I remember years ago many sat for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) to seek admission to the more prestigious MBA programmes in the United States. For some reason, many Malaysian students failed to perform well in this exam. They then argued that the test was irrelevant to their intended course of study.

For obvious reasons, I think we would dismiss as unimportant or irrelevant the qualifications we failed to get or exams where we fail to excel.

As far as I know, GMAT is probably one of the most robust tests on quantitative, reasoning and language ability of a person.

When we are short on technical skill and expertise, we divert our attention to soft skills. Hence, it is common to hear arguments that qualifications are not important, it is leadership; technical skill is not important, it is public relations and communication ability; knowledge is not important, it is not attitude and integrity.

We failed to recognise that leadership, communication skill, and attitude should be supported and ‘backed up’ by qualifications, knowledge and technical ability.

If we have zero knowledge in maths and statistics, what positive attitude can we have on the subjects to help us solve our problems?

How do we become a lawyer if we have no formal qualification in law? How do we supervise and provide direction as the chief auditor if we have no formal knowledge in economics, accounting and finance?

We know in most instances heads of agencies act on advice. But advising the head of agencies is not ‘tutoring’ them.

Heads of agencies need cutting-edge knowledge and competency to assess and evaluate the advice given. Leadership, communication skill and integrity, while important, are not enough.

Heads of agencies are not ceremonial or titular heads. They need intimate knowledge to comprehend the intricacies of the subject matters. We must appoint heads of agencies with the right qualifications and knowledge, in addition to their leadership qualities, integrity and temperament.

Sometimes when we are lack of knowledge and expertise, we cover up the deficiency by emphasising on vague subjects such as communication, leadership and attitude. Let’s put it this way, when you know zero knowledge in accounting, you can’t do auditing regardless of your prowess in leadership or communication ability.