Leadership Analysis of Lee Kuan Yew

Running head: LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS OF LEE KUAN YEW
LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS OF LEE KUAN YEW
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LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS OF LEE KUAN YEW
Introduction
Leadership is something that mostly comes naturally but with time and situation, it is refined. the study of leadership is
considered extremely important and many businesses and countries have been built and broken due to leadership. The present paper is
divided into three parts with focus on leadership. The first part involves analysis of a known leader, the characteristic style of the
leader, the use of power and influence by the leader. The leader chosen for the analysis is Lee Kuan Yew, the late Prime Minister of
Singapore. Kuan Yew had been a great leader who is attributed to building the modern day Singapore. The second part includes
reflection of my own leadership skills. In the second part, I will take up three assessment tests that include self-confident test,
emotional intelligence test and cultural intelligence test. I will also prepare a leadership development plan with which I will be able
describe my own style of leadership and in the areas where I lack. This will also help me in understanding about the kind of leader I
could become. In the third part, I will use feedback from a leader who will assess my leadership development plan and tell me in the
areas where I need to improve.
Part One:
Lee Kuan Yew as the great leader
Lee Kuan Yew was the former Prime Minister of Singapore who has the record of being the longest serving prime minister in
world history. He was the first prime minister who reined Singapore from 1959 to 1990. Kuan Yew is credited to having transformed

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LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS OF LEE KUAN YEW
Singapore into a flourishing metropolitan city from a third world country within just thirty years. The following are some of his
leadership qualities that made him a great leader.
Visionary
Leaders have a clear vision about what they want to achieve and in what way they are going to achieve it. Visionary leader
works with a clear vision and have a compelling vision for any field in which they work. The leader is able to view beyond the
confusion, chaos and challenges of the present scenario to an authorizing vision of tomorrow. A leader with such a vision is fueled by
inspirations and this in turn helps others around him to be inspired and motivated. Kuan Yew had the vision to make Singapore a free
nation. When Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965, two years after the confederation was formed, Kuan Yew was devastated.
He had described this event as the “moment of anguish” (Kwang, Fernandez and Tan 2015). However, he did not give up and kept
working for his vision. Apart from being faced with the challenge of separating from Malaysia, Kuan Yew also had the daunting task
of bringing together the ethnically and culturally different citizens of the country as one. He accomplished his plan with a clear vision.
Resilient
A good leader has the ability to recover from the toughest of times and come out triumphant. Resilience is a trait that makes a
leader tough. A resilient leader recovers promptly from setbacks, adapts effectively to changes and keeps on despite being confronted
with adversity (Stagman-Tyrer 2014). Kuan Yew proved that he was a resilient leader after being faced with so many hardships as the
prime minister of the country. When Singapore separated from Malaysia, Kuan Yew shed tears in front of national television (Ho

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LEADERSHIP ANALYSIS OF LEE KUAN YEW
2016). Nonetheless, he kept working hard towards his vision and turned around the fate of Singapore. Instead of crying over the
separation, Kuan Yew decided to execute his plans. He used this moment of anguish as his fuel to make earn a developed nation status
for Singapore before Malaysia. After making Singapore an independent country, he made it a developed city-state within a span of just
thirty years.
Innovative
To become a successful leader, one must have innovative ideas and the strength to turn those ideas into reality. Innovation
refers to unique ideas that make something or someone ahead of others. An innovative leader is the one who has a fearless attitude of
trying new things. Kuan Yew had the strength of character to try new ideas and turn Singapore into a thriving economy. He believed
that it is the innovativeness of the people that helps a nation thrives. He had always encouraged the people of Singapore to look for
new opportunities in any field.
Strong mindset
A leader has to have a strong mindset because it helps him take strong decisions without worrying about oppositions. The
leader with a strong mindset must have an iron fist way of dealing with things for the betterment of his people. With a tight grip on
power, Kuan Yew allowed no one to interfere in his decisions for the country. He had even once made the statement, “If nobody is
afraid of me, I am meaningless” (Telegraph.co.uk, 2019). He made sure that he led his country out from the colonial grip of the British
and he did so by ensuring that everyone adhered to his commands. For such an iron-fisted way of governance, Kuan Yew was often