Ask someone what family means to them and their first answer will almost certainly involve their parents, siblings and other relatives. But probe a little deeper and there are likely to point to other people in their lives who they describe “as like family to me”. And so it is at THP. Alongside the Tran… [Read the full article]
Tag: leadership
Why the pendulum is swinging back to family-owned companies
For the past couple of years, I’ve used this blog as a platform to examine how THP conceptualises value creation and outline the different processes we’ve put in place to achieve it. I’ve talked a lot about core values, as we view these as the foundation stone for both our short- and long-term success. One… [Read the full article]
How a big clean generates even bigger rewards
Few people in life enjoy cleaning and de-cluttering with the exception of some well-known gurus like the Japanese consultant Marie Kondo. And yet we all know how cathartic it can be. It’s a principle that rings true for both our home and work lives. So what explains this disconnect: we avoid cleaning and throwing things… [Read the full article]
Sisterhood in leading a family business
In Vietnam, we have a very famous proverb: brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet. Anyone who has a brother or sister will instinctively understand this. Our siblings loom large in our lives no matter how often, or how little we see them. They not only share much of our DNA, but… [Read the full article]
Why listening is about understanding
In my last post I discussed what I have learned about art of difficult conversations during my career: how to have a proactive discussion with someone that does not leave them feeling that they have been backed into a corner and need to come out fighting. Part of the skill in handling those conversations and… [Read the full article]
The Art of Difficult Conversations
If there is one thing that many people dread more than anything in life it is the prospect having a “difficult conversation” with someone else. It is all too easy to put it off. But there are always consequences to this. Firstly, the problems generally don’t go away, but get worse. Secondly, the other person’s… [Read the full article]
THP’s 2021 in review: gone but unlikely to be forgotten
Regular readers of this blog will know that at THP we live by the maxim that “Nothing is Impossible.” It is one of the company’s seven core values, embodying the spirit of both of my parents who faced one challenge after another establishing a livelihood in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and then setting… [Read the full article]
How is leadership different from being a boss?
Anyone who’s at the top of any corporate hierarchy is often asked the question: “What does it mean to be a great boss? I’d like to learn so I can be one too.” But it is, in fact, the wrong question. The right one isn’t what makes a great boss, but what makes a great… [Read the full article]
Why camaraderie is now more important than ever
What do managers mean when they talk about fostering a spirit of camaraderie in the workplace? And why is it so important for a well-functioning company? If we take a look at the origins of the word itself, then it derives from the Middle French for camarade, which means a group sleeping in the same… [Read the full article]
Adapting to the new normal
It’s been an incredibly intense few months at THP, without a single day off. But it’s been necessary to make sure that we could pull off the government’s three-on-the-spot policy and kept our factories running safely and smoothly during the lockdown, which has just ended and we are approaching the new normal. Many factories around… [Read the full article]
