The document outlines the concepts of Blue Ocean Leadership (BOL), which is a systematic approach to enhance leadership practices that maximize untapped talent and energy in organizations. It discusses the four pillars of BOL, which include focusing on leadership acts and activities, connecting leadership to realities by engaging employees, distributing leadership across management levels, and pursuing high impact activities at low cost. It then provides details on how to analyze the current leadership reality, develop alternative leadership profiles, select new profiles, and institutionalize new leadership practices. The document uses examples from a pilot project implementing BOL in the Malaysian civil service to transform leadership approaches.

1. BLUE OCEAN LEADERSHIP
(BOL)
DR LEE OI WAH
MD (UKM)

2. CONTENTS
• From Blue Ocean Strategy to Blue Ocean Leadership
• The Four Pillars of Blue Ocean Leadership
• How to see your current leadership reality ?
• How to develop and select your new leadership profiles?
• How to institutionalise your new Blue Ocean Leadership Practices?
• BOL in Malaysian Civil Service .

3. OCEAN OF UNTAPPED TALENT &
ENERGY

4. TERMINOLOGY
• Engaged employees : actively sharing their best ideas and giving their all for
high performance
• Disengaged employees : merely doing what it takes to get by
• Actively disengaged : acting out on their discontent in counterproductive
ways

5. Poor leadership is a key cause of widespread
employee disengagement
I’m fed up
and really
don’t
care…
I am your boss!
You must listen
to me!
blueoceanstrategy.com | @blueoceanstrtgy
5

6. Global expenditure on
training in 2010 was
estimated at US$670 Bil.
to improve workplace
performance
• Only 5%-20% of what
is learned is
transferred and applied
at the workplace in a
way that improves
performance.
• Employee engagement
rate has remained low
at 13%
About 50% of
management
literature
discusses
leadership
Much money and time spent on leadership
bear so little fruit
Source:
The Kite Foundation (2012), An introduction to learning faster
6

7. A leap in leadership strength that releases the untapped
talent and energy of organisations rapidly and at low cost
Converting
disengaged
employees into fully
engaged ones
Blue Ocean Leadership Is
blueoceanstrategy.com | @blueoceanstrtgy
A systematic approach to enhance leadership
practices that maximise the existing untapped
talent and energy of human capital towards
organisational excellence.
7

8. BLUE CEAN
L E A D E R S H I P
Blue Ocean Leadership is a systematic
approach to develop effective leadership at
every level of an organisation by unleashing its
untapped talent to achieve high-impact results
fast and at low cost.
Constructive Interaction
D E F I N I T I O N
8

9. B L U E O C E A N L E A D E R S H I P
- THE IDEA -
TWO MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS/ELEMENTS IN ANY ORGANISATION
STRATEGIES AND
LEADERSHIP
The implementation of Blue Ocean Strategy and Blue Ocean Leadership
will maximise the impact of organisation.
MAXIMISE
THE IMPACT
CERTAIN POINT
IMPACT
9

10. B.O.L. views leadership as a service that people in an organisation
“BUY” or “DON’T BUY”
When employees “buy” your
leadership, they become
engaged and customers of your
leadership.
When employees “don’t buy”
your leadership, they become
disengaged and non-customers
of your leadership.
To make employees “buy” your leadership and become engaged,
their views must be taken into consideration in terms of defining what
leaders should do.
S O M E C O N C E P T D E F I N E D
B L U E O C E A N L E A D E R S H I P
BLUE CEAN
L E A D E R S H I P
10

11. 4 PILLARS OF BOL
PILLAR1
FOCUS ON
ACTS &
ACTIVITIES
PILLAR2
CONNECT
LEADERSHIP
TO MARKET
REALITIES BY
ENGAGING
PEOPLE
PILLAR3
DISTRIBUTE
LEADERSHIP
ACROSS
DIFFERENT
MANAGEMENT
LEVELS
PILLAR4
PURSUE HIGH
IMPACT
LEADERSHIP
ACTS &
ACITIVITIES AT
LOW COST

12. PILLAR 1 : FOCUS ON ACTS &
ACTIVITIES
• Focuses on what acts & activities leaders need to do to
provide a leap in motivation & business results driven
by people.
• Provide employees with real-time feedback & best
practice lessons
• Aim to develop compelling leadership profile grounded
in actions that are easy to observe , measure & directly
linked to performance.

