Zeng Guofan's 12-character tips
It's best to memorize it
Every leader will focus on the question: In the context of Chinese society and culture, what kind of leadership will make a leader successful? For this question, Zeng Guofan may be one of the clues to uncover the answer.
Whether it is Mao Zedong's saying that "being foolish to one's neighbor and obeying Zeng Wenzheng alone" or Chiang Kai-shek's statement that Zeng Guofan acts as a person "enough to be a teacher for my people", it all shows the fact that as a leader, Zeng Guofan has many places worth learning from.
01
Lide made meritorious contributions
The chinese ancients' highest evaluation of a person is the so-called "three immortals of morality, meritorious service, and speech". Zeng Guofan is one of the few figures in Chinese history who can truly reach the realm of "three immortals".
"Lide" is the cultivation of morality and the realm of cultivation. Zeng Guofan's achievements in this regard are very high. Empress Dowager Cixi once had an evaluation of Zeng Guofan, saying that he was "the first perfect person in ancient and modern times", that is, the most perfect person in ancient times.
What did Zeng Guofan pursue in his life? Be a sage. What is a sage? Simply put, it is a morally perfect person. So his motto was "Not for the sages, but for the beasts". In his view, there are only two realms in life: either a sage or a beast. This idea of becoming a sage formed a powerful internal driving force for his lifelong pursuit of excellence.
In addition to "Lide", Zeng Guofan also "made meritorious contributions". The so-called "meritorious service" means making meritorious contributions and accomplishing things.
One of the biggest things Zeng Guofan did was to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Politically, of course, this matter can be evaluated completely differently, but you have to admit that it is very difficult for him to do it.
Zeng Guofan was a man of letters, not a military general. The Xiang Army he led was not a regular army of the state, but a local armed force. The Xiang Army was originally a regimental training, that is, a militia, a local armed force temporarily recruited by will outside the state system, and could not be supported by state resources.
A literati who did not understand military affairs led a temporary armed force outside the system to accomplish a cause that the regular army could not accomplish, which naturally had a lot to do with the leadership of Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan was able to build the Xiang Army into the most effective unit of that era in such a short period of time, which reflected Zeng Guofan's strong leadership.
In terms of "making a statement", Zeng Guofan is also beyond ordinary people. Zeng Guofan has rich experience and is also good at summarizing, often summarizing his understanding of life and society into a word, a sentence, a couplet, and shared with others. His summaries are often popular, but profound and intriguing.
For example, the three fears of life he summarized, "fear of the Mandate of Heaven, fear of people's words, and fear of the King's Father", and the three taboos of the Heavenly Dao, "jealousy, jealousy, and jealousy", are all talks of life experience.
The four defeats of the officials he pointed out are "the defeat of those who fall into office, the defeat of those who are arrogant and arrogant, the defeat of those who are greedy and unscrupulous, and the defeat of those who repeat and deceive", which can be described as profound. Almost all the officials in the official arena today have fallen into these four defeats.
Li Hongzhang was very impressed by this point of Zeng Guofan, and he once said to people: "The ancients said that a word can be done for life, and there is really a reason!" (The ancients said a word that you can follow it for a lifetime, and there is really such a truth!) ）
When talking about the principle of life summed up by Zeng Guofan, Liang Qichao also said: "What He said, every word is experienced, but it is practical, so it is kind and flavorful, and the current recipients of Ziwu are beyond the words of Confucianism after the Tang and Song dynasties." ”
Liang Qichao's words translated into the vernacular are: the words he (referring to Zeng Guofan) said were all from experience and in line with reality, so they were kind and tasteful, which could benefit us infinitely, and was not comparable to those Confucians after the Tang and Song dynasties.
02
Avenue to humble
The Zeng Guofan in many people's hearts is often an image of being skilled in power and scheming. Zeng Guofan thus became synonymous with official power plots. In fact, the core of Zeng Guofan's success is not a plot, but an idea.
Zeng Guofan was not a talented and intelligent person. Zuo Zongtang's evaluation of Zeng Guofan was "slightly too shallow", and he was a "bookworm", that is, a nerd. Liang Qichao also said that Zeng Guofan "did not have a superior genius, but was called the most blunt among the sages of the time" (he did not have extraordinary talent, and was considered the most stupid among the outstanding figures at that time).
However, Zeng Guofan's success lies in the fact that he has developed a set of "hardship" and "humble" kung fu.
The so-called "hardship and encouragement" is to work hard from hardship step by step. Zeng Guofan said, "I think I am stupid and gentle, and I have no other place to go." (I am stupid and weak in talent, and there is no place to start except to be sleepy and reluctant.) ）
The so-called "humble sincerity" is to do things without opportunistic intentions, step by step, and to do it in a down-to-earth manner.
In our view today, Zeng Guofan's leadership is not completely devoid of the factor of power and strategy, but it is generally based on the principle of enlightenment, simplicity as the basis for employing people, sincerity as the basis for driving generals, patience as the basis for curing the heart, tolerance as the basis for handling things, the overall situation as the basis for decision-making, and diligence as the basis for governing things. At its core, it is the concept of "loyalty and blood".
Zeng Guofan was a scholar and faced a very dangerous environment. On the one hand, the Taiping Army was invincible and overwhelming. On the other hand, the era in which he lived was the end of the feudal dynasty. The entire ruling clique is scattered, materialistic, mercenary, and faltering.
