"I want every soldier that comes under my command to feel that they have learnt something during their 2.5 years and it wasn't a total complete waste of time"

I made that statement during my uniformed-days and did my best to live up to it.

My short adventure in Healthcare reminded me of the joy and satisfaction to engage and nurture talent. A hiring spree saw the Department headcount going up from 5 to 16pax in six months. Reminiscing my own greenhorn days many-a-time dazed and lost... those memories compelled me to bring the newcomers under my wing. Those kids amazes me with their talent and determination ! As an old guard, I hope my advices, nagging and revelation of un-spoken rules and hierarchy helped them ease into the Corporate world too.

I enjoy watching people grow. I enjoy watching my daughters grow.

2 months as an Educator, Teenage students now grow around me. They are energetic, curious yet cautious. Going to class akin to going to a Cat Cafe. You in their territory, they observe you, size you up and it is up to them if they approach.

It is an art to get the attention of my students, for them to pick up knowledge or life skills during my lessons. Just like my relentless pursuit of academic credentials, it is timely for me to refine interaction skillset. 

Reflecting back, I appreciate my teachers / mentors whom have imparted wisdom, cheered, spited and celebrated my growth.

"I want every student to realize that they have learnt something during my lessons and it wasn't a total complete waste of time"

To Lead

The car engine throttled down and came to rest, parked, we have reached the usual Saturday lunch spot. Just another weekend lunch at Paya Lebar area which we parked the Caren at Paya Lebar Square. Being familiar with the car park, I took the safest and least vehicular traffic route towards the life lobby.

A Parent (Father in my case) has a moral responsibility to protect and guide his family, especially physical safety. So it was part of my job to lead them towards safe zones. Weekly visits allowed me to observe traffic patterns, driving habits, outlay and trying out routes to get the best way around the carpark.

Turning my head back, I saw the girls followed me towards the lobby like cute smiling Labradors :) They feel safe and happy with Alpha.

Carpark navigation suddenly made me thought about Leadership… Qualifications and Intent

Qualifications 

Most common is Leadership by example. Babies mimic their parents and guardians, kids learn from teachers, teens see what their friends do, adults follow their idols and old folks ramble about about how good they were in their prime.

Everyone has been and CAN be a Leader.

The above statement is so inspiring but laced with danger because i have witnessed much “Blind Leading The Blind”. Overconfidence, Inexperience, Incompetency (The Dunning-Kruger effect) are common which results in negative outcomes and relationships. 

First there must be a Team in order for Leaders to perform their desired roles. Empathy and Trust are the 2 most important factor to me when it comes to forming a team. Other than extrinsic motivation, Trust is strong bonding agent for all the members. It is up to the Leader to find, establish and sustain the trust level as long as it is required for accomplishment of the objective(s). Empathy is the foundational trait that will allow members to recognize the varying reasons or requirement to establish the trust in different members. A Deputy can always fill in the Leader on the varying motivation factors within the Team.

Intent

You got to answer the WHY before even starting on any task right ? "Begin with an End in mind" the famous Stephen Covey said... as an ethic Chinese I learnt "做人要有始有终" 

Leaders determine the speed and direction of the pack, therefore it is critical that they believe in the mission at task. Anyone can go with the flow and sail the winds of fortune but it is when the chips are low, they would need to rally the members to hang on and dig deep together as one. Yet so many times, we have seen Senior Leadership(s) bale out, point fingers and pushing ppl under the bus.

Belief, Faith, Motivation could just be some of the factors that fuel the intent. Never giving up, Never Surrender ! A ship is not as nimble as a sole runner to change its course. There must be sustainable amount of "fuel" to sustain Intent for the Leader and Team. 

A crucial deciding factor when I choose to follow is if my Leader has "Skin in the game"

The little things in life... I have crossed enough roads to qualify as my Family's designated Car-Park leader =)