Types of leadership FINAL YEAR

What are the three types of leadership styles

Autocratic
Participative

Delegative

What did Lee do for autocratic leadership?

Merger of the 2 universities, Nantah and the University of Singapore.

Dealing with the pilots from Singapore Airlines in the 1980s.

Elaborate: Merger of the 2 universities, Nantah and the University of Singapore.

Lee Kuan Yew demonstrated autocratic leadership when he merged the 2 universities,

Nantah and the University of Singapore.

• Initially, he wanted to make English the language of instruction at Nantah, but

the task proved too difficult as the staff were Chinese-educated and could not

teach English.

• In the end, Lee decided to move Nantah into the campus of the University of

Singapore and all staff and students would be forced to learn English.

• Lee Kuan Yew did so despite knowing that the move would be politically costly.

Many of his cabinet colleagues were not supportive as they were concerned over

the political backlash from Nantah supporters and donors in Singapore and

Malaysia.

Yet, Lee Kuan Yew did this as he believed that the English-educated university

graduates could make bigger contributions to Singapore. Therefore, Lee’s autocratic

act of closing Nantah down was borne out of his genuine care for Singapore.

Elaborate: Dealing with the pilots from Singapore Airlines in the 1980s.

Lee Kuan Yew demonstrated autocratic leadership in dealing with the pilots from

Singapore Airlines in the 1980s.

The dispute began when the SIA Pilots’ Association demanded a 30% salary

increase and better working conditions. In protest, they launched an illegal

work-to-rule, where employees did the bare minimum required.

Following this, 3 SIA pilots and a flight engineer disrupted a flight by refusing

to work beyond their 12-hour duty limit during a stopover.

Lee Kuan Yew met the SIA pilots face-to-face, offering them two choices: stop

the disruptive actions or face severe consequences.

He made it clear that he was willing to ground the airline and rebuild it if

necessary, using every means at his disposal to teach them a lesson.

The pilots chose to back down after 65 minutes, knowing they would lose.

Lee’s action emphasised that leadership requires unwavering resolve, and at

times, instilling fear in others in order to make the best possible decision for

Singapore within the shortest possible time.

This shows how Lee was autocratic and uncompromising in dealing with the SIA pilots

in order to resolve the matter promptly.

How did Lee demonstrate participative leadership?

When discussing policies with his younger ministers

When selecting his successor as Prime Minister

Elaborate: When discussing policies with his younger ministers

Lee Kuan Yew was participative, especially when discussing policies with his younger

ministers.

• In the 1st half of 1984, Lee Kuan Yew introduced the Graduate Mother’s

Scheme, which gave better-educated mothers more benefits, in hopes of raising

fertility rates among better-educated mothers.

• One of the benefits was that graduate mothers would receive tax breaks and

their children priority admission to schools. The uproar from the public,

including the graduate women, was immediate and fierce.

• Lee Kuan Yew, despite being the Prime Minister, consulted the views of the

younger ministers after the policy was rolled out. The younger ministers felt

that the policy was not sustainable as it would divide society, and the

political costs were high.

• Hence, when the new Education Minister wanted to dismantle the policy, Lee

Kuan Yew did not resist the rollback by the cabinet.

As former PM Goh Chok Tong said about Lee, “He left it up to us, that was his style.”

This showed his participative style of leadership, as he shared the decision-making

process with his cabinet ministers.

Elaborate When selecting his successor as Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew was participative when selecting his successor as Prime Minister.

• As Lee Kuan Yew prepared to step down in the 1980s, he wanted Dr Tony Tan to

succeed him as Prime Minister, calling Tony Tan a man with “a quick brain” and

“a decisive quality about him. He listens, takes all points of view and

decides.”

• Despite this, he allowed the Second Generation (2G) leaders to choose their

own leader, understanding that they would better support a leader they

selected themselves.

• This was because he had seen the examples of Winston Churchill and Deng

Xiaoping, both of whom handpicked successors who later struggled to govern

effectively.