13. Blue Ocean Leadership focuses on what
leaders need to do ; not on who they
need to be ; which is far easier to change &
has a direct impact on performance.

14. PILLAR 2 : CONNECT LEADERSHIP TO
MARKET REALITIES BY ENGAGING
PEOPLE WHO CONFRONT THEM
• Focuses on what makes a leader effective.
• Employees are asked for their direct input regarding what acts or
activities their leaders do that hold them back & what they need
from their leaders.

15. PILLAR 3: DISTRIBUTE LEADERSHIPS
ACROSS DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT
LEVELS
• The key to a successful organization is having empowered
leaders at all levels.
• BOL focuses on distributed leadership ; not top leadership.
• Leadership mis distributed to senior , middle and frontline
levels.
• Each level of leadership requires a different leadership profile
to be effective as each has a different positional power , task
environment as well as focus on and interaction with the
external environment.

16. PILLAR 4: PURSUE HIGH IMPACT ACTS &
ACTIVITIES AT LOW COST
• Breaks the trade-off between impact & cost (time)
• Focuses on scts & activities that need to be reduced &
eliminated as well as raise and create to unlock the ocean of
umployed talents and energies.

17. CONVENTIONAL LEADERSHIP VS BOL

18. BLUE CEAN
L E A D E R S H I P
See Your
Leadership
Reality
1
Select To-Be
Leadership Profiles
3 Institutionalise
New Leadership
Practices
4
Develop
Alternative
Leadership Profiles
2
• Understand
how
employees
experience
current
leadership
• Apply Blue
Ocean
Leadership
Grids to create
several To-Be
Leadership
Profiles
• Share To-Be
Leadership
Canvases at a
leadership fair
and decide on
the To-Be
Leadership
Profile
• Communicate
new leadership
profiles to all
managers and
hold regular
meetings to
monitor
progress
R E A L I S I N G B L U E O C E A N
L E A D E R S H I P
THE FOUR STEPS
18

19. HOW TO SEE YOUR CURRENT LEADERSHIP
REALITY ?
• A common mistake organisations make is to discuss changes in
leadership before resolving differences of opinion over what leaders
are actually doing.
• Without a common understanding of where leadership stands today
and is falling short, a forceful case for change cannot be made.
• Begin by drawing the current or As-Is Leadership Canvas

20. • The Leadership Canvas is an analytic visual that shows the acts and
activities leaders currently undertake and invest their time and
intelligence in as perceived by each leadership level’s customers.
• An organisation should therefore begin by drawing the As-Is
Leadership Canvas for each level of leader ship.(frontline , middle &
senior managers).
• Identify the key acts and activities – both good and bad - that
actually absorb managers’ time so the As-Is Leadership Canvas can
be drawn.
• In three simple pictures, the leadership canvases captured the
primary reasons for the organisation’s ocean of unrealised talent
and energy, which was constraining leaders’ ability to drive high
performance.
THE LEADERSHIP CANVAS

21. THE LEADERSHIP CANVAS –EXAMPLES

22. THE LEADERSHIP CANVAS –EXAMPLES

23. THE LEADERSHIP CANVAS –EXAMPLES

24. HOW TO SEE DEVELOP & SELECT YOUR NEW
LEADERSHIP PROFILE?
• The Blue Ocean Leadership Grid can be used to identify what
leadership acts and activities should be eliminated, reduced,
raised, and created in pursuit of high impact at low cost.
• Involves 2 steps :
1. Identifying hot spots & cold spots
2. Applying BOL grid

25. HOW TO SEE DEVELOP & SELECT YOUR NEW
LEADERSHIP PROFILE?
• Identifying hot spots & cold spots
Cold Spots : Actions that absorb leader’s time but add scant or
negative values .
Hot Spots : Actions that a high positive impact on releasing
employee energy & talent but currently under-invested
by leaders or not undertaken at all.

26. HOW TO SEE DEVELOP & SELECT YOUR NEW
LEADERSHIP PROFILE?
• Applying BOL grid
1. The interview results on cold spots & hot spots are factored in the
grid for a given leadership level.
2. Acts & activities under cold spots are factored into the eliminate or
reduce quadrants while those under hot spots are factored in raise
and create quadrants.
3. Develop alternative to-be leadership profiles & presenting in
Leadership Fair
4. Selecting the best to-be leadership profile by top management.

