“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”- John C.

Maxwell

A leader has a vision and leads others towards a common purpose. It is said, a leader is made not

born. Such a belief exists perhaps for the reason that many believe one can learn and replicate the

behaviors of good leaders to excel in leadership. Some others may say that leadership

incorporates character, value and authenticity. On the whole, leadership is an essential concept in

every field of study, particularly in business. In business world, leadership is exercised on a daily

basis as organizations cannot function properly without effective guidance. World renowned

business leaders such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs and many more have shown great

leadership and led their organizations to grand success. In the context of our country, Sir Fazle

Hasan Abed is a leader whom I look up to as a role model. He is the founder and chairperson of

BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) which is the biggest and most businesslike

non-profit organization in the world, in terms of scale and diversity of interventions.

A unique organization and its noble leader

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed started BRAC in the aftermath of the war of liberation in 1971, with a

unique wholesome approach towards rehabilitation and poverty alleviation. What started in a

small effort to rehabilitated and provide relief to the helpless people became a prominent

development organization dedicated for the betterment of the impoverished people and earned

numerous praises. BRAC is currently involved in a wide range of developmental projects

concerning economic and social development, education, health care, gender justice and

diversity, environment, human rights and legal aid services, social enterprises etc. Social

enterprises have enabled BRAC to be 73 per cent self-sufficient and only 27 per cent reliant on

donor funding. BRAC is present in all 64 districts in Bangladesh and has stepped beyond the

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borders to operate in nine other countries across Asia and Africa using its unique developmental

model, reaching more than 110 million people.

The founder of BRAC Sir Fazle Hasan Abed is a leader in the truest sense of words. He has

envisioned a better future for Bangladesh and initiated a change which has already touched the

lives of millions of people. Such leadership calls for a well balanced blend of certain traits and

behaviors. The chief reason for choosing Sir Fazle Hasan Abed as a leader is the immense

contribution of BRAC in the development of the lives of many people of our country, under his

leadership. He embodies various traits and qualities that enable him to run BRAC effectively and

efficiently.

Traits of a great leader

A range of qualities or traits can be identified which are essential to become not only a leader but

also an effective one. Sir Fazle Hasan abed has shown excellent leadership over the years by

leading BRAC the position it has today. The traits of a good leader along with its manifestation

in him are illustrated below:

Vision: Vision is what one wants to achieve in the future. It is the essence of leadership. A good

leader also possesses foresight and has ambitions for the future. By sharing and communicating

his ideas he needs to inspire others to work to realize his goals and make it a reality. He formed

BRAC with a vision to deal with the long term task of helping the rural poor. He went on with

his mission to help the less fortunate people through BRAC which would eventually bring him

great success and establish him as the great leader he is today.

He was also gifted with far-sightedness. After the war, he understood the need for a holistic

development approach for eradicating the sufferings of the people. Such forward thinking and

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unique development plan helped millions of people afterwards. I also have certain visions in my

life which I hope to realize someday. Like Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, my visions involve helping

others and ultimately contribute in the development of our nation.

Dedication and perseverance: A leader needs to have dedication towards his goals and work at it

tirelessly. His dedication sets an example for others and encourages them to accept the

opportunity to achieve greatness. In the beginning it was not an easy task for Sir Fazle Hasan

Abed to form BRAC. At first he thought that such a program could continue for at best two

years. But his perseverance prevailed at last and his organization grew to become an effective

and highly acclaimed organization. In my opinion, such commitment and resolve is highly

commendable and is a proof of his excellent leadership.

Competency: A leader also has to be competent, intelligent and assertive. Being confident in his

capabilities and possessing presence of mind makes him proficient in tackling complicated

situations and decision making. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed is a competent leader as he has

accumulated valuable skills and learning during his initial career stage and even later on after

commencing the journey of BRAC. From his life story we come to know that, after completing

his studies he joined Shell Oil Company and quickly rose to the position of the head of finance

division. His career there gave him insight into inner workings of the conglomerate and valuable

insight into corporate management which would subsequently contributed to much of the

strategic thinking behind BRAC’s extraordinary growth.

Integrity and honesty: A good leader must be honest. He has integrity which is integration of

outward actions and inner values. Such a characteristic is vital to build trust between him and his

followers. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed has shown honesty by staying true to his goals and maintaining

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integrity by taking actions which have always been driven by his own values and beliefs. It is my

expectation that I can always remain honest while working towards my goals in life so that I can

eventually become a good leader.

Compassion: A true leader strives to empower others and want to serve to fulfill others needs.

Compassion and empathy helps him to be an effective leader. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed is

compassionate and empathetic towards his subordinates and fellow workers. He has deep

empathy for the less unfortunate people and always opted to strive for their betterment. During

his tenure in Shell, the cyclone of 1970 hit Bangladesh hard. Lots of people lost their lives and

numerous lives got ruined. Instead of being submerged in the lavish and comfortable life of a

corporate executive, he together with friends formed HELP, an organization that provided relief

and rehabilitation to the worst affected in the island of Manpura. Such effort was the early

manifestation of his urge to help others and derived from his compassionate nature. It was like an

wake up call to him, he could not ignore the sufferings of the people and stepped up to take the

challenge of poverty alleviation.

