graphic by MZUKRI

TRANSFORMING society and the world’s economy towards more sustainable approaches is the most significant challenge in the 21st century. For the public sector, the transformation calls for growing leaders who can thrive in ambiguity and work across the public, non-profit, and for-profit sectors to lead effective changes. Rule-based, rigid, silo mentality, authoritative style and directive leadership no longer work in developing people and need to be abandoned.

Through engagement with scholars, academicians, industry leaders and civil servants, Razak School of Government has identified many leadership styles known to be essential for the Malaysian Public Service. These include “transformational” and “value-driven” of which the latter was sighted in the “Future of Malaysian Public Service” research published in 2017. Although each leadership style complements different needs, the key to managing the public sector is the ability to use the appropriate skills set to approach different challenges.

The pandemic has challenged public service leaders to embrace the new norms and always putting forward what people need foremost.

Authenticity is not a new concept. The definition might have a plain meaning in the Western context. However, for non-Western scholars, it lies within their traditional belief of faith, culture and societal norms. The concept of “knowing one’s true self” exists in many cultures and faiths around the world. For example, for a Muslim, an authentic individual can be related to a morally responsible person due to some spiritual factors.

The more spiritually attached the person is, the more self-aware the person becomes. Similarly, the Bhagavad Gita suggests it is better to “live imperfectly than to live based on imitation of someone else’s being” and, in the Bible, “while Man proposes, God disposes”. The moment we divorce ethics and morality from leading people and managing processes, it can be reduced to only politics, which means less wisdom in leading followers, societies and governments.

The character of an authentic leader is developed through life experiences, more than classroom training. Discovering authentic leadership is a non-linear process in the leadership journey.

Having said this, an investment in coaching would be a good step for large-scale organisations that need to strategically manage their talents and to prepare for succession planning in developing more authentic geniuses.

The way public sector leaders perform contributes to the government’s overall performance, with indexes like GDP, national productivity, the ease of doing business and corruption perception being used as indicators to measure performance. With the economic downturn, ethical dilemma, mental-health predicament and ever-increasing public expectations happening nowadays, we need leaders who can lead during unprecedented challenges, especially amid the pandemic, with a strong will in making positive changes.

In the public sector, additional challenges in leading include the complex hierarchical nature of bureaucratic systems, numerous sectors and services, and different reporting structures that require capable leadership at all levels within the organisation. It is much more challenging with increasing concerns on staff integrity and morale.

Likewise, organisations benefit too, when they have authentic leaders leading day-to-day operations. Studies have shown that authentic leaders promote positive behaviours among their followers and encourage subordinates to exhibit extra effort in performing their tasks, voice their opinions and cultivate creativity. This will lead to several attitudinal outcomes such as increased job satisfaction, organisational commitment and reduced turnover intention.

It is also important to acknowledge that authentic leaders are value-driven. Studies have shown that leaders who have strong values possess deep spiritual convictions or profound moral principles.

In conclusion, leadership is a journey, not a destination, and there is no perfect framework to develop leaders. Leadership requires continuously developing and upgrading a set of skills that allow leaders to influence, inspire and work with a group of people to achieve a shared goal. Although the country is facing many challenges with the current pandemic, political and economic setting, it is believed that more authentic public service leaders can be developed through this experience for better future leaders.

Azham Zainal Abidin is the director of the Leadership Development Centre at Razak School of Government.

The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the stand of the newspaper’s owners and editorial board.