27. BOL GRID

28. THE TO-BE LEADERSHIP CANVAS –EXAMPLES

29. THE TO-BE LEADERSHIP CANVAS –EXAMPLES

30. THE TO-BE LEADERSHIP CANVAS –EXAMPLES

31. 1. Validate the selected Leadership Profiles by conducting interviews with
ideally all the same people that have been interviewed through the
process.
2. Broadly share and explain the collectively agreed To-Be Leadership
Profiles – walk-through all 4 grids with the leaders in meeting , to get
buy-in from them.
3. Hold leaders accountable for change
a. The To-Be Leadership Canvases are pinned up and put in prime
display in both the offices of leaders and their direct reports.
b. In regular bi-weekly or monthly meetings with staff, direct reports
as a group are required to both give their feedback on how
effectively their leader has shifted their actions to reflect the To-
Be Leadership Profile
HOW TO SEE INSTITUTIONALIZE NEW BOL
PRACTICES?

32. • Blue ocean leadership follows a systematic process built on
analytical tools that is driven by respected senior managers
according to the three principles of fair process—engagement,
explanation, and expectation clarity.
• Blue ocean leadership is about providing a structured process for
people to discover for themselves how they need to change in action
terms as leaders to create a win all around.
• The Leadership Canvas allows the standards for success to be
measurable.
• By engaging people in building Leadership Profiles, the blue ocean
leadership process itself creates buy-in and plants strong seeds
for implementation of the To-Be Leadership Profiles.
HOW TO SEE INSTITUTIONALIZE NEW BOL
PRACTICES?

33. • The Leadership Canvas itself also acts as a powerful reinforcing
implementation tool that can be put on every leader’s wall as a
daily reminder of the specific actions that are required of them and
what they need to stop doing as well as start doing.
• The aim of blue ocean leadership is to help move it from soft
amorphous values and traits to the acts and activities that managers
can execute tomorrow and not work on for years before seeing
results.
• The Leadership Canvases give people a language and visual
roadmap to discuss the changes needed and how they need to
improve to set leaders on the path to high performance by unlocking
new leadership space and with it the ocean of unrealised talent and
energy in their organisations.
HOW TO SEE INSTITUTIONALIZE NEW BOL
PRACTICES?

34. BOL IN
MALAYSIAN CIVIL SERVICE

35. The Reality
GALLUP’S 2013 STATE OF THE AMERICAN
WORKPLACE REPORT
GALLUP’S 2013 STATE OF THE GLOBAL
WORKPLACE REPORT
Global: 13% employees are
‘engaged’
Malaysia:
• 11% employees are ‘engaged
• 81% are ‘not engaged’
• 8% are actively ‘disengaged’
Global:
• 30% are actively committed
• 50% of employees merely put their
time in
• 20% act out their discontent in
counterproductive ways
35

36. ELIMINATE
Micromanaging
operational matters that
can be delegated to
subordinates
RAISE
Reallocating underutilised
resources to high impact
initiatives
REDUCE
Attending functions
and meetings not
directly related to core
duties
CREATE
Identifying and
grooming high-potential
young talents to be fast
tracked into leadership
positions
BLUE OCEAN LEADERSHIP GRID (ERRC)
36

37. PROCESS TO REFINE THE EXISTING KLAs
Existing “Eliminate” KLA:
Spending a lot of time on micro-managing, fire-fighting and dealing with operational
issues
Details
Silo : need more sharing, engagement across departments
Micro-managing : need more delegation of power, empowerment,
and fire-fighting : trust, more communication
Contestation of : need better planning, no duplication of
Ideas operational tasks done by subordinates,
overseeing administrative activities
Newly Refined KLA:
Operational decisions that can
be made by middle managers
SENIOR MANAGERS (GRADE JUSA C & ABOVE)
37