“No matter where they come from, whether they are rich or poor, everyone has potential. I want
to help it to flourish. I want to see it flowering in my society” – Fazle Hasan Abed

Conscientiousness and resilience: Conscientiousness and resilience are important to become a

good leader. It shows the sincerity of the leader to accomplish a goal or create change in the

world. A leader also has to inspiring. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed has led BRAC successfully for three

decades with continuous fortitude. Such dedication shows his sincerity and honesty as a leader.

He inspired others to achieve the goals of the organization by demonstrating mental and physical

endurance and excellent leadership skills.

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Open mindedness: Open mindedness is another significant trait of a good leader. Sir Fazle Hasan

Abed is a broad minded leader who is of the strong opinion that woman should be empowered by

becoming self reliant and educated. He created a large number of employments for women so

that they can contribute to the economy of the nation as well as improve their own situation in

life. For example, in the commercial chain of BRAC “Aarong” thousands of women workers

work in various occupations and earn their livelihood. Although the goal of BRAC is improving

the lives of the extremely impoverished people, helping and developing the women has always

been the top priority to the organization. This particular aspect of Sir Abed has impressed me a

lot. Being a woman myself, I can truly appreciate his thinking and efforts to empower the women

in our country. My goal in life also involves doing something for the poor and illiterate women

in our country to improve their quality of life.

Humility: A leader must have humility. Being a well-grounded person, such remarkable

achievement and global recognition has not caused any sense of self-importance in Sir Fazle

Hasan Abed. Rather he strives to make good use of his increasing recognition to help more and

more people, both in our country and abroad. I also always try to remain level-headed and focus

only on my goals while celebrating my successes and learning from my mistakes.

A story of success

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed has achieved immense success by leading BRAC effectively over the

years. His dedication, foresight, competency and perseverance have helped his organization to

continue to grow and take up various developmental programs.

He earned recognition worldwide winning awards for his achievement including the Ramon

Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (1980), the Maurice Pate Award by UNICEF,

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(1992), the Olof Palme Prize (2001), the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2008)

and many more.

He received the first ever “Entrepreneur for the World” award in the Social Entrepreneur

category during a ceremony at the World Entrepreneurship Forum held on November 19, 2009 in

Lyon, France. It is very likely that such an achievement will inspire many young entrepreneurs to

come forward and take up various entrepreneurial activities. He was knighted in January 2010 by

Queen Elizabeth II for his services to alleviating poverty in Bangladesh and abroad. He became

the first Bangladesh national to receive such an honor.

“He is one of the architects of a modern and beautiful world” - Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen
about Fazle Hasan Abed

His achievements have been acclaimed by global leaders around the world. It can be said, even

in the midst of all the hurdles, disarray and struggles in our country he has stood firmly as an

upholder of the vision for a brighter future and emerged as a remarkable leader.

Comparison and contrast between myself and my chosen leader

As a business student, my aim is to first educate myself through proper academic learning. Then

I intend to acquire knowledge about the business functions and implement them in a suitable

career for gathering experience. I have always been interested in philanthropy and tried to help

others to the extent of my ability. Volunteering for various altruistic programs and being helpful

to others has always been a priority to me. So my vision in life is to start a business which will

create employment for the poor and uneducated woman in Dhaka city and also to provide them

training and basic education to become self reliant. The literacy rate in our country is low and it

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stands as a huge predicament to our development, particularly for women. Consequently, as

women empowerment has become important to vitalize the economy of our country my efforts

will be aimed at chiefly the purpose of creating employment for those women with little

resources and enable them to become literate. I am confident that my academic knowledge will

help me enormously as well as my experience in the field. From the example leaders like Sir

Fazle hasan Abed I have learnt that it is very essential to have a vision to become a good leader

which I ultimately aspire to become in the future. I expect to develop my competency by

learning to become more rational and apt in logical reasoning and gathering knowledge and skills

over the course of my academic years. I also will try my best to become more empathetic as it is

the chief trait of an effective leader to show empathy and be compassionate.

I consider myself to be a sincere and hard working person. But after reading about such leaders

as Fazle Abed Hasan and their great achievements I have become more focused on achieving my

goals. It is evident to me that without true dedication and perseverance we cannot hope to fulfill

our dreams and help others. Following the example of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed my goal will be to

assist others to become empowered citizens of our nation. I wish to approach my cause with

strong persistence and determination similar to him.

At present I am striving to achieve the many qualities and trait that is required to become a good

leader. But I have become more self-aware which is the first step to becoming an effective

leader. I am determined to work on my strengths and well as my weaknesses to develop my

leadership skills. I hope someday I may achieve all the essential qualities to become a good

leader and help those in need following the footsteps of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.