What kinds of leaders do you need for your current and future business? Good listeners? Strong facilitators and collaborators? Leaders with people skills and who can manage multiple stakeholders? Recent research by Dr Hora Tjitra (Zhejiang University, China) and his colleagues Dr Hana Panggabean and Dr Juliana Murniati (Atma Jaya University, Indonesia) suggest that these are the common strengths of Indonesian leaders as reported by their direct reports. In a country that covers 17,000 islands and 300 different ethnic groups, Indonesians have long had to manage diversity. For Indonesia to overcome its current leadership shortage – let alone become an exporter of leadership talent – much more needs to be done.

Many generalists, few specialists

Many Indonesians aspire for a generalist career rather than that of a specialist one. For example, there are more students who choose to be trained in general business management fields or the humanities, as opposed to a specific science and engineering discipline. Sofjan Wanandi, Chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association, blames the country’s education system for this problem. Indonesia, he argues, is too broad and encourages students to take too many disparate subjects, instead of promoting a focus on specific fields like engineering and physical sciences. There is perhaps an understandable reason for this preference. In the past, companies in Indonesia tended not to be big. Hence, these companies needed employees who could juggle many responsibilities rather than immersing in a specific field. As such, career opportunities in Indonesia have tended to attract and reward generalists. Because of the above, leaders were expected to pick up broad skills of the trade quickly. However, those who underwent on a fast track career development programme found themselves not having enough time to build deep technical competence.

But, today matters are changing. And, there is now a growing demand for specialists with strong technical skills. At the Global Indonesian Network conference organised by Atma Jaya University and Alumni of Catholic Students in Europe, Mr Hadi Kasim, CEO of Triputra Group, complained of the difficulties to find workers with deep technical expertise. Without strong technical skills in engineering and science, Indonesians often lack the credibility to progress in their careers. A good exception is former CEO of IBM Indonesia Yaya Winarno Junardy, who despite not having a university degree rose to the top because of his strong technical knowledge in computers and software programming.

Communicating without impact

A common misconception is that Indonesians do not possess strong English language skills. The business leaders whom our research team spoke to shared that Indonesian English proficiency is comparable to their colleagues from other parts of Asia, like China. But, it is the way they craft their messages that puts them at a disadvantage. Young Indonesians are trained to communicate in an indirect and contextual way; this is a result of striving to maintain social harmony in their diverse culture. While being great at recognising and managing diversity, Indonesians also tend to rely on intuition – rather than facts – to communicate their ideas. In presenting their strategy and plans, they have not been trained to structure their arguments based on data and analysis. As such, they do not stand out when compared to their other Asian counterparts.

It is even harder to notice competent Indonesian workers when they do not actively promote their strengths. Modesty and humility are important virtues for the Indonesian people. The common Indonesian saying “It is the mature rice plant that bends its head low" speaks of mature individuals being more humble. Take an Associate Director of Johnson & Johnson Asia Pacific, Adi Prabowo, as an example. Prabowo came from an upper-class family and studied in an elite school. Even as a young  child, he would sometimes choose to walk to school, rather than to be chauffeured in his father’s luxury car. What is regarded as a maturity and humility for Indonesians is unfortunately often perceived as weakness in the West.

Lacking ambition?

Another challenge is that the majority of Indonesian talent seems content with their current achievements and do not see the need to leave their comfort zone. One of their guiding principles is the Javanese concept of ‘Nrima’. In simple terms, it means if you want to live your life to the fullest, you need not achieve more but accept what you have now. Often being misunderstood as the willingness to swallow everything apathetically, nrima actually promotes a positive attitude towards life, especially in the face of adversity. This enabled the Indonesian people to recover from the aftermath of the 2006 earthquake. Yet sometimes, this attitude can hold them back from achieving top roles. If personal ambition is not a strong motivator for Indonesians, collective ambition is. Many of the nation’s business leaders are driven by the ambitions of their organisations, rather than their own careers. And, they are more than willing to make sacrifices for their greater collective – be that their organisations, towns or the country.

Recommendations

Overcoming the above challenges is important for Indonesian talent to realise their potential, and for businesses to benefit from this new type of leadership. However, much development is required to make this happen. After conversations with many successful Indonesian leaders, we discovered approaches that organisations can apply in order to develop local talent.

Expatriate managers have a role

Many progressive companies in Indonesia are keen to reduce their dependence on expatriate managers. While this is generally helpful in empowering local leaders, companies should not go too far. Successful Indonesian leaders consistently attributed their development to foreign mentors. Some critical roles which the expatriate managers play in developing the local Indonesian talent are:

• Introducing working standard in the international context
• Transferring important skills such as analytical thinking, data-driven decision making and  impactful communication skills;
• Encouraging Indonesian talents to go through stretch assignments
• Building Indonesian talent’s confidence in working in an international environment
• Championing for Indonesian talent to become more visible in the organisation’s global network

Recognising the important roles that foreign expatriates hold calls for a change in the way multinational organisations structure their international assignments. Often, such assignments are designed as a means of personal development for expatriates or for the setting up of new functions in local offices. While these goals are still important and necessary, it is equally critical to endorse clear objectives, such as developing local talent for global roles. Simultaneously, this understanding should also change the selection criteria for foreign expatriates in Indonesia. No longer should organisations choose task-oriented leaders for these assignments. Instead, they should prioritise expatriate managers with the ability to develop others.  

Gradual pruning for gradual blooming

Many organisations believe in throwing their high potentials into the metaphorical ‘deep end of the pool’. They assume that these high potentials will eventually swim and build confidence. Doing the same to Indonesian talent may work less well, as Indonesians tend to appreciate gradual exposure and development through stages. We suggest the following course of exposure:

Stage 1: Station a foreign leader and colleagues in Indonesia This kind of opportunity allows Indonesians to experience the complexity of cross cultural management in the comfort of their home country. Facing intercultural difficulties in this stage is manageable as they still have the social support of their family and friends. It is also recommended that Indonesian talent embarks on this stage as early as possible in their career. The experience and the mentorship from their foreign bosses will prove instrumental in developing their communication skills and working styles.

Stage 2: Take part in short-term international assignments This takes Indonesians beyond the comfort of their home to international regions. It could be either a short assignment of up to six months, or managing projects and virtual teams that span across multiple countries. Such an approach allows Indonesians to gradually improve their cross-borders management and leadership skills.

Stage 3: Become global leaders This is the stage where Indonesians take up the challenge of leading in another country for an extended period of time (at least three years). Once successful, they will become role-models that will inspire the next wave of Indonesian leaders. At this stage, it is important to define clear development competencies and goals, which the assignees will need to achieve at the end of their assignment. In 2009, the World Bank predicted that Indonesia will add two million new workers into the economy every year in this decade. Imagine if the nation could build just 1% of these workers into true global leaders – that would be a good start in not just alleviating leadership shortfalls in Indonesia, but elsewhere in Asia.

End note: ¹ Investing in Employees to Cure a Shortage in Talent, The Jakarta Globe, November 04, 2012