38. TRANSFORMATIVE AND HUMANISTIC LEADERS
SENIOR MANAGERS
(GRADES PREMIER C & ABOVE)
KEY LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES (KLAs)
AS-IS LEADERSHIP PROFILE:
"OPERATIONAL FOCUSED
LEADERSHIP"
TO-BE LEADERSHIP PROFILE:
"TRANSFORMATIVE AND
HUMANISTIC LEADERSHIP"
©INTAN 2015
OPERATIONAL
DECISIONS THAT CAN
BE MADE BY MIDDLE
MANAGERS
ASSIGNING TASKS AND
JOBS BASED ON TEAM
MEMBER’S CAPABILITIES
TEAM ORIENTED
ACTIVITIES FOR
ENJOYABLE
WORKING
ENVIRONMENT
LENGTHY MEETINGS
ON OPERATIONAL
ISSUES
ORGANISING AND
ATTENDING NON-
STRATEGIC
CEREMONIAL EVENTS
DECISIONS MADE
WITHOUT PRIOR
DEBATE OR
EXCHANGE OF IDEAS
ELIMINATE REDUCE RAISE CREATE
TASK- ORIENTED
COACHING AND
CAREER MENTORING
SYSTEMATIC
FRAMEWORK TO
ANALYZE TRENDS
AND CHALLENGES
TO CHART FUTURE
PLAN
LOW
HIGH
TIME AND EFFORT
FORMAL AND INFORMAL
INTERACTIONS AND
PERSONAL RECOGNITION
WITH TEAM MEMBERS
38

39. BLUE CEAN
L E A D E R S H I P
A P I L O T P R O J E C T AT M A L AY S I A N P U B L I C S E R V I C E D E PA R T M E N T ( J PA )
• Operational decisions that can be made by
middle managers
• Lengthy meetings on operational issues
• Assigning tasks and jobs based on team
member’s capabilities
• Formal and informal interactions and personal
recognition with team members
• Task- oriented coaching and career mentoring
• Organising and attending non-strategic
ceremonial events
• Decisions made without prior debate or
exchange of ideas
• Enjoyable working environment
• Systematic framework to analyze trends and
challenges to chart future plan
ELIMINATE RAISE
REDUCE CREATE
SENIOR MANAGERS (GRADES PREMIER C & ABOVE)
39

40. Existing “Create” KLA
Create conducive working and learning atmosphere
Details
Open work space is not suitable
Good working relationship
Coaching and mentoring
Physical, social and emotional (PESI)
Informal activities (leisure, fun, relaxing)
Vibrant working environment
Formal-engagement
Newly Refined KLA
Stress-busting activities to
boost positive energy
PROCESS TO REFINE THE EXISTING KLAs
TASK MIDDLE MANAGERS (GRADES 48 – 54)
40

41. READINESS TO BE FUTURE LEADERS
MIDDLE MANAGERS
(GRADES 48 – 54)
TO-BE LEADERSHIP PROFILE:
“READINESS TO BE FUTURE LEADERS"
AS-IS LEADERSHIP PROFILE:
“OLD SCHOOL LEADERSHIP”
KEY LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES (KLAs)
LOW
HIGH
TIME AND EFFORT
REDUCE RAISE CREATE
WORKING IN
SILOS
GIVING UNCLEAR
DIRECTIONS
DELIBERATION TIME
TO MAKE DECISION
CONFORMING TO
STATUS
QUO
STRATEGIC THINKING IN
IMPLEMENTATION OF
TASKS
FORWARD PLANNING
TO ADDRESS FUTURE
CHALLENGES AND
TRENDS
INSTITUTE BEST PRACTICE
FRAMEWORK FOR
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
ELIMINATE
EXPLANATIONS OF
DECISIONS MADE
UNDERSTANDING OF TEAM’S
WORKLOADS AND DISCUSSION
ON WORKLOADS AND
CAPABILITY REGARDING NEW
ASSIGNMENTS
©INTAN 2015
41

42. ELIMINATE
REDUCE
RAISE
CREATE
MIDDLE MANAGERS
(GRADES 48 – 54)
• Working in silos
• Giving unclear directions
• Deliberation Time To Make Decision
• Conforming To Status Quo
• Strategic thinking in implementation of tasks
• Forward Planning To Address Future Challenges And
Trends
• Institute Best Practice Framework For Knowledge Sharing
• Explanations of decisions made
• Understanding of team’s workloads and discussion on
workloads and capability regarding new assignments
42

