Bowing into the game means empathy,

When you face a contradiction or two embarrassing journeys,

How to resolve it smoothly?

People who can empathize to solve problems,

It is what the company needs most.

In April 2022, I "dissuaded" a war zone leader, although this manager had participated in the company's brand upgrade and corporate culture change, and was one of the core members of the company's change.

He graduated from 985 prestigious university and worked for Fortune 500 companies before joining the company. Compared with other managers at the same level, he has many advantages. He has rich workplace experience and should know all about management knowledge. Moreover, he graduated from a famous university with a science and engineering degree. He has strong rational thinking ability and can understand the new measures and new policies introduced by the company. , can always draw inferences.

I not only selected him as a core member of the company's transformation, but also invited him to attend all important meetings, and I also arranged for him to participate with me in some very limited external high-end trainings. Anyone who understands can understand it, and he belongs to one of the "red men around the boss". However, his performance is very unsatisfactory, and the talent inventory is at the bottom.

Why? I have a big question mark, why is such an excellent partner unable to achieve performance?

01 Bow down and enter the game, not a bystander

Zeng Guofan once said: "In the world, it is always useless to shout and discuss outside the bureau. It is necessary to bow down and take responsibility. There is hope for success."

Luo Zhenyu told a story at his 2020 New Year's Eve speech: On a narrow ridge, two farmers with heavy burdens met. None of them wanted to let anyone, because the road was too narrow. If anyone gives in first, he has to go down the ridge, stand in the paddy field, and get a foot in the mud. There were a lot of people watching the fun standing on the edge of the field. Some said, "The young man should let the old man." Some said, "The one with the heavy burden should let the one with the light burden." There were different opinions, but the two people on the ridge ignored neither of them, and just stood there with big eyes and small eyes. . Things seem to be deadlocked. After a while, another person came. He didn't say anything, pushed away the melon eaters, walked barefoot into the field ridge, and said to the elder: "Come on, I'll go down to the field, hand over the burden to me, I'll pick it up for you, you This side, isn't it just over?" Look, a seemingly inexplicable matter is solved like this.

Sometimes, just a little change in identity, from a bystander to a person in the middle, can turn things around.

Zeng Guofan, a famous master in the Qing Dynasty, called this kind of person "the person who bows to the game", and we call this kind of person "the person who does things". "People who do things" are not solving imaginary problems, but responding to real-world challenges.

Recently, Bill Gates, the richest man and bestie in the United States, gave a speech to the 2021 graduates, and he said a few paragraphs that resonated strongly with me: "As a part of the earth's common life circle, your actions will have global impact. No matter what. Whatever your professional goals, no matter where you call home or how you define yourself, you will have ways, big or small, to make the world a better place.

However, don't question your room for improvement, now or in the future. After all, the world you live in has proven time and time again that progress is possible—a world that has rebuilt from the ravages of war, defeated smallpox, fed a growing population, and lifted more than a billion people out of abject poverty.

These advances are not accidental or out of luck. It's a group of people who make promises in exchange for their lives and careers, who are willing to contribute to a common mission and move us forward, and you are no different from them. "

In these inspiring words of Bill Gates, the key words are "your action" and "make a promise", which are two important characteristics of "people who do things".

Businesses don’t need people who speak beautifully with their hands on their hips, let alone as a manager. You must prove yourself with solid actions and extraordinary performance. If you want to live a relaxed and comfortable life, please don't be a business manager.

02 Bow down and enter the game, don't be a smart bastard

Customer-centric, this is the game of genius; leadership-centric, it is the habit of slaves; self-centric, it is a fool's trick. Most people, subconsciously, think that leadership is to release tasks and then supervise others to complete them.

If it's that simple, almost everyone is a leader, do you think it's possible?

In addition to discussing vision, mission, and values with employees, good leaders use actions to inspire subordinates and colleagues. When the work is the most difficult, you are with them, and when you encounter problems, you work hard to solve them. Cheer for the progress of the subordinates, but also find solutions for the difficulties of the subordinates.

Going back to the aforementioned executive who was "dissuaded", he does possess many external conditions of an excellent leader, but what he lacks is the spirit of "bending himself into the game and being responsible".

When I ask some managers about the store and department, I usually hear two types of answers: one is how we are solving the problem, they are putting themselves into the "inning", and they are actively jumping into the paddy field" Bowers". Another type is that his answer is basically to ask his subordinates, his job is to "arrange it", as if the matter is nothing to do with him. My favorite is of course the "bowmen".

I have two opinions on how to bow and enter the game:

01 Bow down and enter the game, to enter the subordinate's game

As a superior, you should not only be the arranger of work tasks, but also discuss the path to achieve your goals with employees. The more difficult the work, the more guidance you must give to employees.

