The Leader, the Teacher & You: Leadership Through the Third Generation

Former Head of the Singapore Civil Service Mr Lim Siong Guan now shares his diverse experiences and fresh insights on leadership in his exclusive new book, The Leader, The Teacher & You. As a former Permanent Secretary in ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Finance, and former chairman of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Economic Development Board, the indefatigable public servant has contributed greatly to Singapore's success, introducing innovative policies and practices at each turn, which have greatly enhanced drive and performance across the board. Most notably, he is known for his pursuit of excellence, especially in spearheading the Public Service for the 21st Century (PS21) movement, to develop organizational excellence. From Singapore's early years of government to its emergence as a prosperous metropolis, Lim has served the nation tirelessly through the years.

In The Leader, The Teacher & You, Lim puts forth a fresh take on the notion of leadership as other-centered, with the focus on enabling others to be the best they can be. This noble vision of leadership is elaborated and built upon through the sharing of his experiences, in particular the memorable lessons and deep-seated convictions he has had while serving under Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first Prime Minister, and Dr Goh Keng Swee, Singapore's First Deputy Prime Minister. Different types of leadership, such as personal and position leadership are touched upon as the author encourages leaders to take an active role in empowering those they lead and spurring them on to excellence. Coming from a man who has helmed many distinguished organizations, Mr Lim's insights on core values essential for organizational excellence are also not to be missed. The book offers practical and down-to-earth advice for leaders in all walks of life. For leaders who genuinely care for the people they lead and hope to make a difference in their lives, this book will be a crucial guide.

About The Authors:
Siong Guan LIM has been the Group President of GIC Private Limited since September 2007. GIC is the Singapore Government's investment company managing the country's foreign reserves amounting to well above USD100 billion. He concurrently chairs the Boards of Directors of GIC Asset Management, GIC Real Estate, and GIC Special Investments.

Siong Guan was Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board from October 2006 to June 2009. The Board is the Singapore government's lead agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore's position as a global business centre. Siong Guan has been instructing on leadership and change management as an Adjunct Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore since 2005. He has also been instructing emerging public sector leaders on issues of governance and policy development as a Senior Fellow of the Civil Service College since 2006.

Siong Guan was the Head of the Singapore Civil Service from September 1999 to March 2005. From May 1978 to June 1981, Siong Guan was the first Principal Private Secretary to Singapore's founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Siong Guan has been the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence (July 1981–May 1994), the Prime Minister's Office (June 1994–July 1998), the Ministry of Education (April 1997–June 1999) and the Ministry of Finance (June 1999–September 2006).

In every appointment, Siong Guan introduced innovative policies and practices that enhanced the drive, capacity, capability, and performance of the organization. He spearheaded the PS21 movement in the Singapore Public Service to re-orientate it for excellence in the execution of government policies and the delivery of public services; he also steered e-government efforts to cut bureaucracy and promote economy by pursuing organizational excellence and harnessing Information Technology in the public sector.

Siong Guan has chaired the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (2004–2006), the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (2004–2006), and the Central Provident Fund Board (1986–1994). He has been a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Institute of Policy Studies, and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He has also been a Director of DBS Bank, a Director of Neptune Orient Lines, a Director of Temasek Holdings, and variously Chairman or Director of a number of companies that are now part of the Singapore Technologies Engineering group of companies.

Siong Guan was educated at the Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore. He was awarded the President's Scholarship to study at the University of Adelaide, Australia, where he graduated with First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering in 1969.

He is the recipient of various National Day Awards in Singapore: The Order of Nila Utama (First Class) in 2006, the Meritorious Service Medal in 1991, and the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 1982.

Joanne H LIM is the Founder and Creative Director of The Right PerspectiveSG, a consultancy specialising in writing, branding, presentations, strategic communications, and collateral design for individuals, businesses, and institutions. The Right PerspectiveSG works closely with its clients to enable their success by creating the right perspective in the minds of their stakeholders through sharp strategy, measured messaging, innovative initiatives, and detailed design.

Following high school, where she authored her school's creed, “Live with Passion, Serve with Compassion,” Joanne was awarded a full scholarship to pursue an undergraduate degree at Princeton University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Policy, and a certificate in East Asian Studies. During her time at Princeton, Joanne was awarded the President's Prize and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society for outstanding academic excellence.

After graduating from Princeton, Joanne worked at PSA International Pte Ltd (PSA), one of the world's leading port operators, for six years. At PSA, Joanne worked closely with Senior Management on strategic projects, and honed her skills in external and internal communications, branding, strategic events management, as well as collateral design and production.

Following PSA, Joanne was awarded a merit scholarship to pursue a Masters in Wealth Management at the Singapore Management University, where she graduated among the top five of her class and was awarded the Portcullis Wealth Management Prize. After attaining her Masters, Joanne worked at Goldman Sachs and UBS AG, before joining the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

At EDB, Joanne worked extensively with leading companies in the areas of luxury fashion, luxury watches, fashion accessories, furniture, and toys. She solely helmed the logo design as well as the development of seven different types of promotional collateral for a national visual arts project, Gillman Barracks.