REFLECTION 01 – 13 February 2018

Dynamic of Leadership, expectations were high for this subject when I was about to
register this subject. For first preference for this subject was Dr. Yusof Boon. After strong
and good remarks about Dr. Yusof from my close friends, I was very keen in taking up the
course with him.
Before entering the first class, a lot of questions popped in my mind. Leadership is
something related and close to my heart. Since, I’m avid reader, I’m used to buy and read one
book in a month. This keeps me going even though my career in the political field was
diminished by bad luck. Hence, as I had mentioned earlier, my expectation grew stronger the
moment I entered this class. Mitch Albom, Robin Sharma, Anthony Robbins, Nick Vujicic
are among the names of the writers and great motivators of leadership popped in my mind. I
was recalling what Dynamics of Leadership has to be offer me. Few minutes later, Dr.Yusof
walked into our class. My first impression of him was so overwhelming. I was indeed lucky
to have him as my lecturer for this subject. He always put the students’ needs first before his
and that made him to be so understanding and kind towards the students. Since most of us are
teachers, he understands our plight and workload baggage that every teacher has to carry on
their back.
When I looked into the course outline, my expectations never went wrong. Indeed, the
content of the subjects really suits my level of expectation and anticipation. Basically, Dr was
explaining about the course outline to all of us. He also mentioned about the expectations that
he requires from all of us. Since, this course doesn’t require us to sit for an examination, he
wants us to do our best for the presentation and public speaking. He mentioned that creativity
and innovative are the two important skills needed for our presentations. Marks will be gauge
from these two elements.
A few sets of rules were deliberated by him to all of us. He wants us to be punctual
and complete the task given on time. Some elements of values were also imparted to us such
as grateful to god and well discipline. In my opinion, these two values are essential in
moulding a great leader. He keeps reminding us that when everyone walks out the class at the
end of the semester, he would like to see us as leaders. That invigorates me to perform better
and excel in this subject with god’s grace.
 REFLECTION 02 - 20 February 2018

As we are entering the third week of our class, Dr.Yusof explained to us some
leadership terminologies that are essential in our course. It was quite useful input session. He
also had mentioned and explained to us about the evolvement of this course in UTM. He felt
that this course is quite essential and has to be made compulsory for all the UTM students
because nowadays, we need leaders who are equipped with knowledge. Dr.Yusof’s
suggestion made me to ponder on one incident which was flash in few forefront dailies. It
was about a top scorer with 10A’s failed in few interview due to inability to converse a good
communication and lack of knowledge. This made me to realise the importance of this
subject in our career path.
As per discussed through the content of this course, I feel that creative and innovative
presentation and a good deliberation of public speaking will somehow helps us to attain a
good reputable social skills along with knowledge that we posses through Dynamics of
Leadership. This will helps us in our career path. Hence, it’s very much conspicuous the
relevancy of this subject for our future reference. I feel that an innovative presentation will
helps us to think beyond our abilities and capabilities in presenting the source of knowledge.
It’s not the matter of what to present, it’s all about how to present. Automatically, it requires
us to be innovative in presenting our ideas to the target audiences.
Another element that we were exposed was Public Speaking. This will be put into
practice after we are done with all of our presentations. As the saying goes “Not all
conversationalist are good communicators and not all communicators are good
conversationalist”. This saying brought me to browse through few books and internet pages.
It clearly defines the line between that conversation and communication. Thus, in Public
Speaking, my main aim is to communicate because I’m going to present the message and
ideas to my audiences. Moreover, the necessity of public speaking is to boost the confidence
level of the presenter.
Hence, the inclusion of these two elements, presentation and public speaking will
enhance and consolidate the well-being of the presenter mentally. Dr.Yusof usually stressed
the importance of thinking positive in our daily life. Once we have positive thinking, this
positive thinking will transpire into our action and this will make our life a memorable one.
In addition to this, I believe that mind is our master. Once we are able to conquer our mind,
we will able to sustain our life subtly as the saying goes, quality of life is determine by the
quality of thoughts that one possess. With that, I found the relevancy of the tasks that were
given to us by Dr.Yusof through the subject called Dynamics of Leadership.
 REFLECTION 03 - 27 February 2018

