Question 5.

1
Identify someone (either dead or alive) whom you consider as an excellent leader.
Why do you say he/she is/was an excellent leader?

I would say Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes, the founder of AirAsia Berhad is an excellent
leader. This is because, Tony Fernandez emphasis more on having a good
relationship with his employees. In a theoretical view, Tony Fernandez is using a
Transformational Leadership approach which stresses on values of the
communication between the leader and the employees as a strong team. In his
company, he practises open room concept whereby he can be approached by his
employees at any time and they could comfortably have an open communication and
share ideas or even feedback without any fear. Tony Fernandes is always seen as an
approachable, friendly and humble leader and his leadership style gain him admiration
and confidence from his employees as well as his customers. The charismatic
leadership demonstrated by Fernandes has gained trust and respect among the
employees. In fact, Tony Fernandes were named FORBES ASIA 2010 Businessman
of the year and Forbes named him as a ‘single, charismatic pioneer’. Undoubtedly,
Tony Fernandes, as a leader has inspired and motivated his employees in many way
as well as stimulate innovation and creativity among his team. With a strong,
charismatic and reliable leadership personality, Tony Fernandes has become a key
contributor to the success of AirAsia Berhad. From zero to an award winning airline is
all possible with a strong leadership of Tony Fernandes.
Question 5.2
If you were in a conflict with a colleague or someone at the workplace, how would you
handle this situation?

First of all, conflict is common at workplace since each of us in the organization will
have different ideas and perception. I have encountered conflict with my colleague
during a meeting. I have suggested that in future, lecturers are to use online platform
to share their notes with students rather than hardcopy materials. This has created
conflicts between me and some lecturers who are not IT savvy. First of all, I have
asked them to share their concern on this matter. Basically, they are worried of the
new system and prefer to send it for photocopying rather than upload it in the system.
After knowing their concern, I have explained to them on how the system works and
how it can help them to save time and cost. I have make an effort to collaborate with
the IT department to arrange for a short training session for the lecturers to give them
adequate knowledge and information of the newly introduced system. Nevertheless,
there are still some lecturers who are unable to adapt to the changes and most of them
are the “baby boomers”. Since they are quite anxious of the whole process, they have
asked for my personal coaching and some of them have asked me to do it for them. I
have no other choice but to compromise with them. I have personally guide them and
even came out with a manual or guide to help them to familiarise with the system. At
the beginning, it was hard for them but eventually they have picked up the skills. Now,
they are able to do it on their own without any supervision or guide. In my personal
experience, I always believe that we have to give and take in some matters and always
put our self in other people’s shoes before making decisions.