Canadian entrepreneur and author Bruce Poon Tip did something in 1997 that most tourists to Tibet would never consider. The founder of the travel company G Adventures carried a biography of the Dalai Lama across the border, even though the spiritual leader is reviled by the Chinese government, which drove him into exile in 1959.

Poon Tip was nearly caught with the illegal book, Great Ocean, when Chinese border guards went through his luggage before he left the country.

What saved him from likely going to jail was the officers’ failure to check his day bag.

Poon Tip recounts the tale in his best-selling new book, Looptail: How One Company Changed the World by Reinventing Business (Collins).

"Our logo is a looptail," Poon Tip tells the Georgia Straight during an interview in the lobby of the Vancouver Mariott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel.

He points to the letter on his black fleece jacket, noting that the "G" in G Adventures is accompanied by a swirling "O".

"A translation for Dalai Lama in English is 'Great Ocean'," he explains. "The Great Ocean of wisdom—that's what GO stands for—Great Ocean."

Looptail tells how this down-to-earth dynamo turned a small touring company into a global operation with more than 40 international philanthropic projects

They include a women’s weaving cooperative in Egypt, safe drinking-water programs in Tanzania and Kenya, and a training centre and restaurant that employs former sex workers in Cambodia.

“Everyone loves us today and loves what we stand for,” he says. “But I wanted to document our history, because my biggest leadership challenge is that I have 2,000 employees in over 100 countries. About 50 percent of my employees I’ll never meet in their entire careers with me, so I have to deliver on our brand promise. I have to inspire them to work hard every day, get up and love the brand every day, and also reach their potential in life.”

The 46-year-old entrepreneur says his company brings 17,000 people a year through the Cambodian restaurant for meals. The facility also has a school and medical centre.

It reflects his company’s philosophy, which he calls “paying it forward”. Others might characterize it as creating good karma.

G Adventures also helps fund cataract surgeries in the Himalayas. “Three times a year, we fly 60 doctors and nurses into Tibet,” Poon Tip says. “In 10 days, we can restore the vision of about 350 Tibetans.”

Poon Tip's humble roots spurred him on

Poon Tip grew up in Calgary in a large family of Chinese immigrants from Trinidad.

In his book, he describes several racist incidents he endured as a teenager and young man.

A teacher forced him to take a special-needs test after refusing to believe that English was his first language at home.

He was called a “chink” at school and a "chink" and a "Paki" as a young food-service worker. It bred in him a stubbornness to succeed, eventually leading him to create a company that brought travellers into direct contact with people in the developing world.

With these humble roots, he was thrilled in 2009 to be invited to Vancouver to meet the Dalai Lama. The CBC wanted to film a cross section of Canadians having dinner with the Tibetan Buddhist leader, but Poon Tip says the event was cancelled because the Dalai Lama was exhausted.

Last year, Poon Tip ran into a senior Tibetan official outside an NBA game in Toronto.

“He recognized me, started talking to me and said, ‘Did you want to come to meet His Holiness?’ ” he says.

Naturally, Poon Tip agreed, and he was invited to join the Dalai Lama’s entourage on a trip to Ottawa.

Eventually, the entrepreneur was invited to the Dalai Lama’s hotel room, where the spiritual leader signed a copy of Great Ocean.

Later, at the Ottawa Civic Centre, the Dalai Lama gave a speech—and Poon Tip recalls going into a “dream state”, in which it seemed like all the words were directed at him.

“He was telling me I had to do more, I had to push further with my business and people,” he says.

Upon Poon Tip’s return home, he knew that he had to write a book. He found an agent and within 10 days he had a deal with a publisher.

“After I wrote the book, I then wanted to present it to him,” he says.

He was given his chance when the Dalai Lama visited Portland earlier this year. Poon Tip was given an audience and told the leader about his company’s charitable work in Tibet.

“I presented him with my book,” he reveals. “I asked him to write a blurb at the back.”