Great leaders are great managers. I strongly believe on this statement because I do
feel that as leaders, you should manage your work, time and the people around you well. By
doing this, you will be respected among the people and subordinates. As for the fourth week
of the class, I have learnt something from Dr.Yusof. One of the pre-requisite in passing this
subject is handling the portfolio which has been entrusted to each and everyone of us.
This task carries a good weightage of marks for this subject. Firstly, I was curious
about the purpose and relevancy of this task. I do ask myself “What is the point of me
compiling the notes and handouts throughout the 14 weeks and later hand it over to the
lecturer?” But my curiosity answered by Dr.Yusof during the fourth week of the class.
He mentioned about the relevancy of this task because I do feel that as a good leader,
you should perform and manage your duties as entrusted by someone. This will enhance and
consolidate the productivity of our task.
We are required to compile all the notes that were given to us in the form of
powerpoint by Dr.Yusof throughout the 14 weeks. Besides, we are also required to come up
with own presentation notes and this is also part of our portfolio assignment. Furthermore, we
also encouraged to include any notes from the Internet along with our reflections. With three
sets of notes from Dr.Yusof and myself, it helps me in keeping abreast with the resourceful
knowledge on leadership skills.
I also would like to quote from one of the most inspirational motivator and speaker in
the world, Robin Sharma “Devote Yourself to Learning Something New about Your Field of
Mastery Every Day”. This quote is very much practical to be applied in our daily life and this
really suits the subject that I’m currently undergoing with Dr.Yusof. As a leader, I feel that
we have to allocate our time and energy in learning something new about things that we are
pursuing. This reminds me of Dr.Yusof where she use to mention each and every time in our
class that when you walked out of the class at the end of the every lesson, you should be
equipped with some knowledge.
Whatever that transpires in the 3 hours lecture should be seen as an useful knowledge
to be brought outside the four walls so that it can be applied in the real-life situation. I
strongly believe that as a student, we have to grab as much as knowledge we can in order to
produce a quality life that we are living right now. I feel these leadership skills that we
obtained through this class will make us to be better and effective individuals.
 In conclusion for the fourth week, I learnt that every task that we were assigned has
its’ own importance and benefits us in various ways.
 REFLECTION 04 – 06 March 2018

As we entered Week 5 in a short span of time, the most crucial part of our lecture
arrives. The presentation for our groups started. In the previous lessons, we were drawn in
sequence and Paval, Yaqquin and I, Usha have grouped together for this presentation. We
were given slot 1 and assigned us to present on Leadership Behavior & Motivation.
Anticipation and nervousness grew stronger and stronger as we were asked to get prepared.
We will be called anytime forgoing the slot that we were given to us earlier. Even though, we
were quite hectic with our school tasks, somehow we were managed to get ourselves
prepared for the presentation.
This presentation session carries a strong weightage of marks that will enable us to
pass this subject. Moreover, we will be evaluated twice, one by Dr. Yusof and the other one
by our colleagues. It creates more anxiety among all of us because we may look good in the
eyes of Dr. Yusof but not with our colleagues and vice versa. In order to score high marks for
the presentation, we have to look good in the eyes of both evaluators.
I remain positive and calm because I feel any slips due to nervousness will cause the
inability to perform well during presentation. Hence, in total 3 groups presented this week
with each group given 30 minutes. But to add to our dismay, each group took more than 30
minutes to present and we only managed to complete 3 groups for this week. Every time Dr.
Yusof gives her comments, we quickly jotted down on a piece of paper so that we will not
repeat the same mistakes again.
The first two groups presented fairly well exception to the third group who perform
extremely well. Series of appraisal and good remarks were given to this particular group. This
particular group which was led Alexander did extraordinary well outstanding the other two
groups. The plus point of this group was the level of confidence. This group had a strong
confidence level and deliberated the ideas and thoughts well. Videos that was prepared by
them also suits their presentation well.
Based on the remarks that were given to this group, we adhere to the advice by Dr.
Yusof. Even though, we were not selected to present this week, we had the opportunity to
gauge our presentation skills based on the remarks that were given to the 3 groups who
presented this week. After our class ended, we quickly gathered to discuss back the
expectations and the exceptions that needed by Dr. Yusof in our presentation. We re- evaluate
our entire power point slides that make it look better to be presented. Even though, initially
we were sad that we were not called to present this week, but were quite happy at the end of
the day because we were able to improve ourselves to outclass the other groups for the
presentation. As the saying goes, “Improvisation and updating ourselves frequently to remain
relevant and competitive in our field of mastery”. This habit will eventually will stretch us to
a new height of excellency.
 REFLECTION 05 – 13 March 2018

