A funny overview of NKF scandal done by students

PP5506 AOL-Blog 2

iii) Was TT Durai, of Singapore’s National Kidney Foundation, an effective leader?

                By conventional standards of measurement, leadership is about 2 main things: task management and people management. However, I think there is a third crucial element to leadership, which may have often been overlooked --- expectation management. In most cases, the expectations that a leader has to manage are encompassed within the task itself such as hitting certain performance targets, expanding the organisation to a certain level etc. However, such clean-cut assessment of a leader no longer holds true when the organisation involved is one built upon certain moral values and is thus heavily bounded by public expectations. This invariably complicates the assessment of an effective leader, because whether the leader conducts himself/herself in a way that meets public expectation becomes a determining factor of his/her effectiveness.

Former CEO of NKF, TT Durai would most likely have been shortlisted under the league of effective leaders by conventional standards. It is unfortunate, yet unavoidably realistic that the assessment of effectiveness is often contextual-based. In Durai's case, the contentious point being the organisation that Durai is leading is not any profit-making corporation, but a charitable organisation that operates on public funding.

                Assessing TT Durai purely from a normal leadership perspective, he is no doubt highly effective. At an international level, his NKF dialysis program was so successful that other countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan have sought the expertise of NKF. At a national level, he has transformed the originally barely surviving NKF into Singapore’s largest and most well-known charity, helping a substantial number of poor kidney patients. At an organisational level, his innovative fund-raising tactics has brought in a steady stream of funding for NKF and built up a strong reserve. Lastly, even at a personal level, Durai has shown himself to be a highly-motivating and endearing leader when despite public backlash, he received unwavering support from staff who reacted with emotional outburst and tears upon hearing his resignation announcement.

Unfortunately, Durai was not just leading any company, but a charity that demands high moral accountability, which means public expectation forces are at play.  Public not only demands the leader of a charitable organisation to run the organisation well, but also to conduct himself morally, and in line with what the organisation stands for, in this instance, behave charitably. Flying first-class on business trips and having elaborate renovation in the office, while is likely a norm that will not lead to any batting of eyelid in the commercial world, instantly becomes a behavior that is highly unbefitting when scrutinised under the charity lens. This situation was especially apparent in the case of Buddhist monk Shi Ming Yi, former CEO of another charitable organisation, Renci Hospital who suffered a dramatic downfall like Durai due to misuse of funds. Like Durai, Ming Yi’s extravagant lifestyle attracted strong criticism despite consumerism is not any big sin by normal human standard, but of course, public does not see Ming Yi as just a CEO, but a leader of a charity, coupled by his status as a religious leader.

From these cases, it is apparent that the context (the nature of the organisation) in which the leader exists cannot be divorced from the assessment of the leadership effectiveness. In fact, the context decides one of the most important criteria in assessing a leader; a charitable organisation, a religious institution and a commercial entity would definitely not have the same set of criteria to determine an effective leader. Therefore, in the case of Durai, he is an effective leader, but in my opinion, not an effective leader for NKF.

An additional read on Leadership in the charity sector, challenges and opportunities

just for laughs - on leadership

PP5506 AOL-Blog 1

ii) It has been said that the desire for cohesion is the enemy of real leadership. Why?

                While conventional wisdom often labels an effective leader as one who is able to unite a group of individuals together and rally everyone towards a common goal, the desire for team cohesion can be as much a foe of real leadership as it is a friend, depending on the context of its pursuit.

                Just like even though drinking milk is generally good for health, taking it when one has a diarrhoea is more harm than help; as shown in the Schachter Study on cohesion, a group with high cohesion but negative norms performs worse than a group with low cohesion but positive norms. In this case, if the leader of the underperforming group still chooses to be pro-cohesion, he/she would be relegated to a powerless position as an improvement on group performance would now rely on breaking the cohesion that breeds the negative work norms.

