30 May 2012,
- Hotel Grand Pacific, Singapore

Introduction

Repetition per se does not make perfect; and Critical success factors (CSFs) which have led to one’s success at junior level need not per se guarantee the success of the same executive at the organizational peak, which actually can be an understatement. Consider the classic case of a front-line supervisor who has been elevated to the C-suit through sheer diligence, good rapport and the absence of creditable rivals. He continues and repeats his “best practices from the trenches” years ago: persistently doing things right, complying with orders, adherence to sunk cost which has been proven a waste, ignoring changes in the operating milieu…

While it is comforting to declare that one’s attitude determines one’s altitude in businesses, the narrator forgets the fact that top corporate leadership is a combination of attitude, skills, knowledge and behavior: individually and organization, and with the right balance of mix at critical moments. Thus the importance of General Management Forte exercised by the middle-to-top corporate leaders (“business leaders”).