Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Group, the "Iron Lady" in the eyes of countless people, has been selected as one of the "50 Most Influential Business Women in the World" by Fortune magazine for 11 times.
In 2019, at Gree's student induction conference, Dong Mingzhu bluntly said that there is no family relationship in corporate governance.
She said that 20 years ago, a dealer in Wuhan approached her brother to get the goods, but she did not show favoritism, so her relationship with him broke down, and there has been no contact for 20 years.
The toughness and decisiveness of the "Iron Lady" was so shocking that she even refused her mother's request to move in with her when she was 90 years old.
When faced with the choice between family and career, most people will feel embarrassed, why can Dong Mingzhu be so rational and decisive?
Dong Mingzhu's tenacity
In 1954, Dong Mingzhu was born in an ordinary family in Nanjing, Jiangsu. As one of the seven children in the family, Dong Mingzhu is deeply loved by her parents.
In that era of scarcity of materials, she knew the importance of knowledge, so she studied hard and was successfully admitted to Wuhu Cadre Education College in Anhui Province, and after graduation, she entered a chemical research institute in Nanjing.
In 1984, Dong Mingzhu's life underwent a huge change. That year, her husband died of illness, leaving behind a two-year-old son.
She was in deep grief for a time when the sudden change occurred, but she soon realized that she had to be strong to support a stable future for her son. Dong Mingzhu decided to leave his comfortable position and look for new opportunities.
In 1990, Dong Mingzhu entrusted his son to his mother's care, and went south alone to work in a chemical product production factory in Shenzhen.
Later, while on a business trip in Zhuhai, she happened to see a job advertisement for Gree. The treatment given by Gree was quite good, and Dong Mingzhu, who was short of money, immediately resigned and came to Gree.
Persistent sales path
Dong Mingzhu was arranged in Gree's sales department and sent to Hefei, Anhui Province, she had no sales experience, but with a tenacity, she decided to show her strength in this new field.
At that time, Gree left a number of unrecovered assets in Hefei, Dong Mingzhu came to Hefei and the first thing she did was to recover the money, although she had no experience in sales, let alone experience in debt collection, but she was patient enough, and not afraid of hardship.
Therefore, with her unremitting efforts, Gree successfully recovered more than 400,000 arrears and became the manager of Gree's Anhui branch in one fell swoop.
After taking over as manager, in order to avoid the phenomenon of non-payment on arrival again, Dong Mingzhu adopted the sales strategy of "payment before delivery". Under her leadership, in 1992, Gree's sales in Anhui exceeded 16 million yuan.
Dong Mingzhu's outstanding performance attracted the attention of the company's top management, and she was entrusted with the important task of sending to Nanjing, where the same type of products were almost saturated.
In 1993, Dong Mingzhu created sales of 36.5 million yuan, which was 10 times the sales of the entire Jiangsu region in 1992.
Strict and unwavering management style
With the continuous rise in performance, Dong Mingzhu's position in Gree has become more and more consolidated. Gradually, she moved into management positions and became responsible for the broader market and business.
In 1994, there was an internal crisis in Gree, and a large number of backbones resigned, and many people thought that Dong Mingzhu would also leave, after all, some sales geniuses like her were robbed by the company. Surprisingly, she chose to stay.
Because of her perseverance, coupled with the fact that Gree was really short of people at that time, Dong Mingzhu was appointed as the head of the company's business department.
In the management process, Dong Mingzhu has shown a consistent tough style. She has a strict sales and collection policy in place, showing no mercy to dealers who are in arrears.
Once, one of the company's major distributors refused to pay Gree the amount due due to non-payment. Faced with this situation, Dong Mingzhu firmly said: "Without the full payment in place, Gree will not deliver the goods." ”
This decision caused quite a stir both inside and outside the company. Many dealers complained to Chairman Gree with dissatisfaction, but Dong Mingzhu still insisted on his position.
The conflict between family and career
Dong Mingzhu will not break the rules he has set no matter what, even if it is his own relatives.
One day, Dong Mingzhu was working on an important business document. The phone rang suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. She picked up the phone and heard a familiar voice, "Mingzhu, it's me, brother." ”
Dong Mingzhu put down the pen in his hand and leaned back in the chair, "Brother, what's the matter?" ”
"There are a few dealers who have asked me for help, hoping to get more goods through my relationship, can you be accommodating?" The elder brother's tone was a little tentative.
