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10
DO YOU LEAD WELL?
UMP 大學廣場
OCT 2013
In the eye of Charlie Liu Dudu, President of the Mainland
Undergraduate Association (MUA), a leader needs not to
be flawless, but humble and confident.
Last year, Charlie joined the MUA orientation
programme as a freshman, and felt its
importance to the newcomers. Then he
had the calling to pass on the warmth and
kindness to his counterparts, and nourish
their sense of belonging to the University
as well as the local community. “One of our
aims is to strengthen the connection between
mainland and local students,” he added, “and
being the president will realize my ambitions directly.”
The position has inspired Charlie with a sense of
leadership. “I did not have a clear idea about leadership
previously,” he admitted. Now, he believes a leader is not
a boss who gives orders from the top, but one who takes
action and leads others. Humbly acknowledging the room
for improvement in his performance, for example, “a lack
of experience” as he termed, he is confident that he will
make it - “Only when you trust yourself can others trust
and follow you.” Along with vision, ambition and planning,
he thinks a leader should be capable of bonding his team
members and communicating with others. “Take me as an
example. Part of my responsibilities is to meet and work
with people in and outside the executive committee. A high
EQ is essential – so you get along with your members –
so are language skills. To show respect to the staff at the
University, I speak Cantonese when we
discuss school matters.” Having arrived
for only a year, Charlie already speaks
Cantonese at a near-native level.
Meanwhile, Charlie takes challenges
positively. Like many other student
leaders, sometimes he finds it hard to
please everybody, particularly when
opinions still differ greatly despite attempts
to make the meetings as democratic as possible. “Just
when we nominated group leaders for the orientation,
there were some vigorous debates. This can be solved by
respect, persuasion, and an understanding of each other’s
stance and difficulties,” he explained. Soon he added with
a glitter of firmness in his eyes, “There were arguments,
but no distrust or hard feelings. We are a team.”
While he welcomes opinions from other student
organizations, MUA also looks for local and international
students to join their upcoming activities like the Singing
Contest and Chinese Culture Festival. “It is our hope that
we can break cross-cultural misunderstandings through
communication.”
“Belief” and “passion” were the two words that May,
President of the International Student Association (ISA),
mentioned the most during the interview. With belief in
yourself and passion for your organization, along with
experience, May said, you can be a good leader.
May first tasted the work of ISA as an
orientation helper before joining the executive
committee. She was the secretary of ISA last
year, and many ideas about the development
of the association were budding in her mind.
This year, she decided to take up the position
as president to try out her thoughts.
Her two years’ experience at ISA gave her an
idea about what leadership is – to have faith
in yourself, and to value individuality. “Before I became
the president, I had never thought of how leaders should
be like. Now I know I can lead people because I believe
in myself. If you think this way, your team members will
also believe in you,” May said. To her, leadership is also to
recognize the traits and talents of different team members.
The key is to get the right person for the right job, and give
full play to their abilities.
When asked about the sweet and sour at ISA, May did
Liu Dudu – MUA
May Ku – ISA
show her faith in the association and her passion. “The
committee sometimes has different opinions, but we all
love and know each other. Problems can be tackled with
communication.” Founded in 2009, ISA is still new. It is
still building up a reputation for fun activities to attract
more people, but May is hopeful. “Every
time we have events and whenever I see
our members having fun, I feel it’s worth
it.” Together with her cabinet, May has
organized some events and activities,
such as a farewell dinner for graduating
international students and the just-ended
orientation programme, from which they
have gained invaluable experience for
their leadership development.
Though confident in her performance, May admits she
still has much to learn. She sought advice from former
ISA cabinets, and would like to meet and learn from other
student leaders. She concluded, “We learn our lessons
when we fall. Experience will tell you how you can deal
with problems.” May also seized the opportunity to speak
to local students, “Don’t be afraid to talk to us. We love
Hong Kong, and that’s why we are here. We may not
understand you well, but communication will solve this.”