Diversity in Singapore’s leadership team could be key to managing disruptive forces

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and the fourth generation of leadership are facing a populace with increasingly diverse interests and views (“Going beyond consultations: Heng wants to cultivate leaders in every corner of society”; May 5).

Many Singaporeans also want to be involved in national affairs, and they want their opinions to be heard, debated and considered as part of the policy-making process.

Therefore, our Government has to review the way they engage the public, and enrol a more diverse team of leaders who can better communicate, persuade and influence the people.

For example, they should recruit and retain older political leaders so as to tap their wisdom, to better empathise with and respond to an ageing population.

Besides having leaders with high intelligent quotients, we need leaders with strong inspirational, emotional and linguistic intelligences to better unite Singaporeans and harness their contributions to the nation-building process.

Leaders with street-smart skills can also help to promote unpopular policies and respond to the unhealthy growth of populism, nativism and nationalism that is plaguing many countries.

A more diverse team can also contribute to creativity and innovation, and these are values that can help our leaders better manage disruptive forces in the future.

Pursuing positive relationships and win-win outcomes can be a strategic strength of our country.

In certain developed countries, key stakeholders chose to go public with their grievances and demands, driven largely by the need to win political currencies from members of their constituencies.

Many well-intentioned initiatives to promote collaborative efforts ended up in gridlocks, horse-trading, and even violent protests. In the process, they caused major polarisation and divisions, and affected the proper running of their organisations, constituencies and countries.

In a fast-changing world, the Government here has to be mindful not to have leaders who are cut from the same cloth to prevent the downsides and consequences of groupthink.

They have to embrace diverse and even conflicting views and aspirations, but they must never compromise the pursuit of the greater good.