Dong Mingzhu's brows tightened, and his tone suddenly became cold and hard, "Brother, I can't help with this." Our company has strict rules that no one can be an exception for. ”
On the other end of the phone, my brother looked a little dissatisfied, "Mingzhu, this is just a trivial matter, can't you be accommodating?" ”
"It's not a trivial matter, brother. It's about the credibility and image of the company, and I can't set a precedent. Dong Mingzhu's attitude is still resolute.
The elder brother sighed, "Are you so ruthless?" Don't even help your brother? ”
Dong Mingzhu took a deep breath, "This is not ruthlessness, this is principle." I'm sorry, brother. ”
After hanging up the phone, Dong Mingzhu stared at the gray sky outside the window for a long time, with a heavy heart. She knew that this conversation would leave a rift between siblings that would not heal.
Sure enough, after that day, the two siblings did not communicate with each other again until her brother became seriously ill.
Mother's request
Dong Mingzhu's calm and resoluteness is not only reflected in the relationship between brother and sister, but also in dealing with her mother's affairs.
When Dong Mingzhu's mother was 90 years old, she proposed to live with her.
Dong Mingzhu was silent for a moment after receiving this call from her mother, and then said with difficulty, "Mom, you have lived in your hometown for so many years, and you may not be comfortable moving here suddenly. And I'm too busy with work to take good care of you. ”
After hanging up the phone, Dong Mingzhu sat on the sofa with moist eyes.
She understood how much helplessness and anticipation there was in her mother's words. But it's also true that she's busy with work, and she can't take good care of her when her mother comes, so it's better to let her mother live in her hometown from the beginning, so that neighbors can take care of each other.
The business has developed steadily
Although Dong Mingzhu seems to be a little too calm and restrained in life, in work, this trait of hers has indeed laid the foundation for her success.
Since Dong Mingzhu served as the head of Gree's business department, in the past ten years, Gree has created a miracle that the production and sales of air conditioners, sales revenue and market share rank first in the country.
In 2001, Dong Mingzhu served as the general manager of Gree Electric Appliance Co., Ltd., and devoted a lot of energy to the field of independent research and development. In 2005, Gree successively launched the first large-scale central air conditioner with independent intellectual property rights.
On May 25, 2012, Dong Mingzhu became the chairman and president of Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliance Co., Ltd., and by 2013, Gree became China's first listed home appliance company with more than 100 billion yuan.
In 2015, under the leadership of Dong Mingzhu, Gree entered the world's top 500 enterprises.
Alleviation of contradictions
In 2015, on a rainy morning, Dong Mingzhu received a call from her sister, "Mingzhu, my brother is sick, with terminal cancer, and is in the hospital. ”
Hearing the news, Dong Mingzhu was stunned, and then decided to go to the hospital immediately. Pushing open the door of the ward, she saw her brother lying on the hospital bed, so thin that he could barely recognize him.
"Brother......" Dong Mingzhu called softly, tears rolling in his eyes.
The elder brother opened his eyes, looked at her for a while, and said hoarsely, "Mingzhu, I understand you now." I'm sorry. ”
Dong Mingzhu walked to the bed, held his brother's hand, and said in a choked voice, "Brother, let's all go over and recuperate." ”
At this moment, the estrangement of twenty years dissolved in the hospital room. The brother and sister regained their lost affection, and the disputes and unhappiness they had once resolved in tears.
Dong Mingzhu stayed with his brother in the hospital for many days until he was in stable condition. After returning to Zhuhai, she immediately arranged for her mother's daily life and often took time to go back to visit.
In 2019, Dong Mingzhu shared this story at Gree's college student induction meeting, and she used her actual experience to illustrate a major principle of enterprise management, and also proved the correctness of her decision.
epilogue
The reason why Dong Mingzhu and her brother have not been in contact with her for 20 years stems from her adherence to principles and the defense of corporate integrity. Faced with the conflict between family and career, she chose the latter.
Although these decisions may seem cold, Dong Mingzhu has always cared for her family, and after learning of her brother's serious illness and her mother's homesickness, she did not hesitate to give her care and companionship.
Dong Mingzhu's story is a complex chapter about tenacity and compromise, responsibility and family affection. In her quest to reach the pinnacle of her career, she paid a huge personal price. However, when her career stabilized, she returned to her family and repaired her relationship with her family, showing her deep tenderness and cherishing of family affection. This is not only her personal growth, but also a true portrayal of an entrepreneur when dealing with the conflict between family and career.
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"Dong Mingzhu's "Six Relatives Don't Recognize" Refused to Help His Brother Be Kicked Out of the Family Tree? Let's take a look at the iron-fisted tenderness of the domineering president"-upstream news2021-04-07