Peggy Tsai - Leadership Orientation

As I grew older, I have found it more fulfilling as a leader to inspire others to dream. I realized that inspiring others require good management skill. And that management skill is to make members feel psychologically safe, give them enough trust to perform and take on challenges and allow members to speak out their real thoughts and be creative. In the past I often solved problems directly when I saw them, but I didn't know that I had finished what the members were supposed to do. I believe that in their eyes, they must have felt puzzled because the work they should have done is finished and their workload is disappeared. These kind of conflicts are similar to parenting. Through trials and error we must learn how to balance and do it right. If we, based on our own experience, finish lots of things ourselves, the newcomers will never be able to learn.

My boss gave me a very precise tip that I still take to heart. What he said to me, "If you want to motivate others, establish the rules of the game and let the people who play the game figure out the rest." If you are a leader who is good at fighting in the front, then you need to slowly pull yourself to the back and in inspire others to fight for you. If you are a commander, who's good at commanding from the rear, get to the front of the battlefield in a timely manner and make people feel that your heart is with them. To lead or inspire others it takes more learning than any do it yourself job. Different people need different ways of inspiration, more attention to every detail, more discretion and humility are needed. Of course, this will also elevate you to a broader vision and height.

Finally, I would like to quote, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, this author of Little Prince who said, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to desire for the vast and endless sea." Antoine explained very well what leadership is, you will find that leadership is about learning to inspire others, learning to respect everyone's ideas and creating a work environment where people feel psychologically safe. Our mission is to make the people around us become better and to become great leaders. Thank you all.