The Dalai Lama surprised him by later writing the foreward to Looptail on his own letterhead, describing Poon Tip as “one of those entrepreneurs who understand that human dignity, freedom, and genuine well-being are more important than the mere accumulation of wealth”.

“Not only in his business, but also in this account of his adventures, Bruce Poon Tip is making an active contribution to creating a more peaceful and happier world, while at the same time creating a model from which others can learn,” the Dalai Lama stated.

He had never done that before for a business book.

Poon Tip readily acknowledges that his trips to Tibet and Bhutan have influenced his thinking. And he subscribes to the concept of karma—after all, that’s what his business is based on.

“I consider myself extremely spiritual, but not in a traditional sense of organized religion,” he says. “The biggest misconception is because I’m Asian, people think I’m Buddhist. I get that every single day. People ask me these deep questions about Buddhism.”

Yet his book includes a surprising anecdote about a monk in Bhutan who told Poon Tip that if he took a picture of him, “it won’t come out.”

“When I returned to Toronto and had my slides developed, I was taken aback,” Poon Tip writes in his book. “In my photos, you can see his outline, but he is faded; you can’t see him.…I hesitate to write about this for fear that people will say I’m crazy. My logical side says this didn’t happen. But I’ve got the pictures.”

G Adventures works with aid agencies

Poon Tip has tried to create a company that is the antithesis of an all-inclusive resort and reflects his desire to bring different cultures together.

"In India, for instance, we're using street kids to do our city tours," he says. "They're your tour guides for a day."

His approach has attracted the interest of governments and international funding agencies. The government of Colombia, for example, has invited him to offer input on how to develop a more sustainable tourism industry.

Poon Tip also says that Inter-American Development Bank and one of its members, the Multilateral Investment Fund, have provided grants to promote poverty-reduction projects in Latin America.

"I'm not popular in the nonprofit circles in Washington," he admits. "I went on-stage to talk about it in Washington, and people booed me, which was delightful. The IDB is seen as helping us—it's a government institution—and government institutions should not be working with private-sector companies, in their eyes, to make our business better. We're doing homestays along some of the more remote areas."

Poon Tip reinvents human resources

Poon Tip acknowledges that some people see a contradiction between his company's philanthropic efforts and his unusual approach to human resources.

He says that most companies create rules for the bottom 10 percent, which has a stifling impact on the other 90 percent of workers.

"As companies get bigger, HR clamps down even more on rules and people's freedoms, punishing people who are high achievers because the bottom 10 percent...try to game the system," he says.

G Adventures has adopted a different approach to try to make work more meaningful for employees. Poon Tip promotes what he calls the "four pillars of happiness" at his company:

• The ability to grow

• Being connected

• Being part of something bigger than yourself

• Freedom

"I have a lot of critics who say, 'Bruce practises this business of happiness, but he fires the bottom 10 percent every year'," he says. "We don't fire our bottom 10 percent every year. We identify our bottom 10 percent. They're informed. We have a program to manage them up or out. That's the program."

G Adventures also hires people in different ways. New recruits must  pass the "G factor", which assesses whether they will fit into the company's culture.

Poon Tip explains that when someone is about to be hired, they are brought into a room with three random employees. They could be a receptionist, someone working in the mailroom, or a vice president.

The trio gives the prospect a rating: red light, yellow light, or green light.

"A green light is 100 percent—that person's a great fit," Poon Tip says. "Yellow light? They had too many strikes so there has to be a greater discussion. Red light—there's no exceptions, we can't hire that person."

This gives employees a say in the hiring process. And for those who pass the culture-fit test, they're left with a feeling of accomplishment and immediate acceptance.

He expresses gratification that on the day his book was published, his company attracted its millionth follower on Facebook. And he refuses to call himself the chief executive officer, saying this term is reserved for all employees who interact with customers.

"Most people call me captain of G Adventures," Poon Tip says with a smile. "You can call me whatever you want."