Sigve Brekke, CEO of Total Access Communication (DTAC), believes firms need to move away from "karaoke capitalism" and instead create a "temporary monopoly".

"This 'karaoke capitalism' which companies call best practice, benchmarking or synergy, is like trying to sing other people's songs. Profit margins will always be slight," he says. "The strategy must be to create your own 'monopoly'. Singing your own songs. You must think how you can do things differently."

Companies can no longer enjoy a long-lasting monopoly but even with a four-week monopoly, a firm will benefit, says Brekke.

The "rules of business" have changed and it's no longer technology or capital which can help a company to win, but rather its people.

"DTAC is not only a marketing company but also a people company," he says. "To succeed you need to be very best in the way you treat customers. And in the future you even need to define the needs of customers when they themselves don't know what their needs are today."

Brekke's explained his guiding principals to a Thailand Management Association seminar called "Visionary Leader" last week. They include:

lDon't order your people. A leader can no longer lead based on positional power. A leader must be seen as part of the team.

lDon't use historical figures to predict the future.

lCultivate a winner's mindset in your staff. It's very important that employees have the desire to do things.

lHorizontal, not a top-down approach. "I love 'mess' in the sense that when there is an unclear job definition, people have double functions. This culture is open for innovation and quicker moves," Brekke says.

l Move from being a boss to a coach. "I've often described myself as a football coach," he says. "As a football coach, one has three clear duties: recruit the best players, make sure that they all play together, and see that they score goals.

lFirst who and then what. Brekke says today he is always looking for the right people first and then finding them the jobs, not the other way round.

lHire for the attitudes, train for skills, not the other way round.

lWork as a team and be "blame free". When you blame others, you give up your power to change.

lCoach people by making them feel uncomfortable, and move them out of their comfort zones. Reward people who make mistakes through good intentions.

lDue to a competitive market, DTAC needs to move fast. The company will move ahead on a project when it is 80 per cent sure. "We can't wait for a 100-per-cent solution," Brekke says. "In fact, if everyone agrees on a project in a meeting, I won't do it."

lWalk the talk and shake the hands. Nothing is more effective than meeting people face to

face.

lInnovation is having customer feedback and a system to make use of it.

lBe an underdog, not an overdog company. An underdog moves quicker and is more willing to change, while an overdog is afraid, slow, bureaucratic, plays defence, doesn't like to change, and won't survive the future.

This is the second part of a two-part series on leading changes in organisation, excerpted from a "Visionary Leader" seminar organised by the Thailand Management Association last week.