Leaders and Learning

The long and boring meeting finished at about 430pm (on Wednesday, 07/10/08)…..But the new sales forecast data had to be keyed-in into the system ASAP. So, everyone stayed at the office after the meeting.

My taxi came at about 645pm… I left the office at once…..(but not before meeting Mr Imani who used to be my “driver” back in February). I was feeling very tired and had a slight headache. Probably because of the weather, or maybe because of my stuffy nose.

The cabbie, Mr Azadi, spoke English….and like Mr Sadiq from my yesterday’s trip, he was also a retired teacher. He said that he’d been teaching for 30 years because he retired. He’s in the late 50s or early 60s…maybe about the same age as both my parents.

He had done everything after his retirement….business, odd jobs…..everything….finally he picked up taxi-driving….and "it stuck until now", he said.

When I told him that I’m from Malaysia, like almost every Iranian that I met, he said Malaysia is a nice country which he’d like to visit. He also asked me about the former PM, Tun Dr Mahathir, for whom he had a lot of admiration. I said that he’s a good leader….he’s not had a really “Islamic” style or claiming to be “Islamic”, but he brought a lot of good things to Malaysia. Mr Azadi said that the Tun brought forward a “New Malaysia”.

Although I might not agree with some of his policies, I put respect where it’s deserved. Since he took over from the late Tun Hussein Onn in 1981, he had done a lot of new things….most of them were things that few people thought about then…… the Penang Bridge project, the national car, synchronization of time between the Peninsular and East Malaysia, the punch card system….I can go on and on. He had visions….most people said, he’d been planning his projects even before he became the PM….that’s why he came up with his new ideas only within a few years of taking power.

For me, a good leader is like a magnet….a good leader would just say “follow me” and everyone will do what he/she says… everyone will follow. A good leader instills confidence into his/her people. A good leader is respected by friends and foes alike. A good leader treat everyone fairly….not equally (there’re lots of differences between those two words).

For those who are familiar with the book by the late Stephen Ambrose, “Band of Brothers”…. Or watched the mini series (of the same title) co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks….the story portrayed in this book / mini series really epitomized the term leadership.

Basically, it tells a story (based on real-life characters) of a Company of American soldiers going to war during the 2^nd World War. It was a company from the 101^st Airborne Infantry Division of the US Army, the E Company (Easy Company). Read more about it HERE.

Good leadership had been the paramount factor for the Company to become one of the most hailed companies in the US Army during the war. Read about Major (R) Richard Winters HERE and Lt General (R) Robert Sink HERE.

In a nut shell, everyone is a leader…..a husband and father is the leader for his family, a teacher is the leader for his/her classroom….. But the most important thing is that a person is the leader of his/her own self…..if he/she fails in that aspect, then there’s no use for him/her to be a leader for anyone else.

Me, I’m still learning…..to be a leader for my family…..and a leader for my own self……And I know the learning will never stop….forever.

The late Henry Ford once said: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty”…..

And believe me, I don’t want to get old just because I stop learning.