The most vital possession for a leader is to have a good traits and ethics. I do believe
that a good leader must have good traits that can set an example for the others. Hence, for this
week’s presentation, two groups presented on traits and ethics and the influence of powerful
networking and negotiations. Even though there were some minor hiccups on the groups that
were presenting, but overall with Dr. Yusof’s input during the presentation session was
sufficient enough in grasping the information and translated into knowledge.
When it comes to this week’s presentation, Dr. Yusof was initially unhappy with the
few presenters who were lack of knowledge on the topics that they were presenting and they
were merely reading from the slides. She did mention that she needs us to explain the topics
to the audiences rather than reading from the slides. This enables her to gauge the level of
understanding the topic that we are presenting and indirectly it will embark our confidence
level when we are presenting. Hence, our group took note of the gist that she had mentioned
so that we will not repeat the same mistakes again.
Overall, Dr. Yusof was quite helpful during the presentations. She will give us the
input especially when we lack some important gist during our presentation. Her explanations
will add on to the knowledge that we acquainted on the Leadership theories. I always do
believe that a leader should always accept the criticism for the enhancement process. We
cannot merely think and defend ourselves that we are always right. An acceptance to the
criticism will build us constructively so that we will be more matured in our daily tasks. Most
of my colleagues took Dr. Yusof’s words and remarks as a source of inspiration for them to
enhance themselves with resourceful knowledge that can be equipped at the end of the class.
Traits and ethics are the most important elements in shaping a leader. A leader can be
anyone from various backgrounds. Most people assume that politicians are the leaders
because they hold the power to control everyone us. But actually, I do believe that leaders are
made not inborn. Strong leadership skills can be built once you have the passion. As the
saying goes by Robin Sharma, “You can lead without a title because leadership is a way of
being versus a position”. So, it’s not a necessity for us to have a position in order to lead. We
should aware that every one of us is a leader in our capacity. Leadership skills should be
driven by positive traits and ethics which are essential in developing and building yourselves
and others around you.
 Moreover, I also would like to quote from one of the most prominent motivators of
America, John C.Maxwell that “Everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone”.
This quote reminds of the second group who presented on the topic of powerful networking
and negotiations. A leader with strong traits and ethics will led an exemplary life and this
will indirectly embarks the followers to flow the path of their leader. The beauty of a leader is
to train the followers to become the leaders. In this scenario, it’s important for a leader to
have good ethics and traits and present themselves in their own networking circles in order to
create an exemplary lifestyle for their own followers to emulate.
Basically, I found the connection between today’s topics of presentation from my
colleagues and I was very much satisfied with the input that was given by Dr. Yusof and mu
colleagues.
 REFLECTION 06 – 20 March 2018

Class for this week has been postponed to the following week due to Dr. Yusof’s inability to
attend the class because he is representing Datuk VC UTM for a programme in KPT
Putrajaya the next day. I’m looking forward for next week’s class.
 REFLECTION 07 - 27 March 2018

