Legacy Modelling Series - 3rd Leadership

I would like to thank Malaysian Business for publishing 2 of 3 in the Legacy Modelling series, starting with:

Beyond Three Generations of Business https://malaysian-business.com/portal/2026/04/06/beyond-three-generations-of-businesses/

The Elements of Strategic Direction: A Masterclass from Thong Guan Industries. https://malaysian-business.com/portal/2026/06/23/the-elements-of-strategic-direction-a-masterclass-from-thong-guan-industries-2/ Now I wish to provide the 3rd segment to the First Trilogy behind Legacy Modelling, Leadership. ------------------------------------------------- This is s the third amd final segment of the first trilogy in Legacy Modelling, “Leadership,” which is often used together with the first two segments, “Philosophy” and “Direction”.

Leadership has many forms and of late Transformation Leadership dominates the School of Management. Here I would like to not address the adjective to transform but on how to be a leader in running a family business, an organisation, an association or a political party.

True leaders, have no friends.

It is true, it is lonely at the top and very few will understand the strategies, leadership and management behind the philosophy as to why things need to be done the way it must.

It had taken a national leader to provoke this thought in me as he told me a year before he passed. Instead of telling me how he had well-handled 13^th May 1969, he handed me this conundrum.

The inherent sense of isolation is necessary, and often we lack genuine friends is because of impartiality and non-favouritism, constant emotional control and the handling of confidential information. If and when necessary, it also includes the disconnection from family members or kins.

Having said that companions and comrades are most welcome. Here I shall give two situations where this type of leadership is called upon and how friendship affects end results.

First example: Two isolated soldiers went to rescue downed pilots in Battle of Mogadishu. Because of the high risk in the situation, Command decided not to rescue the soldiers. Their friends decided to form 2 teams to deliberately went against order and had risked more lives. (Made into a movie: Black Hawk Down).

Second example: Alexander the Great’s most famous companion, Hephaestion, died of a fever in Babylon in 324 BC. Because Hephaestion's death was caused by illness, a "rescue" was impossible. Instead of military vengeance, Alexander engaged in a massive, agonizingly deliberate period of grieving, deification, and sweeping posthumous honouring including campaigned against the local Cossaean tribe, slaughtering the entire male population as a "sacrifice" to his fallen friend's spirit.

The end result of the first two, is different and to be viewed in the most calculated context where all things are made equal in the most effective and efficient manner.

The proverb "Man zhao sun, qian shou yi" (满招损，谦受益) translates to "Pride leads to loss, humility brings benefit". The Wealth does not pass three generations” (富不过三代) can be surpassed when humility is brought into the picture. To accept the mantle of leadership and not to overcomplicate the emotions. Knowing when to cut losses, when to take a break and when one must not like pride overshadow successes.

This proverb is one of the most famous tenets of Chinese philosophy, tracing its earliest roots back to the ancient text Book of Documents (Shangshu). It reflects a deep traditional belief in the "Golden Mean"—the idea that keeping a balanced mindset and not pushing oneself to an absolute, unchangeable peak is essential to avoiding a subsequent decline.

To slaughter an entire male population is overkill. To not lead is a disaster waiting for an eventual death where each and everyone will do as they please and drift away. To make an example, rather than pure slaughter best to let all the drummer boys go home, serving its message as a grim mercy on the cost of war.

Business is war. So is politics, so is life. With that many mouths to feed other than one’s own, sacrificing self by being in isolation is one of the better ways to be incorrupt. Different story for those who are not born to lead but not to late to learn.