Dr. Phạm Hà — Founding President & CEO, LuxGroup®
A guest steps aboard a cruise ship and encounters an original painting by Phạm Lực. A guide tells a story of Vietnam through the artist’s brushstrokes. At the same time, the crew keeps the vessel safe, the kitchen serves at the right pace, and the sales team delivers on its promise to the guest. The experience succeeds only when all of them trust one another.
This is the leadership challenge at LuxGroup®. We are building A House of Small Giants: businesses that retain their own character while contributing to a larger journey. A founder cannot be present at every port, restaurant, and destination. If influence comes only from the CEO’s title, the organization will grow more slowly than its people are capable of growing.
I ask myself: What makes people with expertise and concerns of their own choose to work together? The answer begins with understanding what they value.
Understand needs before exercising authority
The needs for safety and self-esteem take many forms at work. A captain needs the authority to respond when conditions at sea change. A guide wants their local knowledge to be trusted. A chef needs room to create and a reliable supply of ingredients.
People may value income, status, autonomy, belonging, achievement, or the ability to uphold their professional principles. We cannot infer their priorities from their job titles. Those priorities may also change as their circumstances change.
When discussing a new product, I need to ask more than, “When can we sell it?” I should also ask: “What makes this worth doing for you? Which risks concern you? Who should make the decision?” The answers reveal what matters to the people who will bring the product to life.
Trust is tested in everyday work
Trust has two dimensions: good intentions and the ability to deliver on them. Warmth cannot compensate for an unsafe itinerary. Equally, a technically sound decision can fail when the people responsible for carrying it out feel that their judgment has been dismissed.
If I ask employees about obstacles and then change nothing, our next conversation will be less candid. If a cultural experience looks attractive on paper but places pressure on a local community, leadership requires us to revise the product and explain why. Good intentions must be followed by action.
We must also recognize our biases. Someone who speaks quickly and decisively may readily be seen as competent, while a quieter colleague or a member of the operations team may be overlooked. Yet knowledge of tides, kitchens, or local culture can determine whether a strategy succeeds. At LuxGroup®, I want ideas judged by evidence, not volume or rank.
No influence style works in every situation
As a founder, I naturally lean toward two approaches: attracting people through a vision and bridging through dialogue. “Luxury is Culture” gives us a shared language. A journey along Vietnam’s waterways can connect guests with art, cuisine, people, and the memories carried by our rivers. That vision creates energy when colleagues see how their work contributes to a larger story.
Inspiration, however, cannot replace listening. In developing Vietnam Waterways® 2045, experience designers, marine operations specialists, finance colleagues, and local partners will identify different risks. Bridging means inviting them into the process early enough for their knowledge to change the decision. If every answer has already been settled, asking for input is merely a formality.
Other moments call for other approaches. Investing in a new vessel requires persuasion grounded in market demand, cash flow, and assumptions that can be tested. Safety requirements call for clear expectations and specific responsibilities. When a meeting becomes too tense, it may be better to pause, check the facts, and agree when to return to the discussion.
Our preferred style can be the wrong one for the moment. A vision without common ground sounds like a sales pitch. Data rarely persuades someone whose concerns have not been heard. A command may secure immediate compliance without earning lasting commitment.
Difficult conversations test leadership
Imagine that the sales team wants to launch a new itinerary quickly, while the operations team sees unresolved risks to the schedule and service quality. On the surface, they disagree about a launch date. Emotionally, one side fears missing an opportunity; the other fears being held responsible for a promise the company may not be ready to keep. At a deeper level, both may feel that their expertise is being dismissed.
A leader could fall into the trap of saying, “You always delay things,” or “You don’t understand the market.” I want to practice a different opening: “I see a commercial opportunity here, but I may not understand all the operational constraints. My push for this timeline has also added pressure. What conditions would allow us to sell the experience while keeping our promise to guests?”
This approach does not erase disagreement. It directs the conversation toward evidence, responsibilities, concerns, and the conditions for a sound decision. The leader may still choose a launch date and take responsibility for it. Before deciding, however, they have given those affected a chance to explain the risks and propose a workable way forward.
Feedback calls for the same discipline. Instead of telling a manager that they “lack initiative,” describe a recent decision, explain the consequences of a delay, and ask how they saw the situation. When I receive feedback, I need to ask for specific examples, summarize what I have understood, and then explain my perspective. Both parties should leave knowing what to do differently next time.
Turn a founder’s influence into organizational capability
The measure of a CEO’s influence is not the number of decisions that cross their desk. At LuxGroup®, the more useful questions are these: Do the people closest to guests and operations have the information, authority, and trust to make sound decisions? Can each business retain its identity while meeting shared standards of quality and financial discipline?
We need clear decision rights, explicit investment assumptions, specific feedback, and close attention to the guest experience and its effects on communities. Vision opens the route; trust and execution carry the vessel through the journey.
I want LuxGroup® to grow through people who listen, take responsibility, and help one another succeed, without requiring its founder to be in every room. Then People First® becomes more than a brand promise. It becomes our way of leading.
