1000 Business Lessons Every Businessman Must Know

Chapter 80 Control of Power: Monopolization of Power, Dispersion of Small Power (1)
[-]. The mind directs the action
650. Being able to mobilize others to do things is a skill
A true leader does not necessarily depend on how strong he is. As long as he knows how to trust, delegate authority, and cherish, he will be able to unite forces stronger than himself and thus increase his worth.On the contrary, because of the pursuit of perfectionism, many very capable people do everything by themselves, thinking that no one is as good as themselves. In the end, they can only be the best public relations personnel and sales representatives, and cannot become excellent leaders.

A smart leader does not do everything personally, but strategizes.Modern leadership theory holds that leaders must do leadership work and not interfere or arrange subordinates' affairs.If the leader has to do everything by himself, on the one hand, he will lose the more important things he should do, and on the other hand, it will dampen the enthusiasm of the subordinates, making them uninitiated, irresponsible, and unable to improve their capabilities.Of course, leaders should sometimes do some specific work, because this helps to deepen the relationship with subordinates and draw wisdom and nutrition from them.But it must be clear: this is by no means the "proper job" of leadership. A leader who "does big and small things by himself, and is busy all day long" is definitely not a competent leader, but a model worker.

The "right job" of a leader is to strategize. He should specialize in doing things that his subordinates can't do or unexpected and unconventional things.What should be done by the subordinates should be done by the subordinates themselves.By empowering them, they can enhance their sense of responsibility, gradually reduce mistakes and improve work efficiency in their work.

The greatest skill of a leader is to mobilize others to do things.Leaders should be in charge, that is, people and resources, but not from head to toe.

651. Hierarchical management instead of leapfrog meddling

After the enterprise develops to a certain scale, it must carry out necessary hierarchical management.The main leaders should not go all the way to the end.That's a "thanks-for-nothing" thing.

The managers of subordinates should be empowered on the basis of clear responsibilities and rewards and punishments.Even if there is a problem, as long as it is not related to the overall situation of the company, the department to which it belongs must handle and solve it by itself.

In this way, the leader can not only be freed from the heavy burden of managing hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people, but only need to manage a few people to maintain the normal operation of the enterprise, and can fully mobilize the enthusiasm, creativity, and subjective enthusiasm of subordinates. Initiative, so that they have a high sense of responsibility for the enterprise, and leaders can also have more time to study the development direction of the enterprise or make major decisions.

652. Think More, See More, Talk Less, Do Less

As a leader, you must not do everything by yourself.Only by standing on the sidelines and watching can you truly see the bystanders and avoid being confused by the authorities; you can judge right and wrong more fairly and effectively; you can truly see which things the company should insist on and which things need to be improved.Even if you are better than your subordinates, don't do everything yourself.Demonstrate it to them if necessary.

As a marshal, if you have to go to the front line in person, as a coach, if you have to go to the sports field to fight, it does not mean that the army is strong and the level of the sports team is very high, but that he will be weak and may not be far from failure up.Just like acting, if the leader sings and dances on the stage, and let the employees point fingers and find faults off the stage, the situation is a bit "putting the cart before the horse".

To easily manage the enterprise and control the overall situation, we must be more referees and less athletes, more directors and even audiences and less actors on stage.

653. Smart in Big Things, Not Confused in Small Things

As a leader of an enterprise, one must first distinguish what is a major event of the enterprise and what is an insignificant matter in the enterprise.All major events related to the development and survival of the enterprise must be treated with caution and must not be taken lightly.And big things don't happen every day.For those trivial matters, let the subordinate departments solve them by themselves according to the division of labor.Don't get bogged down in tedious affairs and be unable to extricate yourself, and be confused by those small things that can't be managed and can't be managed well, which will affect the big decision-making.However, we must also observe and analyze the causes and effects of some small things keenly, and don't make big mistakes because of small things.However, in general, you don't have to deal with it yourself.

