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1. Everyone looks down on others. It’s not the case among Chinese scholars that they look down on one another; rather, everyone looks down on others, and there is always a reason to do so. In enterprises, this is manifested as masters looking down on undergraduates, undergraduates looking down on junior college graduates, junior college graduates looking down on vocational school graduates, prestigious schools looking down on those that are not, managers looking down on clerks, and clerks looking down on workers. What’s even funnier is that those who study science look down on those who study humanities, those who study humanities look down on those who study science; the marketing department looks down on the technical department, and the technical department looks down on the marketing department. This isn’t just something I say casually; I often hear things like “Their technical department isn’t good enough to address any quality issues” or “The staff in their marketing department are of very low quality; they don’t even have basic product knowledge.” To be honest, in a company, everyone is there to work; what’s the difference between one person and another? 2. A lack of teamwork leads to mutual distrust, and naturally, there is no cooperation among people. Coupled with self-interest, narrow vision, and short-sightedness, Chinese people lack a strong sense of teamwork in businesses. I have recently introduced performance evaluations in the company, and some department managers are upset because, upon calculation, they will receive less in bonuses and will also be subject to evaluation by the company. As a result, some of them speak ill of me behind my back, some cause chaos during meetings, while others choose to ignore everything – there are all kinds of reactions. A colleague asked me, “It can’t be that serious, right? It’s just performance evaluation, isn’t it?” It’s just a system. ”The system itself isn’t complicated, but it undermines the personal interests of certain people, which is why the matter becomes complex. These managers won’t say that their own bonuses have decreased; instead, they’ll claim that it’s the bonuses for their department that have gone down, or that the risks associated with their department have increased. Or they might incite hostility among the department’s employees toward the system in order to put pressure on me. In fact, within a company, the interests of the team and those of individuals are aligned: when the company does well, everyone benefits; if the company fails, individuals won’t receive their salaries either. Professional managers in China are actually very unprofessional; they lack a sense of teamwork and put themselves or their departments above the entire organization. In meetings, people always refer to things as “our marketing department,” “their technical department,” “their logistics department” – it doesn’t sound like that of a single company. Lack of teamwork leads to more internal strife within a company; in our firm, 40% of working time is spent dealing with such internal conflicts. It’s not a matter of management systems or methods; it’s a cultural issue. 3. Excessive suspicion and lack of honesty: As a personnel manager, one has to communicate with people constantly, and I’ve noticed that there’s a great lack of honesty among the employees in our company; everyone is always suspicious of one another. I often hear people say, “I know that’s how he sees me.”……” ； “He must have spoken ill of me in front of the boss……” ； “I can’t say anything about this; I don’t want to get into trouble…” They don’t speak the truth in front of others, but spread rumors behind their backs. As a result, the company’s market and production issues turned into interpersonal problems, simplifying issues being made more complicated. When I first started working as a human resources manager, many people told me that a HR manager was just a messenger for the boss, and that there was only a dead end in holding such a position! I worked there for a year and realized that the boss wasn’t really any problem at all; it was just that other people naturally tended to be suspicious of him and didn’t speak the truth in his presence. When we deal with foreigners, if they have any issues, they will point them out face to face; no matter how embarrassing it may be, it doesn’t stop them from chatting and laughing with you over meals. So when foreigners hold a meeting, there might be 10 different opinions during the meeting, but only one opinion after it ends ； We hold a meeting; no one speaks during it, but after the meeting there might be 10 different opinions. At the end of the meeting, our boss asks, “Does anyone have any other comments?” ”Everyone was silent. As soon as he left the meeting room, he went to his office, closed the door, and started holding a small meeting! 4. Disregarding the system: On my first day as a personnel manager, my boss told me that my biggest task was to institutionalize the company’s management systems. At first I didn’t quite understand, but later I realized the boss’s intentions. There are many rules in the company, yet no one follows them. There are two issues here: first, the system design itself has flaws, and second, employees simply do not have any concept of what a system is. Upon taking office, I established a attendance policy stipulating a fine of 10 yuan for each tardy arrival, 40 yuan for the second time, and three such incidents would count as one day of absenteeism. After the new system was put in place, I saw that some employees had been late three times. Thinking that the fine for being absent from work was too heavy, I softened my stance and said to those employees, “If you’re late for the third time, take a personal day off as compensation; a personal day off is better than being absent from work. Don’t be late again!” ”As a result, some employees were still late 3 times next month. At first they took time off for personal reasons when they were late, then they used sick leave, and eventually they used sick leave every time they were late; in the end they even stopped submitting leave requests and just called to explain their absence. After reflecting deeply on what had happened, realizing that the flood was caused by my own decision to open the floodgates, I issued a notice: \"From now on, no one will be allowed to make up for being late later on.\" ”Leave requests are not allowed after the fact; employees who are late must move the date of their leave request back by one day. At that moment, I thought of a sentence from \"The Legend of the Condor Heroes\" in which Kangxi said to Wei Xiaobao: \"If Aobai forces me to take one step back, I will do so; but there is really no further place for me to retreat!