5 minute read
A Conversation With Dato’ Haji Imran Idris
Advertisement
A CONVERSATION WITH DATO’ HAJI IMRAN IDRIS
How do you lead your team, motivate, inspire?
I find it satisfying to see people grow. I’d like to see the department grow from ‘not recognized’ to ‘now very important’. I’d like to see the lecturers grow in terms of their competence, skills and their contributions, and students more sought after by the industry, more employable. If you lead you must see that people gain advantage through your leadership. It’s not about keeping all the advantages to yourself.
What does it take to be a leader?
The leadership textbooks tell us that a leader must have all the necessary traits for them to lead. A leader must be knowledgeable; able to articulate thoughts and ideas so that people feel you are worth following. A leader has a way with handling people, motivating by way of talking to them, meeting them face to face, by way of example. A leader knows where he wants to lead the organization. I read that when we have a good leader without a good follower the organization will not be successful. We require both, the leader and follower need to know their responsibilities towards their organization. It is essential that both parties work hand in hand for the organization to be successful. I used to make a comparison of practices in Malaysia with what I see overseas. In the American context, it has been said that if one goes to the CEO’s office, one can sit on the CEO’s chair but this is not possible for one to do so in Malaysia because it can be misconstrued as very rude and disrespectful. It’s a different culture all together here but what is important to me is, I think a leader should be working for the betterment of the people he leads and the betterment of the institution or organization as a whole. The other thing that I’d like see in a leader is the ability to make people feel that they are proud to be to be part of the organization. That’s why all along I’d like to see that leaders have all the necessary skills and knowledge.
ARetirement Tribute to
Dato’ Haji
Imran bin Idris 28
How do you ensure that your vision is communicated right down to the lowest level?
It’s not easy to meet everyone in the organization, it’s just something that’s not possible but you’ll have to depend on your ‘lieutenants’ or subordinates to see through what you have documented, what you have agreed as your shared vision. We hope this is done through the directors of the polytechnics and the heads of department because they are regularly consulted and regularly updated on the progress of what we do. To ensure that issues are shared with the rest of the staff, I write in the Director General’s column published fortnightly.
29
Looking back, do you consider yourself to be idealogically and philosophically a different person, from Tn.Hj. Imran to Dato’Hj.Imran?
Essentially I’d say that I’ve not changed in terms of my approach towards my job, my view of the people that I lead, the way that I expect them to perform because I believe that I’d like to see that people grow. The students’ employability is an important factor for us to consider as we have to bear in mind that we should be accountable for whatever we have invested in terms of the students’ training and also education. It is for that reason that I’d like everybody to feel they have a role to play to help achieve our target. The bottom line is, the students should be employable, and they should carry our flag wherever they are, regardless of whether they are employed in the industry or in the government sector.
There is a lot that I’ve to overcome in terms of what would enable me to move forward, sometimes frustrations can be demoralizing. The disappointment is, as a system, I don’t think I have achieved the level of satisfaction that I’d like to see happening. It’s not easy as there are so many leaders who have not been able to fulfill their aspirations but again to me if every one of us really sees the importance of students’ employability as their main KPI target then I would consider myself very successful.
My other disappointment is that I’ve not been able to bring our polytechnics to the level where people can see that we are a force to be reckoned with. We have not come to a stage where the polytechnics are recognized in terms of their importance like the community college in US or Canada. I cannot have the satisfaction when polytechnics in Malaysia are not accorded the status of institutions like TAFE in Australia. I cannot feel the satisfaction when
polytechnics in Malaysia are not given the same recognition as polytechnics in Singapore. So in that sense we still have a long way to go and that is my frustration. People do not see polytechnics as important as being regarded in the countries I mentioned earlier. When you are in the ‘mid range’ either you are seen or you may not be seen at all. Unless and until people see the importance of the role of polytechnics in the progress of the nation only then can they appreciate its significance. I’d like to think that people will see a big loss if polytechnics are not there.
How do you feel about your retirement?
I’m very happy, I’m looking forward to my retirement because I’ve served 35 years non-stop. It has been quite a long journey that I’ve gone through. So I suppose I need that kind of freedom from the continual 35-year service. Imagine if you were to run a long marathon, you really need to have some space and time for yourself. For the moment there’s no specific retirement plan, I’ll play by the ear. However, I’d definitely like to contribute if there is anything worthwhile for me to venture into, not in the way of full time commitment as how I’ve been working for the past 35 years though. But if my knowledge and experience are deemed useful then I would be happy to contribute.
ARetirement Tribute to
Dato’ Haji
