Features of Charismatic Leadership: Mahathir Mohamad
Features of Charismatic Leadership
Self-Confidence
“I realize that I make enemies. I have no choice. Either I come here and sit comfortably and be nice to people and do nothing or else, I try to do something even at the expense of being unpopular. I don’t think I’ll be permanent here. I don’t think I’ll be forever unpopular, so it doesn’t really matter. Even being thrown out of the office doesn’t really bother me.” -Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
(Aziz Zariza Ahmad, 1954. Mahathir’s Paradigm Shift: the man behind the vision. Malaysia: Firma Malaysia Publishing, 1997. p 217) Those who followed closely the progression of Malaysian politics have identified the former premier as outspoken and blunt with an outstanding personality. Some had even gone as far as pointing those qualities were the very reasons that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was able to stay in the office as long as he did. (Papado Poulos, Nick. Malaysia Under Mahathir. Article retrieved on July 18 2001. TIME, 2001.) His self-confidence allows him to bounce back from everyday challenges and he ‘appears to display a drive to succeed’. (Aziz Zariza Ahmad, 1954. Mahathir’s Paradigm Shift: the man behind the vision. Malaysia: Firma Malaysia Publishing, 1997. p 217) Although Malaysia was in a state of slow progression, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took on the somewhat economical backwater country and built it into the 28th largest trading nation out of 110 in the world, on his principles. (Figures are from United Nations Conference on Trade Development based of the Trade Development Index, 2007. http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=3582&lang=1)
But perhaps, the most remarkable display of his self-confidence over a crisis was the 1977 KGB espionage incident which saw the arrest of Siddiq Ghouse who was the Executive Secretary of the Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs and used to work under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1974 with the Ministry of Education for seven years. When the news of the
Self-Confidence
“I realize that I make enemies. I have no choice. Either I come here and sit comfortably and be nice to people and do nothing or else, I try to do something even at the expense of being unpopular. I don’t think I’ll be permanent here. I don’t think I’ll be forever unpopular, so it doesn’t really matter. Even being thrown out of the office doesn’t really bother me.” -Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
(Aziz Zariza Ahmad, 1954. Mahathir’s Paradigm Shift: the man behind the vision. Malaysia: Firma Malaysia Publishing, 1997. p 217) Those who followed closely the progression of Malaysian politics have identified the former premier as outspoken and blunt with an outstanding personality. Some had even gone as far as pointing those qualities were the very reasons that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was able to stay in the office as long as he did. (Papado Poulos, Nick. Malaysia Under Mahathir. Article retrieved on July 18 2001. TIME, 2001.) His self-confidence allows him to bounce back from everyday challenges and he ‘appears to display a drive to succeed’. (Aziz Zariza Ahmad, 1954. Mahathir’s Paradigm Shift: the man behind the vision. Malaysia: Firma Malaysia Publishing, 1997. p 217) Although Malaysia was in a state of slow progression, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took on the somewhat economical backwater country and built it into the 28th largest trading nation out of 110 in the world, on his principles. (Figures are from United Nations Conference on Trade Development based of the Trade Development Index, 2007. http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=3582&lang=1)
But perhaps, the most remarkable display of his self-confidence over a crisis was the 1977 KGB espionage incident which saw the arrest of Siddiq Ghouse who was the Executive Secretary of the Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs and used to work under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1974 with the Ministry of Education for seven years. When the news of the