                Although we may argue that the problem of cohesion only happens in extreme cases of an entire group filled with black sheep, we cannot overlook the fact that there are pitfalls to cohesion even in usual smooth-sailing operations. Inherently, a highly cohesive group is more susceptible to groupthink, which may not always be the best mode of decision-making. A leader would not be able to get the best out of each individual if he/she is perpetually preoccupied with maintaining cohesion. Eventually, innovation is silenced as everyone self-censors and either consciously or unknowingly conforms. While such operandi modus may not appear especially problematic in good times since it enhances efficiency in decision-making, once crisis strikes, sticking to such cohesion-based mentality could very well lead to the downfall of the leader and the group that have long been conditioned and unable to think-out-of-the-box.

                In addition, maintaining cohesion involves keeping everyone in the group happy to a certain extent. However, depending on the size and make-up of the group, a bigger or more heterogeneous group would invariably consist of more varied needs and demands, and trying to keep everyone in such a group happy could be almost mission impossible. Unavoidably, every decision made would result in some winners and some losers, yet certain decisions are necessary for a group to progress or advance. In this instance, if for the fear of disrupting cohesion, a leader chooses not to take certain essential decision, he/she would not have acted in the best interests of the group, which is not befitting of what a leader should be. Worse still, if the inaction of the leader leads to a worsening of the overall situation, his/her good intent of wanting to keep everyone happy could very well end up with making none happy, as the ones who are pro the decision lament at the indecisiveness of their leader and those who are against the decision then but now suffer from the ramifications may just blame their leader for the lack of “knowing-better”. In the end, it could simply be a case of pleasing no one, yet the authority of the leadership suffers a beating.

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出国

　　要放假出国去了，心里不断向往着。　　
不时会陷入很high状态的同事（:P）天天帮我倒数，这个星期每天一见到我就“星期三了”，“星期四了”……本来只是暗暗兴奋的情绪经她这么日复日地鼓动，似乎越来越有掩不住的沸腾。
忙忙碌碌地工作一段日子后得以小歇，有种久旱逢甘露的感激。
喜欢出国度假，或许更准确地说，是喜欢与家人一起出国度假。
当然，与朋友结伴出游也是一件乐事，但和家人一同出远门，就是多了一种无法具体形容的感觉。可能是温馨的感觉吧。
从小，父母就习惯性地每年带我出国旅行，后来家里多了个小弟，人数壮大，这个常年活动也一直继续着。
举家出游，早成了家里的一个传统。　　
从以前的瞢懂跟着大人，到现在的一起决定目的地，筹划行程；改变的是参与的方式，不变的是对这个传统的享受。
尤其踏入社会工作后，陪伴家人的时间大大减少，一起出国成了共享天伦的最佳机会。上班的、读书的，打里家中大小事的，都暂时跳脱平时的责任，只专心投入于父母孩子的角色中，没有烦琐事情的打扰，只有优质的亲子沟通和相处。
就这样简单温馨，所以特别愉快向往。
明年，小弟入伍后，这个家庭传统看来得暂停。想到这里，更觉得要好好珍惜来临的旅程。　　　

