Earlier today, Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong announced that he will step down from his position and the Deputy PM Lawrence Wong to take over on 15th May. This transition of power and leadership has lessons for all leaders on how to transition leadership in our own organisations.
1. It is important to maintain a semblance of stability while the transition to new leadership takes place. In his own words, he is seeking both change and continuity. This is to ensure that all the work that was done by the current set of leaders and not undo any of the good work while at the same time, bring in fresh ideas to tackle the current and forthcoming challenges that the country faces.
2. Outgoing PM will continue on the cabinet as a Senior minister. While he may or may not have a definite say in the day to day matters of governance, his presence allows the incoming PM a good sounding board and a potential mentor in times of need.
3. While not making too many sweeping changes is good, not making any changes is also not good. As DPM Wong says, he will promote some of the existing leaders, who have been working behind the scenes, for the work and the experience and ideas they bring in. He also said that he will bring in some backbenchers to the team for fresh thinking.
4. He also states that significant changes in his cabinet will only be planned post the elections, based on the performance of the candidates in the elections. This gives him a good opportunity to get clear feedback about who is trusted by the constituents and by how much.
5. The transition was already in the works as DPM Wong was already identified as the person who will take over the reins in November 2023 by the PM. His grooming was well underway years back. Over his career he gained experience across the board, from industry to finance to investments to energy to strategy to handling multiple crisis including the covid response.
Personally, I think this is a great way to transition leadership smoothly and without much disruption. I think he is as prepared as one can be to take over the reins of leading Singapore through the next decade of disruption.
What did you learn from this transition?
Would you have done this differently, if any?
You can watch the full Q&A that DPM Lawrence Wong gave to the press earlier today here.