“A total commitment is a total involvement”. As the saying goes, this week’s

presentation was on the team leadership. Even though, our group was not called up to present,
our anticipation of waiting proven to be good because at least we were able to equipped
ourselves with input from our colleagues and Dr. Yusof. Every remark is it positive or
negative that were thrown to other groups by Dr. Yusof were guidelines for us to re evaluate
our presentation slides. Several modifications have been done to suit and meet Dr. Yusof’s
expectations. We also managed to study the different styles of the presenters in presenting
their inputs to the audiences.
Remarkably, all of them presented well with several of them were extraordinary in
their presentations. Every source of information should be translated into knowledge.
Throughout the presentation sessions, it was a learning experience for my colleagues and me.
Interactive teaching and learning process will make the class lively and interesting because it
will entice the audience’s interests and participations throughout the teaching and learning
process. Dr. Yusof’s input and guidance will also add on to the source of input that we
obtained during the Dynamics of Leadership class.
Hence, this week, the topic was on team leadership. It was quite interesting topic with
many debates aroused during the presentation. Most of the people do feel that it’s better to
work on our own rather than as a team. These people do feel that they have the freedom to
work according to their own pace without worrying about the others. Sometimes a wrong
partnership can be detrimental to the downfall of a certain work. Mostly, these people will be
reclusive and prefer working on their own.
The second scenario is working as a team. These group people believe that working as
a team will enhance and consolidate the productivity of the work. This is because too much
helping hands and series of input from different people will increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of a particular task. This scenario supports the theory team leadership. The
fundamental concept of team leadership goal is to increase the level of productivity in
accomplishing certain goals and this platform can be utilise in creating and elevating
everyone in the team as a leaders.
Each and every one of us is working under a big umbrella so called the organization.
As the saying goes, “You can be an extraordinary but you have to bear in mind that you are
confine in the circle of an ordinary”. Hence, working as a team will bear more fruits than
working individually. Team leadership will quite essential in today scenario where it can be
practical in many organisations in different stages. Be it a school, company or government
agencies, team leadership can be applied to accomplish the mission and vision of the
organisation. The beauty of the team leadership is everyone is given the equal opportunity to
lead and contribute in the development of a certain organisation for the benefits of every one.
Team leadership is the core for every organisation to achieve goals and missions. This
is clearly conspicuous during our presentations where accomplishment of task can be done
with a committed team who can practice their leadership skills well.
 REFLECTION 08 – 03 April 2018

Although this week is a mid-semester break but Dr. Yusof held the lecture as usual as
the replacement for the cancelled classes previously. The most vital possession for a leader is
to have a good traits and ethics. I do believe that a good leader must have good traits that can
set an example for the others. Hence, for this week’s presentation, two groups presented on
traits and ethics and the influence of powerful networking and negotiations. Even though
there were some minor hiccups on the groups that were presenting, but overall with Dr.
Yusof’s input during the presentation session was sufficient enough in grasping the
information and translated into knowledge.
When it comes to this week’s presentation, Dr. Yusof was initially unhappy with the
few presenters who were lack of knowledge on the topics that they were presenting and they
were merely reading from the slides. She did mention that she needs us to explain the topics
to the audiences rather than reading from the slides. This enables her to gauge the level of
understanding the topic that we are presenting and indirectly it will embark our confidence
level when we are presenting. Hence, our group took note of the gist that she had mentioned
so that we will not repeat the same mistakes again.
Overall, Dr. Yusof was quite helpful during the presentations. She will give us the
input especially when we lack some important gist during our presentation. Her explanations
will add on to the knowledge that we acquainted on the Leadership theories. I always do
believe that a leader should always accept the criticism for the enhancement process. We
cannot merely think and defend ourselves that we are always right. An acceptance to the
criticism will build us constructively so that we will be more matured in our daily tasks. Most
of my colleagues took Dr. Yusof’s words and remarks as a source of inspiration for them to
enhance themselves with resourceful knowledge that can be equipped at the end of the class.
Traits and ethics are the most important elements in shaping a leader. A leader can be
anyone from various backgrounds. Most people assume that politicians are the leaders
because they hold the power to control everyone us. But actually, I do believe that leaders are
made not inborn. Strong leadership skills can be built once you have the passion. As the
saying goes by Robin Sharma, “You can lead without a title because leadership is a way of
being versus a position”. So, it’s not a necessity for us to have a position in order to lead. We
should aware that every one of us is a leader in our capacity. Leadership skills should be
driven by positive traits and ethics which are essential in developing and building yourselves
and others around you.
Moreover, I also would like to quote from one of the most prominent motivators of
America, John C.Maxwell that “Everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone”.
This quote reminds of the second group who presented on the topic of powerful networking
and negotiations. A leader with strong traits and ethics will led an exemplary life and this
will indirectly embarks the followers to flow the path of their leader. The beauty of a leader is
to train the followers to become the leaders. In this scenario, it’s important for a leader to
have good ethics and traits and present themselves in their own networking circles in order to
create an exemplary lifestyle for their own followers to emulate.
Basically, I found the connection between today’s topics of presentation from my
colleagues and I was very much satisfied with the input that was given by Dr. Yusof and my
colleagues.
 REFLECTION 09 - 10 April 2018

