In light of the recent SMRT debacle regarding the October 7 weekend disruption due to a flooded tunnel, why did the apologies of Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan and SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek at the press conference ring hollow? After all, Desmond Kuek did slip in the words towards the end of his speech, “I take full responsibility for all that has happened under my watch as the overall Group’s chief executive." But these words came across insincere and led to an avalanche of negative feedback.

That’s because Desmond Kuek padded his apology with excuses and blame. He mentioned that one area which needs to be strengthened is the "level of accountability by supervisors". He added that this includes "the level of ownership and responsibility over what’s not working well ... The openness in which some issues are reported".

As a leader, when your managers are not taking ownership, and being open, ask yourself – What is wrong with my leadership style?

POOR LEADERS BLAME THEIR PEOPLE.

Minister Khaw directly blamed the maintenance team. He also stressed that “no amount of weaponry and good leadership can win the war” if those on the ground are demoralised. I disagree. Low morale is often the result of poor leadership. Even in the toughest of situations, great leaders can inspire troops to rally around a cause and rise towards a bigger vision.

As one progresses up the leadership level, the ability to get the best through people and inspire peak performance becomes paramount. Blaming staff for their low morale is a visible symptom of poor leadership. If leaders themselves don't take responsibility for making things right, their teams have little incentive to do otherwise. Soldiers do not win wars, generals do. (This applies to paper generals too :))

Most people are accidental leaders. They start out as individual contributors. E.g. an engineer, sales person, accountant. When they get good at it they get promoted, and they walk away from what got them promoted in the first place. A good sales person becomes a sales manager, who no longer needs to sell, but help other people sell well. However, many managers still think and act as individual contributors. That's why the saying - Organisations promote people to their level of incompetence.

One way to overcome this is to equip new managers with leadership skills before they become one. And gear them for each level of leadership. Take a leaf from the armed forces/navy/airforce (especially in countries where the battlefield action is real), where a potential leader is trained well in advance before s/he becomes one. And continuously groomed. Because in these instances, the cost of poor leadership is visibly devastating – people die on the battlefield.

I hope that SMRT (and SPH - but that's another story) recognises that the buck starts and stops with the leadership team. The cost of poor leadership doesn't impact only morale and performance of the organisation.......but also the stress-levels of commuters across Singapore.

p.s. On another note, I feel that SMRT Chairman Seah Moon Ming’s gesture of bowing in apology to commuters magnified the sincerity he convayed. I hope that he has the conviction to act on his words and galvanise the SMRT team. "We know we have disappointed you and affected your life with each MRT service disruption. I ask for your patience and kind understanding, to allow us to work towards providing you with a better and smoother commuter experience."