Leaders in public service sector should not look for position

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- Leaders in public service should not
look for position and instead concentrate on making an impact on the lives of
people, Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Sidek Hassan said Thursaday.

He said the legacy they left behind would not only define the
next generation but, more important, "write the history of what the service is
and has been all about".

The world they served will not remember the cutting edge techniques they
implemented, but will recall "single small moments" when they went beyond their
comfort zones to make the life of people totally unknown to them more bearable,
memorable and meaningful, Mohd Sidek said when opening "The Leadership
Challenge: A Cultural Odyssey" workshop here.

He added that the public service leader who will matter "is the one who
delivers meaningful outcomes that touch the lives of those served".

Mohd Sidek, who has been in the civil service for 37 years, believed that
modernisation was not so much about "gadgetries and showstopper inventions" as
the mindset of the people leading the “new normals”.

"Where the coin will fall on the best management techniques remains to be
seen. But of commanding need, in my view, is ... for leaders with the
skills and the stamina to rise to the moving expectations of the world," he
said.

"We need leaders who are not trapped in a certain world view, and presume to
assume that everyone else share their potentially flawed view of the times," he
added.

The one-day workshop, organised by the Razak School of Government in
collaboration with Kets de Vries Institute of the United Kingdom, was attended
by more than 30 senior civil servants.

It was conducted by Prof Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, who has been rated as
one of the world's foremost leadership thinkers.