Dim Sum Leadership

Dim Sum refers to the popular Chinese cuisine that features a wide range of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea. The words literally mean touching the heart, which is what author John Ng meant to do in Dim Sum Leadership: Tips for Busy Executives.

Dim Sum eaters simply have to go to the restaurant and the selection to choose from is placed in front of them. See it, like it, eat it. Each of Dim Sum dish can be finished in a gulp for the hungry ones, or in a few small bites for others.
So too is the book, organized in a bullet point format with short explanations to make it easier reading for its targeted readers. Readers can jump straight into the chapters that interest them, just like when they dig into their favorite dish first, as they are only loosely interconnected. But the book is more meaningful when read from the start.

The Singaporean talks not about getting to the top, but what you may face when you are already there. He defines leadership and the challenges of being a great leader, and the challenges of success and staying successful.

Ng feels sorry many have fallen by the wayside - unable to get over the temptations leaders face - and fallen from grace because of a lack of character, thus he emphasizes that great leaders need character to support their competency and vocation.

"If we have a calling and competence, without character, we become destructive achievers.This is true both in the West and East, both in profit and nonprofit industries, both in government and the marketplace, both in pulpit and the pew. This is the distinct difference between a successful leader and a great leader," he writes.

Spending one-third of the earlier pages on the difference between the two, he dedicates the rest on how to be a trustworthy leader, a team leader, a competent leader, a peacemaking leader.

The crisp, direct pointers can be quick to swallow but may take longer to digest. They are a tickling reminder, a nudge to the conscience, rather than a revolutionary action plan. Just as one has to clear a lot of plates when dim sum dining to feel full, the ideas need more than one lunch break to digest.

Interestingly, after all the lecturing, Ng summarizes his thoughts by a transcript of an interview he had with 66-year-old Lim Ong Joon, a president director of a palm oil plantation group. He says Lim, who worked for the company for 50 years and climbed to the top, embodies "the four critical aspects of a great leader."

Those seven pages can definitely be done in one sitting with a cup of Chinese tea. (The Jakarta Pos - Mariani Dewi)

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