I couldn’t write any reflection this day because my inability of attending class due to
high fever and dizziness. I really missed this lecture. I’m sorry Dr for the inconvenience
caused.
 REFLECTION 10 - 17 April 2018

The day that we anticipated for the presentation arrived. Our group was called for this
week. Since most of the groups have deliberated their inputs to the audiences, so all eyes
were on us this time. Only left 3 more groups left. To add to our dismay, I had a meeting in
my school. I had to rush to the class to be just on time for the presentation.
Basically, we were prepared for the presentation. All the inputs and remarks that were
given to the other groups by Dr. Yusof act as a guidelines for us. Several modifications have
been done for the presentation slides. We were also prepared with extra notes that we
obtained through various books and pages from the Internet. Our topic was on Contingency
Leadership and I was the first presenter for my group. I reached on time for the presentation.
The only setback that we encountered was we were only given 20 minutes to present whereas
the other groups were allocated 30 to 40 minutes. Actually we were sad because we prepared
a lot of videos and pictures to help us with our presentation. We were not able to show and
present it to the class. Since it was 20 minutes presentation, each one of us was only given 5
minutes to present.
Hence, we have to succinct the important gist of our presentation so that all of us will
have the chance to present on the allocated time given. I had the chance the present on the
evolvement of the contingency leadership skills. It started with traits leadership, behavioural
leadership and eventually with contingency leadership. My presentation somehow caught the
attention of the audiences because I related it to the present daily contexts. Hence, my
colleagues were quite familiar with social background that I used it in order to explain my
gist.
After the presentation, Dr. Yusof gave good remarks to our group and she personally
wished me that my presentation was good. Basically, all my hard works did not go in vain. I
also credited my gratitude to Dr. Yusof due to her teaching and guidance that me to stand
where I am today. Her frequent reminder to all of us was to assume ourselves as leaders in
whatever tasks that we are doing. I strictly adhered to the advice given by her and try to
emulate it during the presentation and the result was remarkable.
It is clearly seen that when you have a positive mindset and frequently remind
yourself that you can do your best, this vibrations somehow will be translated into our daily
actions. This can be closely associated with the limbic system in our body. I still do
remember when Dr. Yusof mentioned about the limbic system during the first two lessons in
our class. That time, I was not so keen in studying up about this chapter. After a series of
frequent reminders by Dr.Yusof, I started to browse about it in the Internet and try to learn
from it. Gradually, I started to transpire whatever that I have learnt into my presentation. It
was a total surprise for me because it works and produces good end results. A good presenter
will always equip himself with knowledge along with high confidence level. With that we
can accomplish whatever tasks that are given to us. The most satisfying and productive day
indeed.
 REFLECTION 11 - 24 April 2018

It was a huge relief for this week as my group members were done with their
presentation. Hence, for the next two weeks we will be free from any task before our short
talk which will be due in week 14. As for this week, we had the chance to learn on the
transformational leadership.
As quoted by motivators in the modern era, transformational leadership is a style of
leadership where the leader is charged with indentifying the change, creating a vision to
guide the change through inspiration, and executing the change with tandem with committed
members of the group.
I do feel that this form of leadership is practical in the real-life situations. Moreover, it
can also be applicable in most of the organisations where the leaders play a pivotal role in
determining the direction of the organisation. Since, I am a teacher in the secondary school in
Pasir Gudang, I would like take this opportunity to reflect on my school principal, Pn.Hajah
Zubaidah as an icon of transformational leadership.
Prior to the arrival of my school principal, my school was a normal school without
any drastic changes to the administration, infrastructure and learning environment. It was a
daily routine for the teachers to come and teach the students and go back. The same goes for
the students too. They will come, learn and leave the school. Most of the teachers and
students were in euphoria. The result of education achievements is not to the level of
expectation. Then, came the current school principal, Pn. Hajah Zubaidah. With great range
of experiences and knowledge, she slowly tries to put things in order. Even though, some
teachers faced hassles in adapting to the new environment, slowly they tried to adapt to the
changes that was happening in my school.
Extra classes, new set of modules for the students, wide range of courses for the
teachers were slowly imparted to my school. Initially, most of us felt that it was a burden for
all teachers and students. Slowly, my school performance increase threefold in a short period
of time. Teachers’’ welfare was taken care of subtly. With the current changes, teachers
began to treat their school as their second home. Certain reimbursements were given for the
teachers who were teaching extra classes. School canteen was expanded, new seminar rooms
were created, meeting rooms were upgraded, and many other facilities were laid for the
teachers and students. Students who perform well in their studies were also given token of
appreciation every month. Indirectly, this motivates the students to perform better and strive
harder to get the acknowledgements every month.
Initially, I was not aware of the leadership style that my principal implemented. With
the help and guidance from the Dynamics of Leadership class, I now realise that the style of
leadership my principal applied was a transformational leadership. Transformational
leadership can bring vast changes to any organisation with clear goal definition. A
transformational leader plays a vital role in uplifting the morale and be instrumental to their
subordinates to accomplish the goals.
 REFLECTION 12 – 01 May 2018

