🌱 Wawa: From Growing Herself to Growing Leaders

When Wawa was appointed as Country Head to oversee palm oil mills, a refinery, and vast oil palm estates, she felt the weight of the role.

Her earlier success came from mastering her own skills — running boilers, troubleshooting refinery breakdowns, and improving estate yields. But as she stood in front of hundreds of staff during her first town hall, she remembered a principle she once read:

👉 “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others” [1].

1. Building Trust at Every Level

Wawa’s first priority was not targets or numbers. It was trust. She visited estates, spoke with harvesters in the field, and listened to mill engineers by the boilers.

Research shows that leaders who prioritize listening and trust-building lay the foundation for long-term organizational success [2].

2. Identifying Hidden Leaders

During a visit to a remote estate, Wawa noticed a mandore who kept morale high despite limited resources. She sponsored him for a leadership program, and within years he was promoted.

This reflects studies in leadership development which emphasize the importance of spotting and nurturing potential leaders from within [3].

3. Growing Leaders Through Learning

Wawa launched a monthly Leaders’ Circle where managers and engineers shared books, articles, or case studies. The goal was not just reading, but reflecting and teaching others.

Scholars argue that leaders who promote continuous learning cultures produce more resilient and innovative organizations [4].

4. Empowering Through Delegation

Instead of centralizing authority, Wawa delegated key projects to estates, mills, and refinery supervisors. Mistakes were tolerated as long as lessons were drawn.

Delegation and empowerment are strongly linked with employee engagement and leadership pipeline growth [5].

5. Creating a Culture of Purpose

Wawa often reminded her teams that palm oil was more than a commodity — it was food, energy, and livelihoods for thousands of families.

Purpose-driven leadership has been found to enhance motivation and long-term commitment across organizations [6].

🌴 The Transformation

Under Wawa’s leadership, the company didn’t just thrive operationally — it thrived in people.

Supervisors became managers, engineers became leaders, and clerks became executives.

At the annual gathering, Wawa reflected:

> “Before I was a leader, success was about growing myself. Today, my success is measured by the leaders I’ve grown in this company.”

The applause that followed wasn’t just for her — but for the hundreds of leaders she had nurtured.

📚 References

[1] Bennis, W. (2009). On Becoming a Leader. Basic Books.

[2] Covey, S.R. (2013). The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything. Free Press.

[3] Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business Review Press.

[4] Senge, P.M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. Doubleday.

[5] Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in Organizations (8th ed.). Pearson.

[6] Craig, N. & Snook, S. (2014). From Purpose to Impact. Harvard Business

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