Only when leaders get rid of tedious affairs can they stand tall and see far, can they correctly weigh the pros and cons of business management from a higher perspective, and can better consider the company's development plans and major decisions.Of course, to manage enterprises easily and efficiently, and to achieve a certain degree of "governance by doing nothing" also requires certain conditions or foundations.Business leaders must have certain theoretical knowledge and practical experience, and must be very familiar with the people and things in the company they manage.There must also be a certain measure or mind.Only in this way can practice make perfect, skillful people are bold, so as to realize easy management.

654. Combining "brains" and "legs"

In a sense, power has great flexibility. Due to subjective and objective reasons, the effective scope of power exercised by leaders is often quite different from the authority stipulated by the organization. This gap reflects the comprehensive ability and position of leaders to use power. degree of adaptability.

Leaders, especially the leaders of large-scale enterprises, should use intelligence instead of strength to collect information, find problems early, and plan strategies to win a decisive victory thousands of miles away.However, in order to obtain broad and real information, communicate feelings with employees, understand and grasp the situation and problems of the enterprise in a timely manner, at the same time, it is necessary to conduct in-depth field investigations and research to obtain first-hand information, and go to workshops, departments, and even employees as much as possible. Walk around the house.

For example, Mitsutoshi Soto advocated the walking management method. After he took over the declining Toshiba Electric, he inspected the factory every day, and finally visited more than 30 Toshiba factories and enterprises across the country, eating and chatting with the workers, and going to work every morning. Greet workers at the door from time to time.Under the influence of this hard-working atmosphere, Toshiba quickly moved towards revitalization.

[-]. How leaders control power

655. Controlling power is expensive and contingency

In the eyes of contingency changers, power control is an art, which lies between "one best method" and "any method matters".As the American management expert Custer pointed out: "A manager is a diagnostician. He is practical and effective. He is also an artist." Every leader who manages modern socialized production should strive to become proficient in contingencies. artist.

From the perspective of contingency, contingency includes the following three aspects: first, assessing the situation; second, it varies from person to person, time, and place;Because any employment activity is a multi-factor dynamic process, especially modern power activities, it is a variety of variables or even an infinite number of possible combinations. Effective power does not depend on unchanging principles and methods, but on the employment of people. The correct coordination of the relationship between the employer, the user and the employment environment.

In general, effective and successful leadership must be based on reality, adapt to the situation, and be good at flexible control.Leaders who are flexible in power activities, have the ability to solve problems and meet any challenges in dynamic and uncertain environments, and are managers and organizers who use the methods and arts of power most skillfully.

656. Basic principles of power control

As a leader, you must master the good use of weight and emotional input.If you give too much weight, your subordinates will think you are inhumane and lack understanding, which will lead to rebellious psychology and unwillingness to make achievements; if you give too much emotional input, you will appear weak and lack the deterrent power you deserve, so they will give you orders or instructions. On deaf ears.Therefore, as a leader, we must grasp the issues of principle.

1. Democratic Principles
The principle of democracy means that in the process of exercising power, leaders follow the mass line, listen to the views of employees, play a collective leadership role, and implement democratic decision-making.

The principle of democracy is the basic principle that leaders should follow in dealing with the relationship with employees at work.

2. Principle of law
The principle of law means that leaders must use power correctly within the scope stipulated by laws, systems, and policies.

Leaders should pay attention to the legal system, strengthen the legal system within their own authority, and manage in strict accordance with laws and systems.Any management is the management of a unit, the management of a group.Management requires law. Without law, the unit itself will hardly exist, and the group will inevitably disintegrate.The management of a country requires national laws, and the management of a unit also requires rules and regulations.Only when a group acts within certain rules can the integrity, stability, normality and harmony of the group be guaranteed.

3. Integrity principle
The principle of integrity means that when leaders use power, they must be law-abiding, honest and self-disciplined, not use power for personal gain, and use power to better serve the enterprise.

Adhering to the principle of integrity and not using power for personal gain is not a profound theoretical issue, but a practical issue. The most important thing is action and self-awareness.Whether a leader is honest or not does not depend on how many measures he has formulated or how many statements he has made, but how well he has done in exercising his power.Only when a leader eliminates individualism and selfish distractions, and does not play his own "small calculations", can he adhere to the principle of integrity.