• When the 2G leaders chose Mr Goh Chok Tong due to his strong background in

economics, Lee accepted their reasoning. He did not dispute the decision, and

instead made Goh Deputy Prime Minister, collaborating with him on succession

planning.

• Thus, Lee demonstrated participative leadership as he consulted his 2G leaders

on the decision but retained final say as to who would be appointed DPM

How did Lee demonstrate delegative leadership

Entrusted the construction and development of the HDB to Lim Kim San and left him to solve the housing problem without his interference.

Lee had big dreams for modern Singapore, but he could not do it alone.

Elaborate Entrusted the construction and development of the HDB to Lim Kim San and left him to solve the housing problem without his interference.

Lee Kuan Yew entrusted the construction and development of the HDB to Lim Kim San

and left him to solve the housing problem without his interference.

• To allow Lim to tackle this problem, he appointed Lim as the 1st Chairman of the

Housing and Development Board,

• In the first two years of Lim’s leadership, over 2000 units were built, more than

what was built in the previous decade.

• In particular, during the Bukit Ho Swee Fire in 1961, 16000 people became

homeless. Under Lim's guidance, the relocation and reconstruction of the lost

housing was completed in just over four years, and 1200 housing flats were

made available to those who lost their homes in the fire.

• Part of Lim’s success was Lee’s trust and confidence in him. Lee allowed Lim to

cut through the bureaucratic red tape and rigid regulations which would

otherwise have hindered Lim’s housing programme. For example, even though

then National Development Minister Ong Eng Guan did not agree with Lim’s

programmes, Lee would often overrule Ong.

• By entrusting this project to Lim Kim San, a person known for his organising and

planning abilities, Lee Kuan Yew was able to solve the large-scale housing problem

at the time by simply stepping back and allowing someone more suitable to

take the lead.

Elaborate Lee had big dreams for modern Singapore, but he could not do it alone.

Lee Kuan Yew had big dreams for modern Singapore, but he could not do it alone.

• For example, Lee Kuan Yew’s vision for Singapore was this: “In 10 years, let us

have fishing in the Singapore River”

• But Lee Kuan Yew knew that he could not pull off this task alone. Therefore, he

delegated it to the Ministry of Environment and in particular, Permanent

Secretary Lee Ek Tiang.

• Lee Kuan Yew even incentivised ENV officials by promising to give each officer a

solid gold medal if they managed to pull off the feat. Perm Sec Lee Ek Tieng set

up a team of 10 engineers (including himself) and embarked on a massive

operation to re-site and rehome the hawkers, bumboats and squatters.

• They drafted a master plan to clean up the catchment areas and also coordinated efforts between 8 – 10 government ministries. They also relocated hawkers to hawker centres and bumboats to Pasir Panjang and phased out the pig farming industry.

• Within a week after the sources of pollution were removed, the stench coming

from the Singapore River disappeared miraculously. This was a testament to Lee

Ek Tieng and his team’s effectiveness.

It was Lee Kuan Yew who gave the vision but delegated it to the civil servants. This shows

that Lee trusted his bureaucrats to implement good policies for him

What did Goh do for autocratic leadership?

When he discovered that the government was almost broke, he expected a budget deficit of $14 million that year.

He anticipated significant obstacles in cooperation between the Singaporean and Malaysian governments.

Elaborate When he discovered that the government was almost broke, he expected a budget deficit of $14 million that year.

When Dr Goh Keng Swee took office as Finance Minister, he soon discovered that the

government was almost broke, and expected a budget deficit of $14 million that year.

• Prudent by nature, Dr Goh immediately introduced drastic and unpopular

measures to cut spending, including cutting civil service salaries.

• When he delivered the Budget at the end of the year, he proudly declared that

the government had achieved a small surplus of $1 million.

• He had drafted the speech personally, after secluding himself on the remote

island of Raffles Lighthouse to concentrate on the task. This shows that he

made those decisions himself without accepting any input from others.

Elaborate: He anticipated significant obstacles in cooperation between the Singaporean and Malaysian governments.

