All boys are drawn to heroes. And in the world of superheroes, there are two archetypes, best embodied at one end by James Bond and at the other by Indiana Jones. I was somehow always drawn to the latter. Of course I did fancy driving an Aston Martin, or looking dapper in Savile Row suits, and it’s not a bad thing always having a lady or two for company. But alas, it’s a step too far for me and, I fear, for many of us. The Indiana Jones character is a more human, more realistic hero. He falls, he gets beaten, he bleeds, and he’s afraid of snakes and sometimes, of women. He’s imperfect.

In other words, he’s like all of us. Even Nelson Mandela, who said: “That was one of the things that worried me — to be raised to the position of a semi-god — because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental, and a man who is committed, but, nevertheless, sometimes fails to live up to expectations.”

All of us, leaders or team players, are going to get it wrong sometimes. We will fall. We may break. But a good head and a good heart are a powerful combination. With that configuration as our compass, we can and will always rise and continue the journey, our journey of transformation.

I was chatting with a senior executive of a Thai bank recently, a bank which over the last decade had grown to become the leader in just about every segment of financial services in his domestic market. He echoed a core belief of his chairman: that it is crucial that the leaders get the big strategy right. If the entire team is all headed in the right direction, we can tolerate little mistakes along the way. The chairman fundamentally understood that no execution is flawless but if the plan is right and we are doing our best to implement it, they would ultimately succeed.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his inimitable style had postulated on his blog that one of the key tenets of our national transformation strategy is flawed: “Take away the protection afforded by the NEP and the bumiputeras will lose whatever they may have. Then racial division will be deepened by wealth division. I don’t think it would be good for the country. Remember it was the disparity between rich and poor in Europe which led to the violence of the communist revolution”.

Strong words indeed. We have been warned! A reader recently reminded me that those of us who wield the pen have the power to influence, and therefore also a responsibility. If one urges action, in this case exhorting the nation to follow the leader,  then let’s make sure the battle plan is right.

More than 150 years ago, in perhaps one of the bravest yet most tragic acts in history, more than 600 British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan rode against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava. A huge number of them perished. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, etched this moment for posterity in his poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns” he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
Some one had blunder’d:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred....
... Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro’ the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred....

Let us not let this fate befall us. Let’s make sure our plan is right before we charge. So, is it right, or is it so flawed that the dire consequences envisaged by Mahathir would materialise?

I was in Shenzhen last month as it celebrated its 30th year as a Special Economic Zone. In 1980, this was a little, sleepy fishing village. Today, it houses twice the population of Hong Kong and its residents have a GDP per capita that is triple the national average. It is noteworthy to add that Shenzhen’s GDP per capita is double that of Malaysia’s. It didn’t get there living off central government assistance (as most citizens in socialist societies would expect). Instead, it proved itself as a viable base for Hong Kong and global enterprises seeking to perform parts of their value chain elsewhere. Indeed, in my meeting with one of China’s leading retail banks in Shenzhen, the executives were all uninterested in past success; all that occupied their thoughts was how to progress further from the present.

At the other end of the scale, the US is still struggling to accelerate out of the great recession. On top of the approximately US$800 billion (RM2.5 trillion) already spent, President Obama has pledged another US$50 billion stimulus package focused on infrastructure spending and small business tax cuts. In most countries, this would be greeted with relief as clearly government support for the fragile economy is still required. Yet, he faces opposition. One particular protester caught my eye. He held up a placard that read “I need a job, not financial assistance”.  Indeed, during a recent visit to Washington, I got the sense that this is the spirit that is embedded in most Pax Americana.

Communist or capitalist  — these people understand that the real pathway to progress is not a nanny state that provides incessant assistance. They understand that success is a simple function of developing a set of skills, to employ that gainfully, earn a paycheck, consume some (and invest the rest in developing more skills) and so on and so forth in a virtuous cycle. The global market (which we serve and which serves us) is colour- and religion-blind. It recognises ability and diligence.

In another episode with unfortunate racial overtones, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s comment on “non-progressive policies” stirred up a hornet’s nest. What is really quite tragic is that the ensuing debate focused on the wrong issue. The real insight is not what he said but what was still left unsaid.

And here’s the most painful lesson one can draw objectively from the NEP. It has ironically resulted in creating a super-competitive sub-segment of Malaysians. This segment of our society knows that no one owes them a living. That any success and advancements in life will have to be hard-earned, and they go about their lives acquiring knowledge, working conscientiously, then saving and investing for the future. Ask any employer who has hired such a talented Malaysian. [See sidebar on conversation with the reader].  Clearly, there’s a virtuous cycle at work in one part of our society and alas, a vicious cycle in the other.

I should clarify that I am not at all against assisting the needy, and if it’s an entire race that’s needy, that’s fine. But let’s assist all of them in the right way — give them the ingredients to succeed rather than create conditions that make them even less competitive.

Back to our national strategy. Is it perfect and flawless? I’d say no. Very few things in this world are. But is it good enough and directionally correct? Certainly enough care and attention have been given to ensuring they are crafted by an unprecedented team of private and public sector practitioners and facilitated by world-class advisers. Some people even thought that too much was spent preparing these plans. But would you rather the opposite? A plan that is less well thought through? Of course not. We must have the best plan we can afford. A plan that is premised on policies that have worked, and that has learned from what has not. And with the announcements of the second part of our new economic model, particularly on the need to develop and retain human capital, we are indeed confronting the hard questions.

Now is the time to charge. Make no mistake, over the next 10 years, we will fall, even break, along the way. But continue, we must!

With this, Vincent Chin will conclude his 42 column. He will return occasionally next year to comment on the latest developments in management and leadership.His previous columns in Management@Work can be found under the Management section at www.theedgemalaysia.com

This article appeared in Management@work, the monthly management pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 826, Oct 4-10, 2010.