657. Don't Let Your Subordinates Lead You By The Nose

As the leader of an enterprise, you will inevitably have a few arrogant people under your command. These arrogant people are very dangerous to you.They are always like the "boss", exerting their authority everywhere, and their opinions are not to help others, but to control you.For this kind of person, you must try to make him submit to your authority.

It is inevitable to be bitten by a snake once. The important thing is to learn lessons, sum up experience, increase vigilance, and improve insight. Be careful with people who don’t know clearly for a while. Test, listen to other people's opinions when things happen, and don't rush to entrust important tasks.

In fact, there are not a few leaders who have been deceived and framed by villains in reality.Those who are good at leading and controlling subordinates with different personalities and behaviors are the trendsetters in the business world, the masters in the business world, and the elites in management.Leaders with such leadership are good at observing and learning from the very beginning, paying attention to recognizing the good and bad people in society.Good at grasping the law of activities of villains; being good at absorbing the experience and lessons of predecessors, learning and mastering the whole set of skills of hunting, taming, manipulating villains and preventing them from being framed by him, and manipulating him at will, this is the highest state of using villains.Because running a business, sometimes it is necessary to use evil to control evil.

658. Quan is not confused when it comes to major events
It is rare for a leader to be "confused", but he is a little "confused" on some issues, he can advance, attack, retreat and defend, and handle problems with ease, so people often say "great wisdom is like a fool".

However, when a "confused" leader has three points to pay attention to:
First, the so-called "confused" is "pretending to be confused". The incisiveness of Dazhi Ruoyu lies not in "stupid", but in the word "ruo".

Putting myself in the role of "not knowing" is just for the convenience of dealing with things in the future, but this does not mean that I really don't know, or shouldn't know, and don't understand the situation and grasp the information.

Second, the main purpose of "pretending to be confused" is not to shirk responsibility, but to grasp the initiative to adjust and make decisions in order to adapt.

If you want to shirk responsibility, wouldn't it be better to let go of it?In addition, leaders must not be "confused" about everything, and they must not pretend to be confused about matters that they should be responsible for or important matters related to the development and survival of the enterprise.

Third, you can let things go to your subordinates without interference.But you must not be confused when it comes to employing people, and you must be cautious in choosing people. The so-called "great wisdom" lies in this.

If a leader wants to clean up the mess by himself, it means that he has made mistakes in employing people, and it is no different from being really confused.Leaders should establish a tacit understanding with their subordinates, so that subordinates understand that it is beneficial to the enterprise for them to take responsibility.At the same time, the leader himself must understand that sometimes subordinates take responsibility to make sacrifices for the leader. If they are wrong, the criticism is theirs, but it must not affect the overall situation.

As a leader, it is necessary to be "confused" at the right time. If you can use the art of confusion to deal with and solve practical problems freely, you will be a leader who has mastered the art of "confusion".

659. Strictly implement various rules and regulations
Discipline is the guarantee that leadership intentions will be realized.Leaders and subordinates must strictly implement various rules and regulations.Those who violate the regulations must be severely punished without mercy.

The army has military laws, and the mountains have mountain rules.The various rules and regulations formulated by the company cannot be a decoration.As a leader, you should use effective means to ensure its implementation. Once someone violates the rules, you must be punished, and you must not be lenient.

In order to promote a good culture of self-discipline, leaders should take the following clear steps:
1. Wide publicity
Many leaders take it for granted that "everyone knows these regulations."But newcomers, and even some veterans, don't hear about a rule until they break it.

The leaders of some foreign companies routinely send a copy of the company regulations to each employee, and ask them to sign a statement that they have received, read and understood the company regulations.This approach is well worth emulating.

2. Stay calm
No matter how serious the violation is, the leader should remain calm and not lose control.If you feel like you're losing your cool, you should wait until you've calmed down before taking action.

How can I calm down?Keep your mouth shut, speak later, and do something to procrastinate.Remember never to lose your temper with employees.

