> they have taken on the risk. Sadly, far too few people are willing to
> "take the risk" and become a Leader.
>
> This is what I said previously and what I try to encourage, enforce or
> enable in my own leadership situations:
>
> *1.  Willing to openly canvass and listen to all opinions, including
> ones the leader may disagree with.*
>    Only by listening to all views and perspectives can the correct one
> be found.
>
> *2.  Be totally committed to the welfare of the "entity" being led as a
> whole, not just elements within it.*
>   If only one section of the entity is cared for, human nature will
> quickly ensure that the entity disintegrates. This also means that
> sometimes a leader must be willing to harm part of the whole in order
> for the whole to become or remain healthy. A true example is the Ship
> Captain whose ship has an uncontrolled fire in the engineroom. He knows
> there are 4 sailors still in the engineroom and 195 others safe. He does
> not know if the 4 are still alive or dead already. He orders the
> engineroom sealed and the firefighting chemical Halon to be dumped into
> the compartment. Halon is lethally toxic when it reacts with fire
> (that's part of how it works). He knows if the 4 are alive, he has just
> killed them. He knows if he does not extinguish the fire, he places all
> 195 others in jeopardy. I know this story is FACT because it happened in
> the Royal Australian Navy when I was still serving.
>
> *3.  Not afraid to make the hard decisions, like the example above, for
> the good of the whole.*
>
> *4.  Able to be self-critical and honest about mistakes or errors.*
>   The member of a sports team who gives their all and is defeated by
> their opponent because the coach put them in the wrong position or gave
> the wrong task is not to blame for losing the game, the coach who put
> there is. The coach must then be able to exonerate the player and take
> the blame.
>
> *5.  Never asks another to do what he/she would not do themselves*,
> a.k.a. lead by example or leading from the front.
>   This does not mean the leader has to actually participate, but it
> does mean that those being led must know that when placed in the same
> position, the leader DID do exactly what he/she is now asking others to
> do, so understands their plight.
>
> *6.  Is cooperative rather than combative or manipulative.*
>
> *7.  Honest, moral, ethical and upstanding with a sense of justice and
> what is "right".*
>    Nothing loses the respect of the led faster than some misdeed by a
> leader. Nonetheless, this does not mean the leader cannot have made
> mistakes, (See 4. above), but just how they handle them. Another true
> story. On learning that their team leader was simply writing his own
> reports based on his own presumptions and perceptions and not analyzing
> and compiling their results and reports as he should have done, the team
> simply stopped collecting the information and writing the reports - not
> a healthy situation for intelligence operators. When I took over the
> team, they were the worst, most demoralized team and the laughing stock
> of the Unit. Morale was deeper than Whale doo-doo!
>
> *8.  Openly and equitably distributes and shares the benefits and
> burdens.*
>   I've seen instances where everything is shared equally (a
> Communist-style model) and others where things are shared according to
> pre-determined criteria or systems (a Capitalist-style model). From my
> (limited) experience, it doesn't seem to matter which method is used,
> rather that it is open and mutually agreed upon (See 6. above).
>
> *9.  Deep understanding of the aspirations, wishes, needs and desires of
> the led.*
>   Without this understanding, no leader can ever hope to satisfy these
> things for their followers.
>
> *10. Willingness to delegate responsibilities, reward success and
> rectify the causes of failure.*
>    By letting people undertake important tasks, rewarding them when
> they succeed and helping rectify the reasons they may have failed, a
> leader builds trust. From mutual trust comes teamwork. From teamwork
> comes success. Any team-building guru will tell you that, or something
> similar.
>
> Finally, I don't remember where this comes from, but I remember a
> definition of "Leadership":
>
> _*"The ability to make others willingly do what they otherwise do not
> want to do."*_
>
> Let's get "back on track" here! We've wasted a lot of typing time,
> bandwidth and contemplation, let's try to get something CONCRETE out of
> this discussion!!!
>
> Shane
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mr. Shane Wall
> Principal,
>
> Trans Lingual Express
> 120/14 Mai Thi Luu St,
> P. Dakao, Q.1, HCMC,
> Vietnam
>
> Mail: *shane.wall at translingualexpress.com*<shane.wall at translingualexpress.com>
> Web: *www.translingualexpress.com* <http://www.translingualexpress.com/>
>
> Mbl: +84 (090) 9484 753 (Anh) - Tel: +84 (8) 820 9143 (Viet)
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Washington DC _______________________________________________
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