Rockefeller: Put subordinates first

"After all, there is a limit to what everyone can give, so when I try my best to solve the problem for my subordinates, they can contribute more."

　　Translation of the epistle

　　September19，1925

　　Dear John,

　　Imagine a symphony venue where everyone in the audience longs to hear a beautiful musical extravaganza. But what happens when the conductor of the symphony orchestra turns around and faces the audience, leaving the musicians alone and playing hard?

　　Needless to say, this will become a very chaotic concert, because the player must be under the direction of the conductor to cooperate with the tacit understanding, and in addition, in the case of the conductor's mistakes, the players will "thank" him with passive laziness and mess up everything.

　　Every leader is like an orchestra conductor, who dreams of encouraging and mobilizing the enthusiasm of all employees, making them contribute as much as possible, helping him to play a moving and profitable movement, so that he can earn more and more money. For many leaders, however, this is bound to be an unattainable dream because, like the stupid conductor, they forgot to treat the company's employees well, so easily closing the door to the company's employees' willingness to pay.

　　Like them, I expect all the employees of the company to contribute more wholeheartedly to me like loyal servants, but I am much smarter than them, and instead of ignoring the existence of the employees of the company, I will take them seriously, and to be precise, always put the employees of the company who are working for me first in my mind.

　　Speaking from the heart, how can I not be kind to the subordinates who use my hands to inflate my money bags, as a person with a conscience, we must all be grateful for their efforts and sacrifices for me, not to mention that our world should be full of warmth.

　　I love the employees of my company, I never blame them loudly, I will not do anything to hurt them, and I will not be arrogant and arrogant in front of them like some rich people, and what I give to the employees of the company is warmth, equality and tolerance. All of these combined into one word is called respect. Respect for others is a need to satisfy our sense of ethics, but I find it also an effective tool to motivate company employees to work hard, and the fact that every employee of our oil refining company is doing their best for the company makes me firmly believe that by giving people the respect they deserve, they can fully realize their potential.

　　The most fundamental aspect of human nature is the desire for generosity. I myself am diligent and self-sustaining, but I have never forgotten to be generous to others. I remember the Great Depression when I borrowed money several times to help desperate friends get their factories and families through the crisis. And in my memory, I never recorded debt collection or debt coercion, because I know the value of tolerance in my heart.

　　As for the company's employees, I am equally generous and compassionate, not only do I pay them a higher salary than any oil company, but I also let them enjoy a pension system that guarantees them a good old age, and I also give them the opportunity to meet with their bosses every year to ask for a raise for themselves. I do not deny the utilitarian role of giving generously, but I know that my generosity will be exchanged for the improvement of the living standards of the company's employees, which is one of my responsibilities, and I hope that everyone who does things for me will be rich because of me.

　　The boss is the patron saint of the staff, the staff's problem is my problem, I have the right to choose, I can choose to ignore their needs, I can also choose to meet their needs, but I like to choose the latter. I always try to understand what my staff needs and then find a way to meet their needs. I kept asking them two questions: "What do you need?" And "How can I help?" "I was around at all times to care about them.

　　For me, one of the greatest joys of this role is that I can provide a support to the company's employees.

　　Salaries and bonuses are tempting, but for some people, money doesn't motivate them to serve, but attention does. It seems to me that everyone aspires to be valued, valued, and respected by others, and everyone has an invisible sign around their neck that reads: Value Me!

　　I can't imagine the pain of not being valued at work or at home, and my goal is to make everyone feel like a spring breeze at work. So, I'm like a detective trying to uncover clues to a crime, constantly searching for the talents of each company employee who is proud of himself. When I learn about the talents they consider the most important, I give them a heavy responsibility. An employer who is good at motivating the company's employees to make the greatest contribution should never forget that to let the company's employees see that following or being loyal to you is hopeful and promising, and giving attention and entrusting heavy responsibilities is actually the key to making the company's employees motivated to work hard.

　　Being a kind, warm, and considerate employer can make the company's employees energetic and morale high. But often thanking the company's employees seems to be very useful. No company employee will remember the bonus he received five years ago, but there are many people who will always remember the praise they said to their employers, and I will not hesitate to express my gratitude. No one thing has a more profound impact than a timely and direct thank you.

　　I like to leave a note on my subordinate's desk with my thank you written on it. The words of gratitude that I spent a minute or two handwriting may long be gone. But my gratitude has an inspiring effect, and after many years, they can still remember the warm encouragement I, a loving leader, left to them and see it as a precious proverb. This is a simple statement of thanks, another testament to the power it can show.