3. Investigate and understand
Leaders should not ignore violations of company policy.If you do this, you are showing other employees that you do not intend to enforce company rules and regulations.Nor should you go to the other extreme and punish or discipline employees hastily.Before you act, before you make a decision about what to do, you have to figure out what went wrong and why the employee did it.

4. Private punishment
If discipline is done publicly, the disciplined employee will resent the public criticism.

There is only one exception to the rule about dealing in private, and that's when an employee publicly turns against you in front of other people.In such a situation, you must act quickly and decisively in public or risk losing control.If you don't act decisively, you will lose the respect of its employees.

5. Equal treatment

The regulations are formulated for everyone to abide by.Leaders and employees must abide by it, and any violations will be punished.

6. Resolutely fair
Resolute doesn't mean being rude or bullying, it doesn't mean applying excessive pressure and keeping one's position, but being fair to both employees and the company.To be fair to employees means to be well-founded.It includes explaining clearly why the company has developed this regulation, why it has taken such a disciplinary action, and what effect you want this action to have.

7. Eliminate resentment
Remember, the purpose of discipline is to educate, not to punish.Therefore, leaders should express to their employees that you trust him to correct mistakes.Talking to employees on a positive note after a disciplinary action will help eliminate feelings of distress and resentment.

660. Only by strict self-discipline can one discipline others
If an ordinary person wants to gain the respect of others, he must have excellent qualities that others do not have, especially as an enterprise manager.If you don't have a unique style, it will be difficult for you to gain the respect of your subordinates; and in this trait, the most important thing is the manager's own self-requirement, which is actually very natural.There is a saying that "only by discipline yourself can you discipline others".

Requiring your own principles and methods is not something that can be achieved overnight.You must have the determination and perseverance of "the three armies can win the commander, but the common man cannot lose the ambition", exercise yourself through continuous attempts and efforts, and push yourself step by step to the realm of excellent leadership.

So, do you ask more of yourself than your subordinates?Do you occasionally put yourself in the shoes of your subordinates from an objective standpoint?You must know that this attitude and self-cultivation are what you must possess as a leader.A person who thinks about himself all the time is by no means a good leader. You must know that in the process of making these efforts, your every move cannot escape the observation of your subordinates.

Regrettably, some leaders always ignore or are incapable of fulfilling this "self-requirement", and always like to blame others when they encounter problems.They feel especially at ease doing something that is downright ridiculous.

Only by cultivating good self-discipline and setting an example for subordinates can they command subordinates better.

661. Both Soft and Hard, Appropriate Rewards and Punishments

The nature of ordinary people is to like rewards and fear punishment.Therefore, leaders can use both hard and soft tactics to manage subordinates and make them act according to their own intentions.

The strategy of acting both hard and soft is the traditional way of controlling officials in ancient China.As early as the pre-Qin period, Han Fei clearly pointed out: "Everything governing the world must be based on human feelings. Human feelings have likes and dislikes, so rewards and punishments can be used."

In the thousands of years since then, all successful politicians, whether it is Liu Bang, Cao Cao, Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang, etc., are all masters of rewards and punishments.

Reward is a means of positive reinforcement, that is, to affirm a certain behavior so that it can be consolidated and maintained.Punishment, on the other hand, belongs to negative reinforcement, that is, to deny a certain behavior and make it gradually decrease.Both of these methods are indispensable for leading and managing subordinates.

When leaders use them, they must grasp the different characteristics of the two and use them appropriately.Generally speaking, positive reinforcement is based on positive guidance and makes people act consciously. It has more advantages and should be used more often; while negative reinforcement is carried out through threats and intimidation, it is easy to cause opposition emotions, so it should be used with caution , which should be used as an aid.

662. Make Punishments Steady, Accurate, and Severe
Leaders should be skillful in using criticism and punishment. "Slap" is very important, but it must be slapped loudly and absolutely.Specifically, the slap must be "steady, accurate, and ruthless."

stable.It is also risky to use tough measures to punish a person.This is mainly due to the fact that the punished sometimes has good interpersonal relationships, sometimes has key technical information, and sometimes has a very strong background.

(End of this chapter)