David Ng Meng Wah is the group Managing Director of Palmgold Corporation sdn Bhd and Tai Thong resources Bhd. He has over 20 years of senior-level management experience in a wide range of industries, from leisure and entertainment, and food and beverage, through to retail operations, and online game publishing in the Asia-Pacific region.

When we met with him as part of our 'View from the Top' leadership series, we wanted to know how he defined leadership and what he did to motivate his staff and achieve organizational goals.

"I believe that an effective leader should perform a crucial intermediary role to create and maximize value for all stakeholders ,such as shareholders, staff, customers, suppliers and the community. Ideally, an effective leader should:

- Convey a clear vision for the organization: the leader must be able to energize its human capital and mobilize its resources to attain the vision by charting the relevant strategic directions and outlining the proper corporate values and standards of excellence.

- Put in place an integrated performance measurement system to track all deliverables regularly and where necessary, review and modify the business strategies.

- Be an effective communicator (being articulate as well as a good listener) and be able to engage with all levels of staff on a regular basis. As a leader, one should also put emphasis on human capital development in order to realize and elevate potential of staff.

- Possess strong business acumen with a knack for problem solving by employing innovative and pragmatic solutions. One should also possess the unwavering resolve to produce results and to build enduring greatness for the organization.

Read the full interview with David here, as well as insights from other leaders across the region.