　　I would definitely take my subordinates seriously and their problems in terms of work or personal. I understand that there is a limit to what everyone can give, so when I try my best to solve problems for my subordinates, they can relatively contribute more.

　　John, now that you are a leader, your achievements come from your ability, and from the ability of the company's employees, I believe you should know how to do it.

　　Love your father

　　Rockefeller's Inspiration: Please respect others

　　Rockefeller wants his son to know that he must respect his employees, give trust in their work, and help in life, so that employees can devote themselves to their work and willingly fight for you.

　　Everyone has the need to pursue self-esteem and psychological satisfaction, and everyone has its importance at work, so we must respect everyone. Only in this way can others respect you, everyone can work well together, and there will be good interaction between managers and employees. If one party is slighted, the emotional exchange between the two sides will not have a good result.

　　Where there is pay, there is a reward. If you don't pay attention to the feelings of others and don't respect others, it is difficult to win the respect of others.

　　For anyone, deep down, they aspire to be valued and respected by their leaders. They believe that they can accept differences in status, but emotionally they hope that their contributions and their own values can be recognized, and the embodiment of this recognition is to be respected by others in the enterprise, especially by superior leaders. Once this hope is realized, they will have a sense of responsibility in their hearts to "live up to their mission", and their work will motivate them to do their best. Mutual respect between superiors and subordinates is a powerful spiritual force, which contributes to the harmony between employees of the enterprise and contributes to the formation of corporate team spirit and cohesion.

　　Respect for others is also an inevitable requirement of humanized management, only personal identity is respected, really feel valued, do things will be more attentive, only willing to stand in the position of the manager, take the initiative to communicate and discuss the work with the leader, complete the tasks assigned by the manager, and willingly pay for the enterprise.

　　Thomas Watson, founder of IBM, who is listed as one of the top ten celebrities in the American corporate world, often said: "As an entrepreneur, there is no doubt to consider profits, but you can't take profits too seriously." Companies must always put people first, and respect for employees is the key to success. ”

　　IBM's slogan is "respect for the individual", if employees can not be respected in the company, it is not expected that employees can respect and agree with the company's management philosophy and corporate culture. As a manager, we should practice what we preach and put respect for employees into practice, not just stay in words.

　　To respect others is to respect the words and deeds of others. Managers should maximize equal communication with others, rather than ignoring the words and deeds of others. It is important to allow others to freely express their opinions and opinions in front of leaders. Only good communication can ensure that the person has a sense of identity and loyalty to the company, so that he feels that he is a member of the company, not just an employee who acts according to the order, so as to exert the enthusiasm and sense of autonomy of employees.

　　For the superiors, one is to go deep into the grassroots, since Watson, IBM's leaders often go deep into the grassroots, with a cordial attitude to understand the wishes, dissatisfaction and goals of grassroots employees, so as to improve morale; the second is to pay attention to the way of criticism, to ensure that criticism is correct, not chaotic criticism, let alone criticism for the sake of criticism. Criticism must be followed by solutions that enable employees to correct, restore self-esteem and rebuild confidence.

　　For subordinates, people are encouraged to present themselves to their superiors, to the president of the company. In this way, a good democratic atmosphere is created within the company, which not only solves specific problems, but also strengthens unity. The company has also set up an opinion box to broaden communication channels. Employees have opinions and suggestions on the work, and can contact the heads of various departments directly through the comment box. The opinion box has a special person responsible for it, and for practical suggestions, the suggestions will be rewarded heavily. This is not a formality, because in fact, IBM receives 100,000 opinion cards a year.

　　In this way, getting employees to confirm their value in the company is one of the important factors in IBM's success, because the most terrible thing for a company is the lack of enthusiasm for employees. IBM brings huge benefits to the business by helping employees value themselves.

　　"Employees are our most valuable asset", "We want to make employees grow with the enterprise", similar words are written by too many companies in their own company's manuals, publicity publications, company websites, but only to flaunt it. However, Watson has truly integrated the concept of "respect for employees" into IBM's blood! He emphasizes that management is people-centered, fully respects the values of employees, attaches importance to the diversity of human needs, and uses common values, beliefs, harmonious interpersonal relationships, etc., successfully stimulates employees' enthusiasm for work, and continues to maintain their high morale.

　　If they have the hearts and minds of the people, they have a sincere desire to contribute to the business, so that they can manage themselves and reach their full potential. And the basis of having a human heart is respect for anyone. "You respect me a foot, I respect you a foot" is a general psychology, you respect others, others will respect you, and recognize your leadership skills. Once they develop a sense of respect and admiration for you, it translates into a strong passion for work.