10 Ideas from Episode #100 Lee Kuan Yew:
1. Don’t demand control first. Do a good job where you can and then seek and acquire more power.
2. Be obsessed with talent.
- LKY goes and gets top Asian talent at western universities early on for the government.
- “It had taken me some time to see the obvious, that talent is a country’s most precious asset. After several years in government I realised that the more talented people I had as ministers, administrators and professionals, the more effective my policies were, and the better the results.”
3. Give capable young people the reigns over the veterans (It's difficult but necessary).
- "The new MPs, bright young men who had won scholarships to renowned universities overseas and in Singapore, were taking over key jobs within three to four years of joining the PAP. The veterans felt that they should not have such an easy path to office, but should learn and wait. I did not think young and talented men would sit and wait; either they were going to make it or they would want to move on. It was an emotionally difficult but necessary changeover. I had to do it, whatever my own feelings.”
4. Connect with the common man.
He learned Mandarin and Hokkien at a high level and already knew Malay and English. Through it he could communicate with the diverse ethnic groups in singapore directly.
5. Connect with elites
LKY was very good at developing strong one-on-one relationships like with various British ambassadors, foreign statesmen like Kissinger, Bush, Tony Blair, and others. He was a great golf player, dinner companion, and very charismatic and social.
6. Only the paranoid survive (Book by Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel)
- "I was also troubled by the apparent over-confidence of a generation that has only known stability, growth and prosperity. I thought our people should understand how vulnerable Singapore was and is, the dangers that beset us, and how we nearly did not make it.
7. Another word for initiative is aggression.
8. In leadership not everyone has to be Hemingway, but you have to be clear.
- “Impress by the clarity of your ideas…I speak as a practitioner. If I had not been able to reduce complex ideas into simple words and project them vividly for mass understanding, I would not be here today.”
9. Always work on the biggest problem (like Elon Musk)
10. Be a united front externally
- "Differences on policy we kept within the cabinet until we had resolved them and reached a consensus. Then we would put forth a clear line which people could understand and accept. Once a decision had been taken in cabinet, we made a point of abiding by it.”
In my own words I comment on the genesis of State equity in many extractives companies and the value of the shareholding beyond a share of dividends. Sheila Khama - YouTube Subscribe to https://t.co/hn75qRPIyh to receive an alert on this series.
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*🇸🇬 «La lutte contre la corruption, c'est comme nettoyer un escalier : il faut toujours commencer par le haut.»*
*Lee Kuan Yew: fondateur de l'État de Singapour. 🇸🇬*