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What they don´t teach you at Harvard

posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 10:29 AM

I was in Cambodia last February when i met Oak who runs a small bar in Phnom Penh. I had heard that he was "changing Cambodia" and i wanted to find out more. I spoke to him briefly one evening in his bar and asked if i could interview him for i-genius. The following day over lunch he told me how he established his bar, trained staff, encouraged and provided practical support for them to study at University etc. I thought what an amazing guy, not many bar owners in London do that for their employees.

As we were finishing and i was closing my note book, i casually asked him if he had any problems with police corruption. His answer surprised me. He told me they came to his bar once and asked for money in exchange for which he would get a piece of paper effectively saying he was protected. Rather than pay them, Oak said, he did not want any paper. Instead, he told them that he understood their problem (low pay) and if they wanted money for food or for their family, they should just come and ask and he will give it to them. But he did not want any paper. This act of kindness so surprised them that they felt so embarrassed and ashamed and never returned. rnI thought, wow! who would have thought that you could defeat police corruption with kindness. They don´t teach anything as smart as that at Harvard Business School.

Comments

Vixie Labanda

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 01:37 AM

i love this blog! very inspiring!