In his book, 'The Offsite', renowned speaker and workshop leader Robert H. Thompson aims to use fiction to teach leadership techniques.

"I started writing a different leadership book, but I gave up on that," said Mr. Thompson, who is visiting the Island for his 25th wedding anniversary. "I went to a bookstore and there were plenty of leadership books there already."

Mr. Thompson took stories that he would tell in his speeches and wrote them down, tying them together as a story, which he hopes will help its readers find happiness in their work.

"The characters go through scenarios that we all go through," Mr. Thompson said.

Mr. Thompson entered the field of public speaking after hiring a speaker to work with his staff and finding himself intrigued, intrigued enough to found Applied performance.

"I wasn't going to speak," said Mr. Thompson, but when a speaker was unable to attend an event, the speaker told Mr. Thompson that he could do it himself.

"I memorised all the words, and I got some good reviews," said Mr. Thompson. He chose to continue speaking, forming bonds with premier management leadership speaker Tom Peters and Jim Kouzes, who wrote the forward for 'The Offsite.'

Mr. Thompson specifies that his book is about leadership, not management. "Leadership is about guiding others to discover who they are and where they go. It's not about position," Mr. Thompson said. "The emphasis of the book is that leadership is an internal choice, not a title or positional thing. It shouldn't be looked at in an organisational perspective."

His work, in both his workshops and his book, focus on the concept of the five practices of the Leadership Challenge developed by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart.

"It's about eliminating the gaps between beliefs and behaviour."

Once he had the idea for the book, it took Mr. Thompson two years to write, but now, he says he wouldn't change it, even if he could.

"'The Offsite' is my baby. The characters are my friends. It's an unbelievable feeling to turn in something like this."

The story of 'The Offsite' revolves around the employees of two pharmaceutical companies spending a weekend at an offsite leadership training workshop and the workshop leaders/speakers seeking to inspire positive change.

"The reaction has been very good," he said.

Already, Mr. Thompson is working on two other projects. The first is a sequel focusing on the newspaper industry and the internet age, and the second project is a screenplay inspired by travelling through Europe.

Mr. Thompson, who resides in San Diego, also said that he looks forward to visiting Bermuda again. "I'll be back. I'd love to find a way to return as soon as possible," he said.