‘Think carefully if you run a business, because if it’s based on moral practices, business will surely be a success. This is because everyone who works in your organisation will work with a good mindset based on Dhamma and will believe in practising good deeds,” says Supachai Verapuchong, the deputy managing director of Thai Nakorn Patana Co.
Supachai: Buddhism, business fit together
“They won’t cheat on their time. They will put their full effort into their work and will practise tolerance as well. Unfortunately, most people nowadays only worship materialism and money. They have forgotten about virtue.”
For nearly a quarter century Mr Supachai has made it his mission to live up to the values practised by his father Vinai Verapuchong, who founded the company known for popular over-the-counter medicines such as Tiffy, Sara and Antacil.
When he was pioneering in the Indochina market more than 20 years ago, Mr Supachai relied on the teachings of Lord Buddha to keep him going through a difficult time and working in difficult conditions.
“Thinking according to Buddhist principles allows me to understand human suffering and makes me wish to help as much as I can. Even under unpleasant conditions, I enjoy working and am happy to be there,” he says.
“Businesspeople need to truly understand how people in different markets think because they have different cultural, historical and economic backgrounds. [Going to countries in Indochina] was a good opportunity for me to see the world of underprivileged people, which helped open my eyes to understanding how difficult life is.”
No time limit: Mr Supachai does not view the worlds of Buddhism and business as incompatible, but he agrees that businesspeople need to embrace a different way of thinking.
“Under normal practice in business operations, we have targets to be achieved. However, the ultimate goal is not the target itself but the way we go about achieving it. Lord Buddha himself never set a target date for completing his teachings.
“There is both an art and a science to managing business. After we set a target, we should set the Right Path, which for a business means not getting involved with bad things such as cheating, bribery and corruption.”
Lord Buddha never taught that people could achieve something or end suffering within any specific time frame. It is up to each person to find the way to practically conduct the business of life according to his or her condition.
“Hence, we will not fail since there is no time limit,” says Mr Supachai. “We may set a time frame but it’s not the priority. Therefore, when we fail, we will not feel depressed, upset, lose concentration or wisdom.”
Remaining mindful, he says, helps people avoid making wrong decisions as a consequence of receiving negative feelings from the Ayatana or six senses.
“Achieving a business target is not easy because our competitors can also do many things. But we have to know ourselves and dedicate ourselves to doing things with all our ability according to the Five Strengths: Faith, Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration and Wisdom.”
Mr Supachai admits with hindsight that he did not believe a lot of Buddhist teaching when he first began looking into it.
“When I saw the Four Holy Places of Buddhism in India, I told myself that all these things are real. [The British archaeologist] Sir Alexander Cunningham gave Lord Buddha’s relics to King Rama V. They are all evidence of the existence of Buddhism,” he says.
“Buddhism became a scientific fact to me because there are actual places. It was like a ‘Eureka!’ moment to me. We cannot expect to be able to learn everything at once. Each drop of water helps fill the glass. Everything has its own process. We cannot rush it. It takes time to achieve what we expect.”
Managing at Thai Nakorn: Starting as early as his first year in the secondary school, Mr Supachai typically spent his two-month summer break visiting the family company’s customers with his father’s sales team and learning about the market. Along the way, he learned a great deal about working with tolerance as well.
“When we have a meeting, such as a monthly meeting, I usually spend around 80% of the time talking about the proper approach, the way we think, or Dhamma. The other 20% of the time we will discuss the numbers. When we talk with employees, we tend to talk about how to be a good person according to the seven qualities of Buddhist Suppurisa Dhamma.”
He wants people to work with conviction about the right direction and the right view. He sees his job as lighting a candle and showing them a way to reach their potential.
Completed by Dhamma: “I talk frequently about how to be a good person and not cheat others or oneself,” explains Mr Supachai. “Over time, it becomes ingrained in their culture. I tell them that human beings should have two purposes in life. One is to take care of ourselves and our families and practise Sila (not harming others). Once we have fulfilled that goal, we should take care of others. I tell my employees that if they work with conviction, they will have a stable life. Then they will be able to help others.”
Most Buddhists are quite familiar with the Four Brahma Viharas, which Mr Supachai considers the main principles of self-governance. There are Metta (wishing happiness for everyone), Karuna (wishing people to be free from suffering), Mudhita (taking joy in the achievements of others) and Ubekkha (equanimity amid success or failure), which is the most difficult quality to practise.
“With Ubekkha, we have to put ourselves in the middle and act with fairness,” he says. “When we look at Western corporate governance, which is mainly about practising business without wrongdoing, a business may say that what it does is not illegal, does not involve cheating or corruption, and does not destroy others or the environment. This is normal or Sila in Buddhism. By adopting Ubekkha, we have to go further than conventional corporate governance because Ubekkha is the principle behind being completed by Dhamma.”
Sorayuth Vathanavisuth is principal consultant and executive coach at the Center for Southeast Asia Leadership and lectures at Mahidol University’s College of Management. His areas of interest are corporate strategy, executive coaching and leadership development. He can be reached at sorayuth@sealeadership.com