Not just anyone can make it to the top of a major corporation -- only a few men and even fewer women are ever named chief executive.
Somruedee Chaimongkol has ascended to the helm of SET-listed Banpu Plc, a major coal miner in Asean, after 32 years of service. Banpu is her first job and likely her last before retiring, and one of her future tasks will be to select her own successor. Somchai Poomlard
This is particularly true in the mining industry, a genuine "man's world". Nonetheless, Somruedee Chaimongkol has ascended to the helm of SET-listed Banpu Plc, a major coal miner in Asean, after 32 years of service.
A soft-spoken personality in the style of Banpu's founding chief executive, Chanin Vongkusolkit, she hopes to uphold his example of integrity and respectability.
Ms Somruedee, 54, joined the company in 1983 after graduating from Bangkok University with an accounting degree. Banpu is her first job and likely her last before retiring.
At the time of her hire, the company had just won a state auction of mining operations and named itself Banpu Mining Co, after the location of a coal mine in Lamphun province.
"I would say Mr Chanin is the best teacher on earth," Ms Somruedee tells the Bangkok Post. "I have learned everything about work from him. He is a high-integrity leader, decisive, compassionate and such a fair person."
The former chief executive and Banpu's board set a succession plan in motion eight years ago, rotating high-potential executives into different tasks before selecting the most suitable one -- the strategy was to get each candidate up to speed on each task required of a chief executive.
Ms Somruedee assumed the key post of senior vice-president for finance and accounting in 2001, then became chief financial officer in 2006. Nearly 10 years later, the board chose her as chief executive out of three final candidates.
"The transition was quite smooth, in my opinion. No one got excited, including the other candidates," she recalls. "Everyone seemed to acknowledge each step of the succession plan. Also, my colleagues and I have been working together for years, so nothing can really surprise us."
Ms Somruedee says Banpu encourages personnel to learn new things if they are willing and eager.
"Mr Chanin allowed me to join the team abroad as a junior staffer. I had a chance to get involved with many important deals. Also, Mr Chanin supported me to take on more responsibility and lead the team myself," she says.
When Banpu made the decision to buy millions of tonnes of coal reserves in Indonesia, Ms Somruedee was the project leader.
She credits the company's culture of synergy, integrity, innovation and care -- a strong set of principles anyone who joins the company must adopt.
"We apply the same culture to blend in with the local culture wherever we go, whether in China or Australia, through our training in the Banpu management programme," Ms Somruedee says.
The company has become a multinational and is open to foreigners taking key executive seats. For instance, Ms Somruedee's successor as chief financial officer is an Australian recruited from Centennial Coal, a Banpu subsidiary.
"We apply a global mindset to the corporate culture," she says. "We're open to everyone, that they should get the same opportunities as I received when I was junior staff."
Banpu has taught her to develop the company as a "partner of choice": "We would never look to take advantage of anyone. We would rather have partners who trust us so we can move our venture forward together."
When asked whether she ever became bored working in the same place for three decades, Ms Somruedee offers an emphatic "never".
"It might be because Banpu and I have grown together," she reflects. "Some people may think it could be a boring job, but for me my career path has always been dynamic. I've had plenty of opportunity to learn new things. I've been rotated into different jobs, different tasks all the time, given the fact that the company has extended to so many businesses and the greater size of the businesses."
She says she will carry on the cultural norms of Banpu in developing human resources and strengthening the team, with no regard to nationality or other barriers that prevent people from reaching their full potential.
"Being a finance officer does not mean I would have advantages over anyone. Everyone can learn. You know, I needed to learn things about engineering even though I'm not an engineer. I have to understand the process of everything we're doing here ... at least have a basic knowledge," Ms Somruedee says.
One of her future tasks will be to select her own successor. She has stated the next boss of Banpu must share the same values of "integrity, mobility, flexibility and adaptability", plus the person must have the ability to lead 7,000 employees to anywhere that gives Banpu the chance to grow further.
"What I want to be is the same as Mr Chanin," Ms Somruedee says.
"He is amazingly cool under pressure. He can handle any crisis. He could be absolutely calm, as if nothing happened, before dealing with it.
"I can't do that. I still have a lot to learn if I want to be him."