Lots of universities run a wide range of courses for students nationwide to actively contribute to developing the next generation of Cambodian leaders.Post Plus got a chance to speak to Say Savuth, founder of the vbuild program who quit his job to fullfil his dream of passing on his leading skills to the young.

How did the vbuild leaders program come into existence? And what is your belief behind this mission?

Vbuild leaders came into existence to create great leaders who can build a better Cambodia. Great people build great companies. Great leaders empower greater leaders. Great parents nurture greater kids. Great teachers with greater hopes, dreams and aspirations inspire each student they teach. At vbuild leaders, we build leaders for tomorrow – one person at a time. We do that through different training programs, workshops and seminars.

Who are your target clients?

Our clients fit into two different categories: Those who can pay and those who cannot. Those who can pay include Cambodia’s young entrepreneurs, staff from private companies and members of the government. Those who cannot afford to pay are typically high school and university students.

What courses do you offer?

We currently offer six training programs. Each is designed to teach different skills. We have courses for leadership skills, selling skills, public speaking and presentation skills and teamwork and interpersonal communication skills. We also have a course called Becoming a Winner and another titled Staff Motivation Secrets and Skills for Frontline Managers.

Tell us more about your leadership skills training program?

The program seeks to convince trainees that they need to build and empower leaders. And to achieve this, these leaders need to be role models who positively impact the lives of their staff. Investing in leaders within your current staff is the most cost-effective means to grow a business.

Becoming a winner is an interesting title. Can you explain more?

Sure. Winning or failure is a habit, as well as a mindset. That habit originates from the thoughts we have about ourselves. So to change those habits, we need to first change our thoughts. The motivational program is designed to change people’s mindsets by adopting positive self-affirmations. We actually transform negative thinking into positive thinking, changing people’s outlook on life through thoughts, words and actions.

How do you ensure your participants learn and improve?

In our training programs, we structure our topics and activities to ensure people really learn. It’s believed that most of us are afraid of change, yet at the same time we want to improve. And until we completely understand the benefits change can bring, we will remain apprehensive. So we help our trainees make informed decisions. After the training program, we then keep people connected online and offline to learn from each other’s progress.

What makes your program so unique?

Well, I would say we focus on providing quality, and we humbly respect and care for the personal and professional development of our trainees, regardless of their social or economic status. Two of our core slogans are “there’s no limit to success”, and “remain positive no matter what.” These aren’t just slogans because at vbuild we walk the walk and talk the talk.

What makes you so confident that you are up for such a job?

Over the last 13 years, I have worked with people in the insurance industry, at universities and in the food beverage industry, as well as with business development consultants, advertisers and commercial banks nationwide. Indeed, I’ve learned a lot from my own experiences but also from excellent managers in different working environments. I also study world business leaders, politicians, scholars and philosophers for inspiration and learn from their own success. And, currently, besides being the founder and leadership trainer of vbuild leaders, I am the chairman of the board for Buddhism for Social Development Action.

Tell us who are a few of your existing clients?

My existing clients include Dreamland Park, Oral Drinking Water Group, Hattha Kaksekar Limited, Borey Peng Huoth and Delta Microfinance.

How are you charging your clients, by the way?

We charge our clients an average fee for those who can afford it and no fee to those who cannot. We therefore conduct different workshops and seminars for different types of clients.

Is the quality different for payable and non-payable clients?

The quality is slightly different. The key difference is the length of the program and the topics addressed in each workshop or seminar. For paying clients, our workshops have limited seating and last three days, while the others are unlimited in size and last for one day. For the paying clients we have the time to focus on each and every participant, while for the latter we do not. Therefore, the latter program focuses on motivational talks for personal development or goal setting. But even these topics can help change lives completely if they are committed and ready to learn.

How often do you organize free workshops or seminars?

We do not organize these workshop ourselves. It’s the responsibility of universities, businesses and organizations to contact us. People can visit us at www.vbuildleaders.com or call 099919144 to discuss our programs.