The leadership philosophy of 'round outside, square inside' of 'Teacher' Tien

Mr. Hoang Nam Tien's sudden passing has left behind a lot of grief for his friends, colleagues and the public. In his journey, he left behind many stories, many "anecdotes" and was also an inspiration to the younger generation, especially young leaders.

AtFPT Leader Talk No. 7 with the theme "Future Leader", the guest speaker was "national teacher" Hoang Nam Tien - Vice Chairman of the Board of FPT University - brought many profound lessons to help young FPT leaders and managers integrate in the digital transformation period that changes every day. That is also the lesson of a leader in general.

Mr. Tran Nam Tien at FPT Leader Talk No. 7. Photo: Tran Huan

"Teacher" Tien stated that there are 5 criteria to evaluate a leader: qualities, character, knowledge, capacity and experience. In which, qualities are inborn, qualities are trained, knowledge is formed through the learning process, capacity is formed through challenges, experience comes from time, from experiencing failures, successes...

Unlike the time of “bare-handed capture”, in an information society, to become a leader one must be an intellectual. According to Dr. Hoang Nam Tien, to do this, young leaders should actively read books.

At that time, "Giao Tien" gave lessons on leadership psychology. The first thing is integrity. According to him, integrity is the principle of life.

Mr. Hoang Nam Tien with his talk "decoding" future leaders. Photo: Tran Huan

He noted that one must be honest but not too principled, because if so, it will be difficult to integrate and work. One must avoid being "brutally honest", and one must be flexible because the nature of life is a balance between compromises.

In his view, a leader needs to be "round on the outside and square on the inside" - needs intelligence, foresight, out-of-the-box thinking, perseverance, patience, steadfastness, and stubbornness.

In addition, leaders need passion, dreams, aspirations, discipline, and perseverance. Mr. Tien believes that leaders need three skills: knowing how to smile, setting an example, and discipline. They must know how to learn anytime, anywhere, even in difficult times. In addition to self-study, they must learn from many perspectives, learn from their managers, from colleagues, from young people, and especially from AI.

He believes that no one is born to be a business leader. Whether successful or not, everyone needs to improve themselves at a faster pace. Soft skills help people laugh, creating a comfortable atmosphere from the office to home. In particular, according to him, leaders should not do things for others but should set an example, and the most difficult discipline is self-discipline.

Ms. Vu Thanh Hai (FPT Telecom) expressed her impression of two things through Dr. Hoang Nam Tien's talk: the message "round outside, square inside", being a leader requires flexibility to adapt easily like a circle, but also requires sharp thinking and certain principles of life; the transformation of learning thinking from one dimension to five dimensions.

At 4:10 p.m. on July 31, Mr. Hoang Nam Tien, member of the Founding Council of FPT Corporation, Vice Chairman of the Board of FPT University, former Chairman of FPT Telecommunication Joint Stock Company, former Chairman of FPT Software Company Limited passed away due to a stroke at the age of 57. Mr. Hoang Nam Tien was born in 1969. In April 2023, Mr. Hoang Nam Tien was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Board of FPT University.