I interviewed my father Mr. Muralivaman who is an Operations Director for a company he started with some partners. I conducted this interview in the most neutral perspective possible without seeming biased. The truth is my father has always been a beacon and pillar to me and everything that I have founded my beliefs upon in my life. To many people, he has been a source of inspiration and solace. He has always believed in giving more than taking, especially when you can do so. Even when we were struggling, he always found a way to help people and provide opportunities to those bwho were in dire need. As a teenager, I was never able to come to terms with my reverence for him. Many times I was frustrated that he would continue to help others when we were struggling just as much. But today, I can say with certainty that I would have not had it any other way. For this reason, I will always look up to him as a leader and continue to hope that I can be half the person he is.
After this interview, I have learnt that smaller firms and businesses, apply common leadership traits based on some of the theories we have explored in class in their organizations. It is not a single theory per se, but rather parts of one and another made to cohesively work in their favor. The whole process is very fluid and has a steep learning curve. I now understand that leaders enforce principles in the workplace based on a cooperative relationship between employees, managers and the workplace environment. Their work ethics and leadership qualities must be relevant and functional to meet their organization’s goals and objectives. But I also learnt that learning and constantly adapting is one of the most important traits a leader should possess. Keeping up and constantly widening your horizons to better your company and always being humble about how far you have come is also very important. At the end of the day, being continuously inspired to work for reasons beyond financial gratification, after you become 50, is a big win to me.
Disclaimer: This interview was conducted solely through online platforms as it was done during full lockdown (FMCO) in Malaysia. Video recording was not consented, therefore only a verbal answers were recorded.
Interview Report
Good evening. First of all, thank you for allowing me to learn more about what it takes to be an impactful and respectable leader in our community. I hope you will continue to light the beacon for the younger generation to gain inspiration and motivation to reach similar heights or better. Before I start this interview, please share a little bit about yourself.
- Name: Muralivaman A/L Govindasamy
- Age: 54
- Career: Unarmed Guarding Security Services
- Leadership position you hold: Operations Director for Melawati Securities (M) Sdn. Bhd.
- Hobbies: Gardening and recently cooking
- Community Services: Providing meals through remote financial support for underprivileged school-going children in poverty-stricken areas in India through the Akshaya Patra Foundation and providing financial assistance to a charitable home that supports people with special needs such as Persatuan Kebajikan OKU Hati Berganda in Selayang, Selangor.
Picture 1. Children from the Akshaya Patra Foundation who are supported by the Mid-Day Meals program in India.
- Who are your mentors and why? Please share a memorable lesson you learned and carried with you.
Well for one, it would be my former boss Dato Kasi Palaniappan with whom I have shared a lot of good experiences. During my tenure with him, I worked for him for 16 years. I was tasked with managing his investments in the stock and property market. Now, I learned to manage resources, people, dealings with bankers and insurers. All of these experiences gave me the confidence and good skill set to eventually start a business of my own. I am running a security firm and managing a lot of people. I believe this ability is something that I learned in my previous firm.
- In your opinion, how can leaders of an organization like yours support the local community?
In my organisation, we have recruited many locals as employees instead of just hiring immigrant workers. That itself I believe is a big help you can lend the local community. By employing Malaysians, we can reach their families in many ways. Most security guards we see are usually foreign workers, so hiring more locals indirectly helps support the local community by circulating more income, especially to lower-income families. Besides employing locals, getting involved and helping needy school-going children and charitable homes in terms of financial support, is one way we can support the local community. During this pandemic, we have helped in whatever way we can by helping to buy household essentials to those within my organisation and the charitable homes I am involved with as well. This is especially true if you have the means to do so.
- How do you feel traits like empathy and vulnerability (EQ side) play a role in your leadership?
Well, corporate companies are usually very profit-oriented. Profit is important for corporations to survive, but I feel empathy is an important element in any leadership. When you can understand, address, and empathise with the needs and feelings of your employees, we will be able to achieve our goals together and easily. In fact, we should be able to assist employees in coming to terms with their weaknesses and vulnerable side through training. Through this, we can instil some confidence in them and they will be able to overcome their weaknesses and challenges. Weakness is not a reason for us to feel like our workers lack something, but it provides us with an opportunity to address and improve it within the organisation. They will then be able to trust us and this will help the organisation progress better. As I said, it is not all about profit, it is about nurturing those relationships with people that will eventually take the organisation to greater heights.
- How do you inspire others while keeping yourself inspired to do what you do every day?
I believe inspiring others is a leadership quality itself. Be a good leader and do the right thing. By being a good leader, you create leaders. Inspiring my firm is not that difficult. I work with them and learn new things together. We try not to see the hierarchy in the organisation too often. We blur the lines of our positions and work on the same platform. By working in this manner, we inspire each other. I always say that my position has to be taken over by someone else in years to come and keep motivating our people to take up higher positions within the office.
- What are some challenging leadership qualities you continue to develop and work on to this day?
Learning is a continuous process. In today’s IT world, things are changing rapidly. The learning process never stops. I don’t believe we have learnt enough, it just goes on. Every day, we are learning something new. One of the leadership qualities I share and emphasize to my people is being on time to work, responding to clients on time, meeting deadlines promptly. When somebody is looking for answers, we should at least be courteous enough to say we are looking into the matter. We are a company and we must meet deadlines and targets. I motivate my staff to meet those deadlines as we work with many government organisations. I believe these are leadership traits that I part with my staff and continue to work on this day with them. Besides that, patience, tolerance, and learning new things on the job are some of the things I work on to this day and it is an ongoing process as far as I am concerned.
- What is something you wish someone had told you during your journey in this career path? Did you see yourself in this position 20 years ago?
Now, when I started venturing into my own business, I actually when into a couple of different businesses at the same time. I just wish someone had told me, rather than be a jack of all trades, be a master of some. I wish someone had told me that, as I wouldn’t have wasted some years experimenting on new businesses that did not take off well. When I was about to leave my former employment, I told my boss that I will not be continuing there as I felt that I had armed myself with a sufficient amount of skill sets to actually start something on my own and I was going to give myself a chance to do that so that I don’t shoulder any regrets later. He did say this to me; he believed that I would do well if I went on my own or even if I did take employment with somebody else. Today I am here, but this is not the end of my journey, I am still setting new goals and targets as long as I am still in the business field.
Dynamics of Leadership 