Leadership tips from Khun Tan

On Aug 6, M.L. Chaivat asked me: "Khun Kriengsak, my daughter is flying to study overseas tonight and I have to leave around 6:30. Could you take over the programme from there?"

"No problem. I plan to talk about Khun Tan Passakornnatee, the CEO of the Oishi Group," I said.

After he left, I took over the studio.

"Now, I would like to share my inspiration from the book entitled Cheewit Nee Mai Mee Tan (No Dead End in This Life)," I told our listeners. "Written by Sorakol Adulyanon and Watanyu Rodcherdpanichkit, the book describes the life of Mr Tan and its title toys with his first name, which means 'dead end'. Its story-telling format is both entertaining and quite easy to read. There are numerous tips about the 'adversity quotient', positive attitude and leadership. Let me share with you some of the ideas.

"At age 17, after finishing Mathayom Suksa 3 (Grade 9), Khun Tan started to work for a monthly salary of 700 baht. He knew that with a limited education, he had to work harder than others in order to succeed. But Khun Tan did not waste time comparing his salary and duties with those of others. Instead, he put all his efforts into the job. He went to work early, around 7 am and returned home around midnight, seven days a week. The result? All of the supervisors learned to call Tan if they wanted to get a job done. He has shared this experience with people who work with him.

"If you don't prepare yourself by working hard today, when you have your own business, you may not be able to succeed. This is because working hard with a full effort is a habit. If you don't have this good habit when you're an employee, you won't have one when you're on your own.

"After a while, he got promoted to sales representative. A few years later, he started his own business _ a small book kiosk in Chon Buri, but without any experience in the book business.

"He said: 'I've started several businesses even though I don't have any knowledge about them. What I usually do is asking. I ask people in the business a lot of questions.'

"If there is one thing that I would like the listeners to remember about Khun Tan's success, it's asking. Asking is one core skill that few Thais are good at. We may be afraid of losing face if we ask. But we are also losing a lot of opportunities if we don't..

"Many people know Khun Tan from Oishi _ the first Japanese buffet restaurant in Thailand. He says there is always one thing that he always does whenever he opens a new restaurant _ he cleans its restroom on the first day. His logic is very simple. If he, the owner, can do it well, the restaurant manager will take it seriously when he asks them to keep it clean.

"The book has another good idea about leadership. Khun Tan always spends time with his best people. He said that one day during the initial launch of Oishi green tea, he asked his team to double sales as there was excess capacity. At the beginning, most of his store managers thought he was kidding. They were wrong _ he made clear that he expected results. And eventually they delivered.

"Khun Tan was fascinated by the high sales figures at some of his shops such as the one at Central Lat Phrao. It managed to sell 20,000 bottles a month at a time when others could sell only 5,000.

"When Khun Tan asked the shop manager how she did it, she said: 'It was hard for me to increase sales with existing customers. So I went to the Chatuchak market nearby. I started direct selling to those kiosks. At first, they rejected the idea but I didn't give up. I asked them to try selling just a few bottles. Finally, several kiosks sold the tea and the result is what you see.'

"And so he did. Khun Tan went to Chatuchak and what he saw there was an opportunity. He assigned his brother to add sales points in the market. Eventually, sales increased from 10-20,000 bottles a week to 70,000 and 80,000.

"He didn't stop there. He took his sister to show how it worked. Later, she successfully expanded the concept to another market in Chon Buri."

KRIENGSAK NIRATPATTANASAI is the founder of TheCoach, specialising in executive coaching in leadership and cross-cultural skills. Copies of previous columns are available at www.thaicoach.com. He can be reached at 02-517-3126 or coachkriengsak@yahoo.com