Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Toolkit Toolkit Final as of 17082016 | Page 11

Application to Community Organisations Drawing Parallels Common Trend Trend 1: Clear Leader emerging Impact on Community Organisations In order for community organisations to start succession planning, they must have a pool of competent, talented and compassionate people to pick from. If the pool is too small or completely non-existent then there is a risk that the person being chosen will not be the best person suited to the task. He/she may be the best person who is present in the pool but the standard of the best may be low, relative to the outside world. Trend 2: Picking key talents earlier on The PAP Government has a knack for identifying people earlier on and then providing them with key roles and resposibilities. This has two functions: a) It provides the identified people enough time to gain the necessary on-job experience and skills. b) It also may serve as a sieve to find out who amongst these leaders are the best. Trend 3: Experienced people stay on to guide Regardless of the inherent competency of the incoming leaders, the predecessors have to remain in a consulting position. This allows the new leaders to tap on their expertise. Trend 4: Smooth transition In order for any leaders’ transition to succeed, power struggles have to be minimised. They are distruptive and are detrimental to the organisation, let alone adds any value to the organisation. Trend 5: Long term view and Interest of the community Taking a long term view is important to all organisations but it is even more crucial for Tamil community organisations to take this approach. This prevents leadership succession to occur on the basis of myopic agendas or self-interests. The focus should always be the benefit of the Tamil community and every succession should be undertaken with this in mind. What can youths do in response to these trends? Trend 1: Work closely with community organisations. • The objective is for the community organisations to engage with the youth. At the same time, the youths get to understand the objectives of these organisations and the need to work with them. This allows the next generation of leaders to have more relevant skills needed to work the ground. Trend 2: Initiative • Leaders who are picked are usually those who take the initiative. Our generation needs to take a more proactive step Trend 3: Seeking advice • Everyone needs help at some point in time. It is better to seek advice from the senior leaders. As the saying goes “standing on the shoulders of giants” instead of re-inventing the wheel. Trend 4: Choosing leaders amongst your own • Build a team where everyone is a leader in their own way, then choose someone who governs the confidence and support of the entire team. :Trend 5 Lead to serve • Be mindful that leadership is about serving the people and this is more pertinent for community organisations. PAGE 8