43. FRONTLINE MANAGERS
(GRADES 41 – 44)
KEY LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES (KLAs)
TO BE LEADERSHIP PROFILE:
“PROACTIVE AND ANALYTICAL”
AS-IS LEADERSHIP PROFILE:
“PASSIVE”
LOW
HIGH
TIME AND EFFORT
ELIMINATE REDUCE RAISE CREATE
ACTING
PROACTIVELY AND
ANALYTICALLY TO
ADDRESS FUTURE
NEEDS
ATTENDING REPETITIVE
AND UNRELATED
MEETINGS
GIVING
INSTRUCTIONS
LACKING SPECIFIC
DETAILS
ASSIGNING TASKS
BASED ON
PERSONAL
PREFERENCE
SPENDING TIME ON
ADMINISTRATIVE TASK FOR
EVENTS
RELYING ON
SUBORDINATES
COMPETENCIES WITH
LITTLE EFFORTS TO LEARN
WORKING IN
SILOS
PROMOTING AND
RECOGNISING
TEAMWORK
ACTIVITIES
COMMUNICA-TING
CLEAR OBJECTIVES
AND INSTRUCTIONS
ON TASKS
DEVELOP TEAM-BASED
COMPETENCIES
THROUGH
COLLABORATION
ORGANISING INFORMAL
RECREATIONAL AND
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
EMPOWERING HIGHLY
COMPETENT AND
SKILLED STAFF TO MAKE
OPERATIONAL
DECISIONS
PROACTIVE AND ANALYTICAL LEADERS
©INTAN 2015
43

44. ELIMINATE
REDUCE
RAISE
CREATE
FRONTLINE MANAGERS
(GRADES 41 – 44)
• Acting proactively and analytically to address future
needs
• Attending repetitive and unrelated meetings
• Giving instructions lacking specific details
• Assigning tasks based on personal preference
• Spending time on administrative task for events
• Relying on subordinates competencies with little efforts to learn
• Working in silos
• Promoting and recognising teamwork activities
• Communicating clear objectives and instructions on tasks
• Develop team-based competencies through collaboration
• Organising informal recreational and social activities
• Empowering highly competent and skilled staff to make
operational decisions
44

45. SUPPORTING GROUP MANAGERS
(GRADES 22 -36)
KEY LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES (KLAs)
AS-IS PROFILE:
“JUST DO IT!!!”
KNOWLEDGEABLE AND CHEER SUPERVISION
TO-BE LEADERSHIP PROFILE:
“LEAD WITH PRODUCTIVITY”
ELIMINATE REDUCE RAISE CREATE
ESTABLISHING A
PLATFORM TO BRIDGE
THE GAP BETWEEN
FRONTLINE MANAGERS
AND OPERATIONAL
STAFF
DEVELOPING A
FORMAL PROCESS
TO SHARE TACIT
KNOWLEDGE OF
OPERATIONAL
ISSUES
STAYING IN OWN
COMFORT ZONE
ASSIGNING
WORK
UNEVENLY
TAKING TIME TO MAKE
OPEARATIONAL
DECISIONS
GIVING TASK WITHOUT
CLEAR OBJECTIVES/
GUIDANCE
RECOGNISING
EMPLOYEES OPENLY
FOR QUALITY WORK
WORKING AS A
TEAM IN TACKLING
NEW AND
CHALLENGING
TASKS
SUPERVISING AND
MONITORING ASSIGNED
TASKS
DELEGATING URGENT
TASKS WITHOUT
ASSISTING
©INTAN 2015
HIGH
TIME AND EFFORT
45

46. ELIMINATE
REDUCE
RAISE
CREATE
SUPPORTING GROUP MANAGERS
(GRADES 22 -36)
• Establishing a platform to bridge the gap between
frontline managers and operational staff
• Developing a formal process to share tacit knowledge of
operational issues
• Staying in own comfort zone
• Assigning work unevenly
• Taking time to make opearational decisions
• Giving task without clear objectives/guidance
• Recognising employees openly for quality work
• Working as a team in tackling new and challenging tasks
• Supervising and monitoring assigned tasks
• Delegating urgent tasks without assisting
46

47. BLUE CEAN
L E A D E R S H I P
A P I L O T P R O J E C T AT M A L AY S I A N P U B L I C S E R V I C E D E PA R T M E N T ( J PA )
New Leadership Practices
Covering Four Levels of
Leadership
(as demanded by the
employees)
THE FINDINGS
47