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Published on March 17, 2008

The success of a large organisation over a long period depends on how well a company's leaders manage and work with people. 

Khan Prachuabmoh, the Government Housing Bank's (GH Bank) president, who has more than three decades of experience in the Thai financial industry, said great organisations  have great leaders who are good at managing people.

"Leaders of large organisations must be able to satisfy a host of stakeholders and ensure that all their often disparate needs are satisfied," he said.

GH Bank, under Khan's leadership, has more than 2,100 employees and more than 1.2 million customers with home mortgage loans.

"Successful leaders must ensure that the staff, shareholders, board of directors and unions understand the organisation's overall mission and feel they are all part of a team working towards that objective," he said.

Effective leaders must also ensure that everyone understands the customers and is eager to provide optimal solutions to satisfy their needs. 

Khan said dealing successfully with disparate stakeholders also requires tremendous patience. "You must keep talking to people and repeating your thoughts until they understand."

He said effectively communicating an organisation's overall corporate mission is a critical success factor.

The bank also has to compete as a mortgage-services lender with commercial banks in the country.

To remain the country's leading home-loan mortgage provider, Khan said GH Bank must be quick, efficient, flexible and innovative in serving customers.

"We must be able to hold their hand and help them sort out the paperwork,"  Khan said.

By K I Woo

The Nation