Leadership through the ages

将者，智信仁勇严。
A general (a leader of men) should have knowledge, integrity, compassion, courage and discipline.

I am always amazed by this simple phrase by Sun-tzu. It was written more than 2000 years ago, yet it continues to be applicable today. In a simple phrase, it encapsulates what a leader should be, the qualities that allows a person to assume a leadership position and effectively lead people. Five words that survived the test of time, that spans cultures and continues to ring true even in this modern age so different from the circumstances when it was written.

A leader needs to know his stuff. Else he cannot lead his charges. How to lead, when he doesn't know what to do? He needs integrity, to keep to his word, so that people know that he means what he says. He is thus sincere yet strict. He must have compassion, for it is people he is leading and not machines. He needs to be able to feel what they feel so that his people feels understood. He must be courageous, else no one will follow him into danger. He must be willing to stand up for what is correct, and not take the short cut to avoid trouble. He must hold himself to high standards in order to inspire others to those same standards, and to do so he needs to have discipline.

A leader leads by the example he sets, and it is not in doing the things that he tells others to do, but in the things that he himself does.

All in the genes

Research has shown that infidelity is hereditary. That must be the best excuse for playing the field. If I cheat on my partner, it is not because I want to cheat, but because it is hardwired into me from the genes passed down from my father, my grandfather and those before him.

In a way, it sounds correct... after all, men who can afford several partners (in the past) must be capable providers, and thus it makes sense to pass those genes down to future generations. But in the present time and age, with lawsuits and alimony, it only makes sense to stick to one partner. Having more than one partner gets you into trouble with lawsuits and ends up incurring huge costs (lawyers, alimony) and if evolution has any sense, it will be better to pass on the genes of those who stick to one.

Exercise RIMPAC 2010

Exercise RIMPAC 2010 is currently taking place in the waters of Hawaii. It is the world's largest maritime exercise, taking place once every two years.

And Singapore is represented in the exercise as well!

Official RIMPAC page
Singapore's RIMPAC page
RIMPAC 2010 Facebook page
RIMPAC 2010 Flickr album

What a shot!

What a shot! RSS SUPREME fired off an Aster missile during Ex RIMPAC 2010. History in the making! Making Singapore proud!

Many choices

Yet another post on choice.

When you have more choices, the harder is it to choose. Choice can seem so good but, sometimes it can be so evil, forcing you to choose from options all valuable. Yet you can only choose one and forgo the rest. How do we go about choosing in such a situation? What should we forgo? How to make the choice? Decision-making then becomes a pain, since the criteria for deciding must now be decided upon first even before the final decision is made.

Choice forces us to think, to re-examine what we value, to rank/prioritise what we value, since now, we can't have them all. Choice is a mean of self-understanding. Every time we make a choice, we understand that much more about ourselves.

Along the path of self-discovery, what must we forgo?