Class for this week has been postponed to the following week due to Labour Day
celebration. I’m looking forward for next class.
 REFLECTION 13 – 08 May 2018

Class for this week has been postponed to the following week due to PRU14. I’m looking
forward for next class.
 REFLECTION 14 – 15 May 2018

Once again, the anticipation grew stronger with the short talk presentation which was
about to begin. This carries the weightage of 10 marks in total assessment. But, today’s
presentation topic caught my attention because I’m an avid reader of political and leadership
books.
Authentic leadership is leadership where the core focused is on the self-actualised
individuals who are aware of their strengths, limitation and their emotions. Their strengths,
limitation and emotions can be instrumental to the followers in their life. They tend to get
attracted to their own idol and try to emulate their teachings and wisdoms in their daily life.
As I had mentioned earlier that I am avid reader, I was somehow try to reconnect the
understanding of the topic to my previous readings. Among the authentic leaders that were
brought up during the presentation was Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad, Syed Al-Bukhary,
Nelson Mandela and few other famous icons.
I had the privilege of reading Tun Dr.Mahathir’s books. The most recent one that I
concluded reading was “A Doctor in the House”. This book transpires about his own
autobiography and his leadership tenure as a Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years. The
challenges and difficulties that he faced was somehow was deliberated in a more constructive
manner where each reader can emulate his techniques and ways in solving the problems in
their daily life.
Several leaders were put forward through the presentations. I was mesmerized with
their strong will and motivation that put them higher compared to all of us. Their authenticity
in the leadership style inspires all of us to perform better in our lives. Emulation of ethics and
values in our life will help us to enhance and consolidate the lifestyle that we currently living
now.
After this group’s presentation, I was quite overwhelmed with the values and ethics of
these leaders. I started browsing through several Internet pages and books to look for
different leadership styles that were practice by these leaders. Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin
Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln and few others have their own styles to
accomplish their missions in their life. Hence, one similarity can be obtained from them even
though their cause of fighting for was totally different. They were also from different
background and social strata. The sole similarity that can be obtained from them was their
strong will power. These leaders were highly motivated and goal driven. Numerous
challenges and difficulties were faced by them but their strong will power outnumbered the
struggles that they went through in their life.
Based on findings, I believe that in order to become a leader, we need to be strong in
will power and should not give up easily. If Mahatma Gandhi would have given up easily
before, India wouldn’t have achieved Independence. The same goes to Nelson Mandela, if he
would have given up easily in his 27 years of imprisonment, United States of America
wouldn’t have a black American as President. To put in a nutshell, all this will only
materialise if a leader possess a strong will power.
 REFLECTION 15 – 22 May 2018

