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Published on September 23, 2007

But good business leaders don't need to be hard or overly aggressive, according to a new book by Jumbhot Chuasai.

Jumbhot is managing director of Leadership Management International in Thailand.

His book is "Lak 5 Prakarn Soo Karn Pen Phunam", and is a translation of leadership manual "The 5 Pillars of Leadership", by Paul J Meyer and Randy Slechta.

The two American authors are well-known leadership gurus and lecturers in the United States.

Both Jumbhot and Slechta delivered brief presentations at the book's launch at the Pacific City Club.

The book aims not only to improve personal leadership skills but time management and goal-setting skills among employers.

Many chief executives and managers turned out in force to hear their wisdom.

"We all have to be leaders in different situations; at least we have to lead ourselves. The question is how well we can do it," Slechta says.

Slechta is president of global personnel and organisational development consultant LMI. His concept is understanding people's motivations: "People don't buy drills, they buy the holes," he says.

The five pillars are:

lClearly determine an organisation's objectives

lCreate strategies and plans for their achievement

lBuild strong motivation within the organisation

lStrengthen staff confidence so they do their best

lMaintain determination and spirit when facing obstacles

A successful leader, the book says, demonstrates the following qualities:

lGenuine care of others

lLikes their job

lGoes beyond the call of duty

lCredits subordinates' abilities

lHas confidence and trust in staff

Jumbhot suggests the most important part of promoting organisation leadership is changing attitudes of staff.

"This means leaders must provide education and expertise as well as opportunities for employees to make their own decisions and be their own boss, so that leadership will exist at all levels of the chain of command."

Jumbhot praised Property Care Services in Thailand, a company that has used LMI leadership and management guidelines.

Its managing director Heather Suksem says it has seen increased productivity using the five pillars in its personnel-development programme. Last year PCS was named LMI's international client of the year.

Jumbhot has been rubbing shoulders with high-flying executives throughout his careers in the public and private sectors.

After five years with the Offices of the High Commissioner for the Refugees in Bangkok and Hong Kong as a resettlement officer, he joined the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva as programme officer. In 1988 he became programme officer at the Independent Commission for the International Humanitarian Issues, under the chairmanship of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan.

He is now a full-time motivational speaker but still finds time to run a food business in Switzerland.

Jumbhot's translation of "The Five Pillars" is published by DMG and available at Dbooks at 22/F Amarin Plaza and other leading bookshops for Bt215.

Manote Tripathi

 The Nation