If you simply transfer the company's tasks to your subordinates, you will not be able to take on the responsibilities of your own position, and you will not be respected by your subordinates and customers.

02 Bow down to enter the game, to enter the customer's game

In every position and department in the company, there are customers within the company. Everyone's work is not centered on the superior leaders, but customer-centered and empowering for customers. To empower customers, we must think from the customer's standpoint, carry out work from the customer's standpoint, and "bow down" into the customer's "game".

Managers with poor performance and satisfaction mostly do not "bow down" or "enter the game".

Here is the problem of the executive who was "dissuaded". How could such a smart person be so ignorant?

In fact, managers like him can be found everywhere, including state-owned enterprises, foreign enterprises, and private enterprises. They are a group of "smart bastards."

However, I don't want such people in the company. Through performance appraisal and talent inventory, these people will be exposed.

We put "achieving employees" as the company's vision. This kind of "war zone leader" who does not enter the game not only fails to achieve employees, but also delays everyone's future.

Seriously, this kind of person is contempt for the company's values.

Jack Welch's way of employing people is that if the performance does not meet the standards and the values do not match the company's, it is very simple to ask him to leave immediately.

This is also the reason why we "persuaded to quit" the "commander of the theater".

03 Bow down and enter the game, be the master of the organization

There was an article before "Set up a "Forrest Gump Award", and applaud the "fool" seriously", which mentioned that "the best employees are neither the smartest, nor the most flexible, nor the most experienced", Their success is based on the "principle of compound interest" that accumulates small progress.

Pay attention to the winners of the first "Forrest Gump Award", they all have the good qualities of "bending" and "entering the game", and they are more responsible. And observe those people whose performance and satisfaction are often at the bottom, they may not be too bad in their professional level, and they have done a lot on the job surface. What they lack is the quality of life and the precious spirit of being responsible.

What is more valuable for those who are involved in the game is not only to go deep into their own business or the business of their subordinates, but also to actively exert their influence on matters that are not within their scope of responsibility, and to provide suggestions and methods to solve organizational problems.

No matter what position you are in, you can always think of yourself as the "master of the organization" and act. This overall view and sense of responsibility are actually a kind of leadership. Every manager exerts this leadership, and the organization certainly has strong leadership and combat effectiveness.

"Going into the game and being responsible" is a requirement for managers' "action power". The real action is to go deep into the business scenario and work with customers and subordinates to solve problems, overcome difficulties, face challenges and take responsibilities together. If you lose, you will fight to the death, and if you win, you will raise a glass to celebrate.

As a manager, you should never forget your thoughts and actions on the core issue of "what role do you play in the development of an enterprise". You forgot about it, it seems that you want to be relaxed and eat a vegetarian meal. Isn't that a delay?

I once put forward a concept called "arbor-type employees". They have their own vision and mission, see problems with patterns, do things with responsibilities, and are willing to learn, so they grow rapidly and gradually become the pillars of the enterprise.

Arbor-type employees are not born, but come out through horse racing in actual work, not from horses.

From the employee's own point of view, it is only by "going into the game" that they can become a talent, and they are neither overwhelmed by difficulties nor tempted by short-term interests. On the other hand, the person in charge of the theater who was "dissuaded from retirement", unfortunately, as a manager, he could not even meet the standard of "arbor-type employee".

As a manager, if you do not exercise leadership, you are wasting power and time, seriously affecting the morale of the team. Naturally, you will deliver poor performance, and the team will naturally fail your score. Unfortunately, our company regards "achieving employees" as the company's vision, so there is no reason for you to continue to stay.

Friends in management positions, please cherish the leadership in your hands.

In the competition of enterprises, there is absolutely no such thing as pampering. If you don't understand this, what you can only wait for is "persuade to quit".

With the impact of the epidemic on the economic downturn and increasingly fierce market competition, many companies have encountered bottlenecks in their development, their market shares have gradually been eroded, and the shortcomings of company operations have gradually emerged. How to solve them?

 In the process of development, enterprises can easily become bloated and lose the ability to quickly respond to market changes. With the passage of time, the vitality of the enterprise has disappeared, the competitiveness has regressed, and there are fewer and fewer capable employees. This is a problem that many companies will encounter. How to improve management?

In such an era, if an enterprise wants to become bigger and stronger, in addition to providing high-quality products and perfect services, it also needs to have a mature and effective business model, so that the enterprise can achieve more effective development.

Text/Shen Dongjun, Chairman and CEO of Laishen Tongling;

Postdoctoral fellow at Nanjing University Business School,

Doctor of Business Administration, Macau University of Science and Technology, EMBA, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Source: Experience Workshop (ID: ClecChina)