The Former Prime Minister of UK highlighted the correlation between understanding people and becoming successful
Former UK Labour Party Leader and three-time PM Tony Blair encouraged Global Indian International School (GIIS) students to learn about life, art and culture if they aspire to be good leaders of the future.
With a political career spanning more than three decades including winning three consecutive general elections in the United Kingdom in 1997, 2001 and 2005, Blair, in Singapore for the Hindustan Times Leadership series held at the Crescent Ballroom in Four Seasons today, also interacted with the kids as part of the GIIS Leadership Lecture Series where the students get to meet newsmakers and leaders of the world.
In a 10-minute interaction, the students were told about the former Labour Party politician’s experiences and given tips on becoming a good leader. During the session, Blair spoke on a range of topics from leadership qualities to environmental sustainability.
In reply to a question on how leadership can be inculcated, Blair said “Learn about getting along with people. To lead, learn about what makes people tick and how they think”, emphasising the importance of interpersonal relationships with the people around us as it has an impact on how leadership is implemented.
“The world is changing fast. The learning you may have now may be out of date in a few years but your skills will remain with you,” he said.
GIIS Leadership Lecture series is a pedagogy of GIIS’s dynamic 9 GEMS framework, which aims to impart confidence and critical thinking skills in students to inspire them to be well-rounded achievers in the future.
Hindustan Times Media hosted its inaugural HT-Mint Asia Leadership event in Singapore today after its successful run of more than a decade in India. Headlined by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the event featured select high-level personalities from the political, sports and cultural fields representing Indian soft power.
Apart from Blair, who delivered a special address, prominent delegates included N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh state, and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. The sports field was represented by batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, while film star Aamir Khan also put in an appearance.
Many influential and prominent leaders from around the world, such as Virender Sehwag, have been invited to the GIIS Leadership Lecture Series to share their knowledge and experience on several issues in an interactive session with the students.