Community Leadership
Qualities of Effective Community Leader*
By Datu Wilson Baya Dandot

Education as a Foundation for Community Development

Education is the most important factor in the development of the Bidayuh community (and for all the communities). At the most basic level, education opens up one's mind to development and to improvement. Without education, a community can stay blissfully ignorant and be left behind by others . In short, education enables one to "burah" (opening one's eyes in Bidayuh)

Education is also a means for one to acquire knowledge that is required to further and to develop oneself. In order to develop, a person and a community must continually acquire and develop its base of knowledge. In the Bidayuh metaphor, one must continuosly "ngasa bukuo" (to sharpen one's parang).

A good community leader is willing to acquire the necessary skills	The "durian seed" in the context of the community is education

Education is also the process by which one acquires skills required to develop and prosper. The world now, and in the future requires a different and rapidly changing sets of skills from those of our forefathers. One also hones one's skills through education. In today's highly complex and sophisticated world, it is necessary to specialize and to find one's niche in the society and the economy.

In the knowledge economy, human or the social capital is the most important factor of production. It is only with education that a society develops its social capital.

The communities in Sarawak, including the Bidayuh, must nurture and support its success stories. The successful people in the commu-nity must be supported so that they will in turn help, and become models to the less successful and less fortunate in the community. A commu-nity must strive to develop a critical mass of successful individuals in order to perpetuate its progress. In short, success breeds success if there are enough success stories.

Planting the seeds of successes in the Bidayuh community is the responsibility of the current generation, the generation that will not reap the benefits of the planting. "Planting durian trees for the children of the future " is a perpetual and universal task of everyone in the community so that the community will progress and prosper in the future. The "durian seed" in the context of the community is education.

Qualities of a Good Community Leader

As with any social science subject, leadership is an open-ended subject. Many authors have written different models and theories on leadership. These theories are not discussed in this presentation, which is only a brief explanation of some of the key qualities that are felt are to be important for the local leadership of the Bidayuh community.

Is visionary

A good community leader must be visionary and knows what he wants for himself, his people and his village. An effective leader leads and energizes his community with his vision, by which he develops and implements his community plans, programs and activities. He must be able to communicate and to share that vision with his own community.

Has good values and principles

A good leader must be trustworthy and has the respect of his community. Therefore he must be principled, and be consistent and fair in his leadership. He must be a model that the community looks up to.

Is willing to acquire the necessary skills

Community leaders must continuously develop the skill sets that are required for them to lead the community. This is especially important in today's rapidly changing world that continuously presents fresh and new challenges to the communities and to the leadership. In these circumstances, skill sets can become obsolete and irrelevant more rapidly than before.

Is willing to change

In life, change is the only constant. In today's world and even more so in the future, the rate of change will even be faster , driven by ever faster changes in technology and concepts. Changing is not as easy as it appears. Many people find that it is difficult to break out of their daily habits, even simple ones that they are comfortable with. A good leader must know how to change, and he must know how to lead and support his community to change for the sake of development.

Is a good listener

A good community leader listens to the people. This does not mean that he must follow and implement all the wishes of the people that he leads. He is solely responsible for setting the directions and programs for his community. However, a good leader listens to the people and understands their concerns, issues, needs and wants as inputs in his decision-making.

Is motivated

A good community leader is motivated only by his job. He must like his job and his only mission is to serve and to develop the community that he leads to the best of his abilities.

Knows the job, role and responsibility

A good community leader knows his job, his responsibilities, his tasks and his role in the development of the community. These include managing, administering, guiding and coaching the community.

In the knowledge economy, human or the social capital is the most important factor of production	A good community leader works in and through a team

Knows the government and government policies

A good community leader provides a bridge between the government and the people. He must know the government administrative machinery, the government policies and programs that affect his people, such as policies and programs on development, on land administration and development. He must be able to use this knowledge to serve and to develop his community , and be able to explain the government machinery, policies and programs to his people.

A good community leader also supports the policies and programs of , and works with the government of the day.

Invests for the future generation

A good community leader "plants durian seed" for the future generation, knowing very clearly that he will not reap or benefit from what he sows.

Is resourceful

A good community leader must be resourceful and be able to develop good ideas for the development of his people.

Is able to motivate and stimulate others

A good community leader works in and through a team. He must be able to inspire his team members and to draw out the best performance from everyone within the team.

Conclusion

The qualities of a good community leader presented in this paper are considered to be fundamental qualities that local leaders must possess. Different circumstances, societal conditions as well as personality and character traits demand and develop different styles and models of leadership. Therefore, different leadership qualities are acquired and harnessed in any given opportunity , taking into consideration the person's leadership perspective and value judgement.

(*This Paper was presented at the Jagoi/Bratak/Batang Kayan/Selako-Lara 2002 Education Retreat held at Kem Belia Pueh, Sematan on 2 February 2002. The education retreat was organized for and attended by community leaders from these Bidayuh regions. It was developed and presented in a style that was deemed appropriate for the participants.)