Clarity of purpose, values vital for leaders

PETALING JAYA: The Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre aims to help individuals find their purpose in life and values, among others, at the upcoming Leadership Energy Summit Asia 2013 (LESA).

“I strongly believe that genuine leadership transformation is only possible when there is clarity of purpose and values together with a deeper understanding of human consciousness,” said Iclif chief executive officer Rajeev Peshawaria in an e-mail interview with StarBiz.

The inaugural summit, which will be held from Dec 3 to 4 at Bank Negara’s Sasana Kijang, will analyse and explore the concept of leadership using a mix of neuroscience, quantum physics, management psychology and spiritual philosophy.

Participants will learn how to measure and harness their own leadership energy, to energise themselves and those around them.

Although many have the ability, only some will become leaders. “Yes, everyone can be a leader, but the question is whether they want to. Leadership is about creating a better future for others,” he said.

Leaders are focused on their goals, no matter how hard the resistance to achieve those goals are. The main difference between leaders and non-leaders was that the latter gave up, Peshawaria said.

It is their intrinsic, emotional, and perhaps spiritual energy that allows leaders to keep going.

“Just like your car stops when it runs out of gas, the main fuel of leadership is the energy to stay the course. We call it leadership energy,” he said.

Iclif is a Bank Negara’s initiative to provide leadership development and corporate governance programmes for the financial industry and corporations in the region and beyond.

“In all, there are three sources of leadership energy. The first is clarity of purpose, a picture of the better future that they want to create for the world around them. The second is clarity of values. The third is hard to understand at first, but it is their ability to tap into their own mind, to influence their bodies, other people and even physical reality around them,” he said.

Peshawaria believes that recent findings in neuroscience and quantum physics as well as metaphysics will give participants a deeper understanding of leadership energy, which is the main purpose of the summit – to understand and decode leadership energy.

Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Aziz is one of the illustrious line-up of speakers at LESA. She will be joined by Ping Fu, the chief strategy officer of 3D Systems; Dr Kiran Bedi, India’s first and highest woman ranking police officer; Dr Patch Adams, a medical doctor, clown, and social activist; and Robert Swan, OBE, polar explorer.

More information on the summit can be found at www.iclif.org/lesa.