This is our second last week. We started the class at 3pm because fasting month had
started and give way to our Muslim friends to return home earlier. Once again, the
anticipation grew stronger with the short talk presentation which was about to begin. This
carries the weightage of 10 marks in total assessment. But, today’s presentation topic caught
my attention because I’m an avid reader of political and leadership books.
Authentic leadership is leadership where the core focused is on the self-actualised
individuals who are aware of their strengths, limitation and their emotions. Their strengths,
limitation and emotions can be instrumental to the followers in their life. They tend to get
attracted to their own idol and try to emulate their teachings and wisdoms in their daily life.
As I had mentioned earlier that I am avid reader, I was somehow try to reconnect the
understanding of the topic to my previous readings. Among the authentic leaders that were
brought up during the presentation was Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad, Syed Al-Bukhary,
Nelson Mandela and few other famous icons.
I had the privilege of reading Tun Dr.Mahathir’s books. The most recent one that I
concluded reading was “A Doctor in the House”. This book transpires about his own
autobiography and his leadership tenure as a Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years. The
challenges and difficulties that he faced was somehow was deliberated in a more constructive
manner where each reader can emulate his techniques and ways in solving the problems in
their daily life.
Several leaders were put forward through the presentations. I was mesmerized with
their strong will and motivation that put them higher compared to all of us. Their authenticity
in the leadership style inspires all of us to perform better in our lives. Emulation of ethics and
values in our life will help us to enhance and consolidate the lifestyle that we currently living
now.
After this group’s presentation, I was quite overwhelmed with the values and ethics of
these leaders. I started browsing through several Internet pages and books to look for
different leadership styles that were practice by these leaders. Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin
Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln and few others have their own styles to
accomplish their missions in their life. Hence, one similarity can be obtained from them even
though their cause of fighting for was totally different. They were also from different
background and social strata. The sole similarity that can be obtained from them was their
strong will power. These leaders were highly motivated and goal driven. Numerous
challenges and difficulties were faced by them but their strong will power outnumbered the
struggles that they went through in their life.
Based on findings, I believe that in order to become a leader, we need to be strong in
will power and should not give up easily. If Mahatma Gandhi would have given up easily
before, India wouldn’t have achieved Independence. The same goes to Nelson Mandela, if he
would have given up easily in his 27 years of imprisonment, United States of America
wouldn’t have a black American as President. To put in a nutshell, all this will only
materialise if a leader possess a strong will power.
 REFLECTION 16 – 28 May 2018

The final task for this semester which is the short talk finally took place in the
classroom. Each presenter was given 5 minutes to deliberate their speech fluently without
looking at the scripts. The students are also not encouraged to prepare a verbatim script to
assist their speaking. As usual, the level of anxiety and nervousness fill my heart. Since Dr.
Yusof wants to follow the alphabetical order, somehow my name was 12th in the list.
With great anticipation, I waited for my turn to present.
As I had mentioned earlier in my previous reflections, the purpose of having short talk
is to gauge our confidence level and to boost the leadership skills. One of the traits of being a
leader is to have good communication skills. “You may not be a good orator but you can be a
good communicator”. This saying struck my mind till the very last moment of my
presentation. Dr. Yusof used to remind us that we should be confident in whatever
endeavours and undertakings that we are being at.
Bearing that in my mind, I was prepared with my notes. My topic was on “Servant
Leadership”. The purpose of me choosing this topic is to reflect on my belief on the new form
leadership that is currently taking place in our country. Initially, I was not aware of what
servant leadership is all about. This topic caught my attention when I had chance to listen to
our Prime Minister’s speech in an event last year. He stressed and reminded leaders at all
levels should be servant leader first.
Even though servant leadership was not that clear to me initially, few readings and
browsing through Internet pages made me to have a better understanding of this topic. I had a
clearer picture what are the traits of being a servant leadership. This form of leadership is
new form expectation among the people. People do expect that their leaders should be from
among them and should always put people’s interest first before theirs. It should be a
collaborative effort and people should all walks of life should have a say in administration of
an organisation.
Accomplishment of task can be achievable if there is a total involvement and
commitment from all the people. After few analysis and reading, one of the clear examples of
servant leadership is our beloved Prime Minister, YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad. I
was overwhelmed with his leadership style and his down to earth approach. People
acceptance of his leadership style still exists even though he was not in the politics for 15
years. Hence, I took this short talk as a platform to share my ideas and findings to the
audience. Eventually, I was able to deliver my talk in the stipulated time given.
Most of my friends also were able to share their inputs to the class. Actually, I find it
this was a good session because I was able to listen to all sorts of inputs from my colleagues
who presented various topics and genres on leadership styles.