惯性

　　人的惯性是很奇妙的。　　
　　新闻室与厕所之间有一道设有保安系统的门，要进入新闻室必须将工作证贴近阅卡器，系统“确认”了你，才为你开门；而要出去之前，也必须先按门边的按钮，才能打开门。　
　　一直就这么做，早已是习惯成自然，出入常常就如机械人般按按钮，亮工作证。直到不久前，有同事告诉我，门坏了，大家都可以自由进出，不用再麻烦地按按钮，亮工作证。　　
　　然而，最初几次总是忘记，进进出出还是不自觉地重复老动作，搞得自己都觉得自己像笨蛋。　　
　　于是，下定决心提醒自己，门坏了，推拉就行。　　
　　自然而然，也习惯下来；这样“无拘无束”出入倒也挺方便的。　
　　可是，就在我已经养成新习惯后，突然有一天，竟吃闭门羹。　　
　　我一股脑地撞上门后，才发现原来门又上锁了。　　
　　沉睡多日的保安系统已不声不响地重新启动。　　
　　Ok，又要回到以前出入的方式。当时这样告诉自己。　　
　　但当我过后再一次尝试通过那道门时，历史又重演了。　　
　　又莫名其妙地撞上去。　　
　　习惯取代了记忆。我又忘了门已经修好。　　
　　人之初，性被懒吧。所以很多东西很轻易地就变成机械性，让我们无需费脑力去多加思考。　　
　　只是，惯性虽然是最直接简单的生活方式，但我想人也可能也为它，没有意识地错过了许多沿途的好风光。　　
　　不是有人说过，生命是一个过程；要真正体会这个过程，就要让自己更注意周遭的事物，否则屈服于惯性，人只会看到终点。
　　　　

小弟要离家了

　　妈妈突然来电，说小弟收到了入伍通知信，今年12月就要为国效劳。
　　听了后，一时间百感交集，心里涌起了一股莫名的不舍。
　　想起朋友的一段小故事，她说当年目送弟弟入营，自己就莫名其妙地哭了。我当时还笑她，如今当同样的情景快在自己身上发生时，我才开始对她那个时候的心情有所体会。　　
　　或许这样的心情只有做过人家姐姐的人才特别有共鸣吧。又或者习惯有兄弟姐妹在身边的人都会对分开的感觉有种短暂的无所适从。　　
　　开始在脑海里想象没有小弟在家的情景……　　
　　没有人不听话地在我床上吃零食看电视，虽然少点动怒，可是少了干扰的房间不知道会不会太冷清　　
　　没有人老是跟我抢电视的remote control，虽然可以专心看自己喜欢的节目，可是看电视少了个伴不知道会不会太寂寞　　
　　没有人整天要我陪他看电影吃大餐（因为要我付帐），虽然钱包少一点破洞，可是少了这些额外的娱兴活动不知道生活会不会太单调　
　　没有人不时吵着我陪他吃夜宵，虽然少摄取多余脂肪和卡路里，但少了煮快熟面高手的精心炮制不知道面条会不会太索然无味　　
　　没有人时不时有难题和麻烦要我帮忙，虽然生活烦恼减少，但少了这些调剂不知道会不会觉得日子太没有变化太无趣　　
　　原来深一层思索，一些平日习以为常，偶有怨言的东西，在内心深处已成为一种眷恋的情感。　　
　　小弟还没有离开家，我好像已经开始想念他。

红蜻蜓

　　无意间在电台听到一首很久以前的歌——小虎队的《红蜻蜓》。　　突然唤醒了沉封多时的回忆。　
　　念小学时，正好是这首歌曲热播的时期，朋友觉得歌名和我的名字有几分谐音，有阵子就叫我“红蜻蜓”。　
　　想起来很无聊，却不禁一抹温馨涌上心头。童年的美大概就因为其中充满了挥洒无聊的欢乐时光。　　
　　歌词唱着童年的飞逝，梦想的飞扬；边听这首歌，边缅怀童年，似乎特别贴切。　
　　很喜欢这种回首过往的感觉，记忆隔着时间仿佛蒙上了一层薄沙，若隐若现，梦幻般多了一份朦胧美。　　
　　想回到过去吗？成长的岁月里，我想每个人都有这样问过自己。　
　　以前，总会觉得，只要除去那些恼人的考试，回到过去多美好。　
　　现在，领悟到什么都不应该去掉；好的，坏的，苦的，乐的，都该保留，因为有各种经历才堆砌了一段丰富的童年。　
　　但，过去再美好，已不想回去。意识到处在经历中时，往往迷失于生活琐事的旋涡中，总要回望才能静下心真正回味。
　　过去的美，就是要从现在的距离去欣赏。这样，才能看到最美的过去。