In the months leading up to the Merger, Dr Goh Keng Swee anticipated significant obstacles in cooperation between the Singapore and Malaysian governments.

He took decisive action by directing the Economic Development Board to expedite tax exemption applications, ensuring as many approvals as possible before the Merger, ignoring objections from senior civil servants.

Similarly, he instructed Ngiam Tong Dow to compile a list of foreigners applying for Permanent Residence without requiring detailed analysis. Against Ngiam’s disagreements, Goh signed off on granting Permanent Residence to all applicants without the usual individual justification memos, releasing deposits for them to invest in businesses during Singapore’s time in Malaysia.

By adopting a firm and autocratic approach, Goh effectively and directly countered the Malaysian government’s attempts to complicate matters.

When did goh demonstrate participative leadership

When he commissioned a group of system engineers, the daring dozen, or the “Goh” team, to tackle a failing education system.

When he solved the common issues Singapore faced, such as unemployment and economic woes.

Elaborate: When he commissioned a group of system engineers, the daring dozen, or the “Goh” team, to tackle a failing education system.

In 1978, Goh commissioned a group of system engineers, the daring dozen, or the “Goh” team, to tackle a failing education system.

Together, they came up with a ‘Goh Keng Swee report’, which identified the underlying causes as high dropout rates and the poor implementation of the bilingual policy. To tackle this issue, the study team

1. Interviewed and consulted more than 260 education officials, principals and teachers. This showed that Dr Goh and the team consulted widely in the decision-making process.

2. One of the recommendations made was: Streaming different pupils into different courses at the upper primary and secondary levels depending on their language proficiencies and academic abilities at Primary 3 and 6, respectively.

Dr Goh studied and discussed the issue with his subordinates and even presented the report in parliament for his colleagues to discuss and debate the matter, before coming to a final decision.

Elaborate: When he solved the common issues Singapore faced, such as unemployment and economic woes.

When Goh Keng Swee took office as Finance Minister, he started work on a five-year economic plan to solve the common issues Singapore faced, such as unemployment and economic woes.

On 1st August 1961, Goh set up the Economic Development Board and appointed Civil Servant Hon Sui Sen as the EDB’s first chairman, Eric J. Mayers as the Director of EDB and Ngaim Tong Dow to head the Technical Consultant Service Department.

For the first economic plan, he did not come up with the idea all by himself but instead accepted input from other ministers and government departments, as well as the World Bank.

Goh displayed a participative style of leadership in the sense that the creation of the EDB was the result of the input of many people and organisations, while he still retained the final say.

How did goh demonstrate delegative leadership?

Setting up of the Electronic Study Group.

Building a credible national defence force

Elaborate Building a credible national defence force

Goh Keng Swee recognised the importance of building a credible national defence force.

• However, he did not know anything about building the army since his background was in economics, not national security.

• Therefore, he enlisted the help of the Israelites, who were referred to as “Mexicans” to disguise their identity, to train the newly recruited soldiers.

• For example, Goh Keng Swee entrusted Yaakov “Jack” Elazari and his 6 men, who were split into 2 groups. One was to set up Singapore’s defence and internal security ministries, while the other was tasked with training and building up the Singapore Armed Forces. Hence, Goh Keng Swee assumed a delegative style of leadership while implementing NS due to his inadequacy in the field, entrusting the Israelites with Singapore’s defence.

Elaborate: Setting up of the Electronic Study Group.

Goh Keng Swee exemplified Delegative leadership in the setting up of the Electronic Study Group.

• In 1971, Goh put together the Electronic Warfare Study Group, a team of newly graduated engineers that was headed by Tay Eng Soon, then a university lecturer.

• The group worked on Project Magpie, a secret project to develop Singapore’s defence technology capabilities.

• In 1997, the group was renamed the Defence Science Organisation, which now conducts research on future warfare and develops technological solutions for national security.

• However, Dr Goh did not in any way interfere in the project but just provided the overall vision for the team, since he had no experience nor was he an expert in the field, hence demonstrating the trust he had in the team and showing his delegative style of leadership.