greatest wisdom book

Chapter 89
A good leader should be conscious
Therefore, there are three reasons why you are troubled by the army: if you don't know what the army can't do, you can call it an advance; if you don't know what the army can't retreat, you can call it a retreat. If you don't know the power of the three armies but have the same responsibility as the three armies, the sergeants will be suspicious.If the three armies are confused and suspicious, it will be difficult for the princes.

Self-knowledge is important for people, and everyone should have an objective and fair evaluation of their own talents, do their best for things within their own capabilities, and not casually intervene or interfere with things beyond their capabilities.

Lowell, the 22nd president of Harvard University, said: "It is important to know what you can do, but it is more important to know what you can't do." American writer Emerson once read an article that inspired him when he was studying at Harvard University. Quite a lot of stories:

A vulture flew over the palace and saw a yellow warbler in the palace was very favored by the king, so he asked the yellow warbler, "How did you get the king's favor?"

Huang Ying replied: "After I came to the palace, I sang very beautifully. The king liked to hear me sing very much, so he liked me very much, and often adorned me with pearls."

Hearing this, the vulture was very envious. It thought: "I should also learn from the oriole, so maybe the king will like me too." So it flew to the place where the king was sleeping and began to cry.The king happened to be sleeping, and when he heard the buzzing of the vulture, he felt very frightened, so he would go down to see what it was calling.The subordinates went down and came back to report that it was a vulture calling for some reason.The king was very angry, so he ordered his men to catch the vulture and order him to pluck the vulture's feathers.

The vulture returned to the flock full of pain and scars. It became angry and said to other birds everywhere: "This is all caused by the yellow warbler. I must take revenge!"

The ridiculous vulture, without even the most basic self-knowledge, went to sing like a yellow warbler, no wonder it ended up like this.

Nietzsche once said: "As long as a smart person can know himself, he will lose nothing." We must have self-knowledge, that is to say, we should correctly evaluate our abilities, be sure, and be competent, otherwise we may fall into complete confusion. aided in the catastrophe.Even if you can fish in troubled waters for a while, and have certain gains and results, you will eventually be exposed because of shaming.

This is especially important on the battlefield where life and death are at stake. Therefore, Sun Tzu mentioned in "Sun Tzu's Art of War" that when the monarch does not understand the way the army advances and retreats, the internal affairs of the army, and the methods of combat of the army, he will easily interfere with the military. Actions do a lot of harm.

In his opinion, commanding blindly, pretending to be an expert, and engaging in dictatorship are all taboos for the monarch.If these three phenomena exist, the three armies will be confused and suspicious, and the princes will be in trouble.In other words, a catastrophe is imminent.Although it is said that "under the whole world, is it the king's land; on the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers", the monarch has absolute power to kill and kill everything in his territory, but this power is also based on the people's will.After Zhou Youwang played with the princes, his dynasty also became a child's play and ended.Therefore, Sun Wu especially emphasized the king's self-consciousness in military management.

The king is the lord of a country, but if all things are to develop in a good direction, the king must remain conscious, "there is a specialization in the art industry", and you need to consult professionals in the professional field.If an emperor does not understand military affairs and participates in military administration, he will create chaos and disturb the morale of the army, leaving the opponent a chance to win.

Same as the monarch, those who occupy the leadership position must also have self-knowledge. If they assert themselves in areas that they are not good at, and say things that do not conform to their status on important occasions, their leadership position will be shaken, and in severe cases, they will even lose popular support. , All betrayed relatives.In this regard, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, summed up the solution. He said: "A layman can lead an expert. The key is to respect the expert."

Respect for experts requires the self-consciousness of leadership.If you don’t understand technology, you can invite the best technicians; if you don’t understand finance, you can invite the best financial officer; if you don’t understand management, you can invite the best managers. "Know what you know, know what you don't know, that's knowing." In other words, leaders, like everyone else, need to have self-knowledge.

In the course of a person's life, there is a basic formula, that is, we can only do what is within our ability.If a person has no self-knowledge and rushes to do something beyond his ability, he will suffer bad luck in terms of psychology, physical strength and economy.

(End of this chapter)