In Zeng Guofan's view, what was terrible was not the rebellion of the Taiping Army, but the drowning of the people's hearts. Military failure is only a symptom, and behind it is the collapse of the value system. Therefore, it is imperative to use the concept of "loyalty and blood" as the core to stimulate the conscience and change people's hearts. Driven by "sacrificing oneself to defend the Tao" and "loyalty and bloodiness", Zeng Guofan's Xiang army did show combat effectiveness that was different from other armies.
Therefore, Zeng Guofan's leadership is fundamentally that he used his ideas to inspire a group of people with the same values to devote themselves to his so-called cause, thus making the Xiang Army the "first socialist army" in Chinese history (Jiang Baili), which is also the fundamental reason why he was finally able to complete the cause of quelling the "great chaos".
03
Chinese-style leadership
Zeng Guofan's leadership is a typical Chinese style of leadership. This kind of leadership embodies the basic spirit of Chinese culture.
The focus of traditional Chinese culture emphasizes "self-cultivation", "inner saint and outer king", and "physical usefulness".
In Chinese view, leaders must have the dual qualifications of "holy" and "king"; there must be "holy" people cultivating their own body, and then they can rule for the "king" to govern others. What Chinese culture emphasizes is that the cultivation of inner character is the premise of leadership growth. In the most popular words, it is to learn to be a person first, and then learn to do things, and being a person is the foundation of leadership.
Zeng Guofan had both the qualifications of a saint and a king, resulting in the leadership of spiritual undertakings, and his leadership was infiltrated from traditional culture. This really reflects the great wisdom and great realm of Chinese culture.
Interestingly, although Zeng Guofan inevitably carries the limitations of that era, many of the contents he summed up and personally practiced, which we see today as typically closely related to Chinese cultural characteristics, such as patience, tolerance, caution, humility, decisiveness, frankness, simplicity, forgiveness, perseverance, etc., are precisely the leadership qualities that are increasingly valued in contemporary Western management theory.
These contents are not only necessary elements for leaders to succeed in the Chinese context, but also common traits necessary for great leaders.
Zeng Guofan's leadership can be described as "Yang Zhi MiGao". Professor Gong Yuzhen, a professor of management at Peking University, summed up the key points of Zeng Guofan's leadership in twelve words in his book "Twelve Lectures on Zeng Guofan's Leadership": heavy, patient, hun, bright, spicy, cautious, diligent, realistic, leisurely, generous, forgiveness, and strength.
"Heavy", heavy and steady. Lü Kun once said in "Groaning Language" that "deep and thick is the first-class qualification", and "heavy" reflects the external image and inner connotation that a leader should have in the Chinese cultural environment.
"Patience", patience, patience. Zeng Guofan often said that "to be an official is to be patient as the first meaning." For leaders, emotional response is a sign of immaturity, and patience is a compulsory lesson for leaders.
"Muddy", muddy and thick. Shrewdness is the first realm of the leader, and thickness is the second realm of the leader. In the words of Zeng Guofan, "Shrewdness must also be very strong, and it is only necessary to hide in the thick." "Hun" is a state of inclusion.
"Clear", clear, sober. Zeng Guofan said: "Doing things with clear characters as the first meaning." "Ming" has fundamental value for the success or failure of leaders' leadership behavior. A good leader is a combination of cleverness and shrewdness.
"Spicy", spicy and decisive. "Spicy" is a kind of decisive force, dare to shoot at key moments, dare to make a decision, dare to make a decision, dare to take responsibility. "Spicy" is an essential quality for those who become great things.
"Cautious", cautious, self-controlled. "Always having a reverential heart is the way to cherish blessings", which is the key for leaders to always maintain a clear mind and self-control consciousness. Self-control is always a virtue for leaders.
"Diligent", diligent, diligent. "Diligence is the first meaning of life." "There are no people in the world who can not come from hardships but can be great for a long time." "Diligence" should achieve "five to", that is, to the body, the heart, the eyes, the hands, and the mouth.
"Real", solid, simple. "Heavenly path is taboo", the most taboo of management is opportunism. The key to management is to do things in a down-to-earth manner, and "building a hard village and fighting to the death" and "still being simple and hard-working" are the basic spirit of the Xiang Army and the source of the Xiang Army's combat effectiveness.
"Leisurely", idle, calm. "The world is mostly due to busy mistakes, and more relaxed", the word "leisure" emphasizes the serene and calm style of handling things, focusing on the grasp of the rhythm of doing things. "Leisure" represents a mature and atmospheric leadership realm.
"Yu", generous and frank. "Yu" is the daguan of "everything floating in the clouds is too vain", the relief of "doing everything and knowing the destiny of heaven", and the cheerfulness of "lively mind and frank mood". "Yu" is a profound understanding of the nature of life.
"Forgiveness", forgiveness, forgiveness. Forgiveness is the understanding of compassion, a breakthrough in the self, and the key to getting out of the small self and achieving the big self, so as to achieve the cause. At the heart of Chinese-style leadership.
"Strong", stubborn, strong. Zeng Guofan said: "A boy who is self-reliant must have a stubborn spirit." "Strong" emphasizes the will power of tenacity, the will not to easily admit defeat, and a kind of persistence after seeing it.
These twelve words are actually the twelve basic principles that a successful leader should follow in the Chinese cultural and social environment, or the twelve guidelines for leadership cultivation.
It may be difficult for us today to fully achieve these twelve words, but these twelve words are like a mirror that allows us to see ourselves better and improve ourselves in a targeted manner.