Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
The title of my speech today is ‘Collar and Sleeves’. This is collar and that is sleeve. You might imagine that I’m going to talk about tailoring, but I have no sense of it. Actually, I want to share my views about some qualities of a good leader.
May I first ask you a question? What do you think a leader should be? Serious?
Friendly? Energetic? Conservative? Innovative? Well, there is no definite answer because leaders have many kinds. Generally speaking, a leader is a person who guides and leads at the front so that the people have a common aim. They know where they are going to accomplish their mission.
In Chinese, the formation of the word ‘leader’ is very interesting. When we combine two components of a garment, ‘collar’ and ‘sleeves’, it gives rise to a new word, leader. By considering some properties of the collar and sleeves, we may get some ideas about certain qualities of a good leader.
Collar is at the top of a garment. A leader is the same. A leader is at the highest position of a team, so he/she should be able to stand high and see further. In other words, a leader should have a greater vision and be able to plan ahead. To cite an example, Bill Gates, as we all know, is the founder of the Microsoft company. He has a strong vision, i.e. every business and household must have a computer and must use Microsoft software. At that time, not even a single person in the world was aware of the future of the software industry. There was a man,
Bill Gates, who had the passion, and decided to take the vision further. With the vision, he has made a difference. With the vision, the software can almost be found in every corner of the world today. With the vision, the company becomes the leader of the software industry. So, having a great vision is essential to becoming a good leader.
But having a great vision is not enough. A good leader should also be like the sleeves. Sleeves are flexible. A good leader should also be flexible. This doesn’t mean that a leader can be bent and straightened. Of course it is possible, but actually I want to bring out the idea that a good leader needs to respond quickly

to changes because some unexpected events sometimes happen. Do you still remember what happened on 12 th May 2008? An earthquake killed about 70,000 people in the Sichuan province. All of a sudden, houses collapsed; roads were destroyed; people were buried. All came in a few seconds. Our Premier Wen
Jiabao responded to the catastrophe quickly. Within just five hours, he rushed to the disaster area to lead the rescue work. He mobilized all the people in the country to help save people. This kind of disaster is very rare. There is no guidance teaching the Premier how to deal with the disaster. A leader must be flexible. A leader must be always ready to respond to changes. A leader must be able to make quick decisions.
Finally, let’s have a recap. The collar and the sleeves; a great vision and flexibility.
These two qualities are what make a great leader. That’s the end of my speech.
Thank you for your kind attention.