Financial Times

Requirements for a good manager
Seeking a manager? Then look for personality; ability to communicate; interpersonal skills and self-belief because these are some of the essential ingredients, according to Hemaka Amarasuriya, Chairman, Singer Sri Lanka.

"Even if you have no qualifications or knowledge, these could be acquired along the way. These are not essentials to reach great heights," he added, noting that some of the best entrepreneurs in the world never went to school or they struggled to the top.

At the monthly meeting of The Sunday Times Business Club last week, Amarasuriya spoke on a range of issues relating to human resources, management, guiding young people to the top and the future for Sri Lankan professionals.

He however prefaced his thought-provoking off-the-cuff remarks with some comments of what the Singer Sri Lanka chief called "Believing in Ourselves!"

He said believing in oneself was the route to success, citing the great Sri Lankan kings of the past who as visionaries built amazing cities with meticulous town planning to the 20th century success of Singapore's Lee Kuah Yeh who turned a third world economy to a first world one because he believed in himself.

The late President J.R. Jayewardene made one of the greatest changes in this country by daring to open the economy and creating an era where anyone with Rs 100 in his pocket could become an entrepreneur. "He had the vision but unfortunately didn't follow through with more reforms that could have made Sri Lanka a prosperous nation," Amarasuriya said. Deviating a little to politics, he noted that politics has become an avenue of such hatred that "we cannot depend on governments to solve our problems."

"We need to be confident in ourselves and create something for others (and generations to follow)," he added. Amarasuriya, dealing with developments at his own company, spoke proudly of the fact that five out of 12 general managers in Singer offices in Asia were from Sri Lanka. The latest Sri Lankan to move to Indonesia as Singer GM was in fact an accountant who rose to the top under the company's cross-posting policy.

"We spot people who are talented - I call it talent spotting - and guide them to their maximum performance and ability, not in their chosen field," he said, adding that Singer followed a policy where the CEO was responsible for developing staff, a task not left to the HR section.

"We give staff a rounded training so that they are able to handle many assignments. The strategy is also to teach them to understand other cultures; to act global and not local," he said. Responding to questions, he said anyone could rise at Singer where there was no discrimination in terms of race, religion, gender and the school one went to. In fact a farmer's son was on the Singer directorate.

Sri Lankan managers could be ranked as amongst the best in the region, he said. Asked whether young professionals find it difficult to move up the ladder, Amarasuriya said the boardroom structures were such that most companies preferred elderly professionals as non-executive directors to provide that advice and guidance.

"I think we need to change the structure in boards; we need to appoint younger executive directors otherwise talented people would leave this country (when they find their opportunities to rise are limited)," he added. Amarasuriya said he wanted to retire last year but was then appointed to this new international post as Vice President-Human Development, Singer N.V, the parent company of Singer Worldwide.

The meeting was hosted by the Trans Asia hotel and co-sponsored by Lion Brewery.

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