\" ”In the end, with no other choice, it was announced that \"no leave will be granted for being late.\" 5. When the sensitivity is too high, when I talk to my employees, I usually end by saying, “The reason I’m talking to you today is just about this matter itself; there’s no other purpose.” ”This sounds a bit tricky to say. Why say that? Because they are very sensitive. If you tell him what aspects need improvement, he will wonder whether the company wants to get rid of him ； If you ask them whether the workload in their department is saturated, they will think that the company might want to get rid of them ； If you ask him whether he plans to pursue further education in the near future, he will think that the company might want to get rid of him. He might not care at all about what you say to him; instead, he spends a lot of time wondering why he was fired. One reason for the high level of internal strife in companies is the high cost of telling the truth. Everyone likes to guess around, and there is no trust among them. For example, if I say to a manager, “There’s something wrong with the way you’re handling this matter,” he might think that I don’t like him as a person and that I’m targeting him on purpose. Then he will wonder why I don’t like him, maybe because he didn’t invite me to pay last time? In the end, a reason must be found, and thus misunderstandings arise. 6. Making the “gentleman” mistake: There aren’t many truly bad people in this world, just as there aren’t many truly good people. But Chinese people like to use the morally ambiguous standard of “good people” and “bad people” to judge corporate behavior. When the company decided to fire someone, an employee said, “He’s great; why does the company want to get rid of him?” ”Please, if only the “bad guys” can be fired, then tell me where those “bad guys” are I never think there are bad people among our company’s employees; I only judge whether they are qualified business professionals. I have stipulated in the company’s performance evaluation system that 5% of employees in each department must be rated as unqualified each year. Managers are reluctant to implement this; they say, “If all the employees in my department are qualified, how am I supposed to find 5% who are not?” I had no choice but to arrange for the employees to take turns being the dealer. ”They speak with confidence, because they consider themselves gentlemen and feel obligated to stand by their brothers. My reply was: “GE’s attrition rate is 20%. Do you really think that our employees are all better than those at GE?” ”If a manager behaves like a gentleman by acting in the interest of the organization and treating employees with fairness, that is certainly a good thing. However, if such a person shows favoritism to employees at the expense of the organization’s interests, then such a \"gentleman\" is not only worthless but actually commits a crime. 7. Shifting responsibility: Our company’s manager always complains that the boss doesn’t give enough authority and that he has too little power to manage the employees. But when real trouble arises, they shift the problem to their boss: “What do you think we should do?” ”These managers don’t think that since they earn more than their employees and have more power than them, it’s their responsibility to address the problems; otherwise, why would the boss hire them as managers? But they always separate power from responsibility – power means earning more money and having control over more people – without realizing that power and responsibility go hand in hand; the more power you have, the more responsibility you must bear. 8. Lack of inclusiveness: There is a saying that the extent of a person’s achievements depends on the breadth of their heart. After becoming a human resources manager, I have felt this statement even more deeply. Our company has a department manager who made significant contributions in the early days of the company, and the company has always wanted to develop his skills. But he has a very narrow mind and no tolerance at all; he almost always tries to understand everything from his own perspective. For example, he believed that his superior (the director) was not as good as him, yet received a higher year-end bonus, which he found intolerable; as a result, he would often go to his boss to speak ill of his superior and seek every opportunity to attack him. There is a saying in organizational behaviorology that \"**the buttocks control the brain**\" – referring to egotism, where a person’s brain is completely controlled by their own interests (personal stance). Interacting with people whom one does not like or who do not like one is a great test of one’s tolerance. The breadth of vision of those who achieve great things is expanded by their opponents, just as Li Ao said, “A man’s breadth of vision is expanded by women.” Gaulvin, the president of Motorola, enjoys sailing; Wang Shi, the president of Vanke, likes mountain climbing. Both activities are meant to help broaden one’s mind – when faced with the ocean and mountains, one’s heart naturally becomes more open. That’s why I always advise my employees to see more of the world and broaden their horizons outside of work. If you’re stuck in the office doing the same old tasks, how can you be magnanimous? 9. Lack of cultural awareness: I once saw a case where a Chinese person worked for a domestic multinational company and had the opportunity to become the CEO of a branch overseas; yet the company gave that opportunity to a foreigner whom he considered to be less skilled and less qualified in terms of educational background than himself. He asked his boss, who replied: “The company believes that this foreigner possesses higher cultural literacy and a more open-minded attitude. When faced with different cultures and conflicting values in a new environment, it’s necessary for him to integrate these various cultures and values in order to achieve the company’s goals. This is far more important than mere skills.” Many professional managers around me equip themselves with various certificates and MBA degrees to the fullest extent possible; they strive to become pure economic creatures, acting as experts whenever it comes to work, but they simply don’t know how to get along with others. Some companies fail to sustain growth or achieve strength; technology and management are merely superficial aspects. The real reason lies in the lack of entrepreneurship and corporate culture. That cultural tradition and heritage constitute a company’s character, and it cannot be acquired simply by putting on heavy makeup. Education and skills are the “hardware” standards for evaluating a person; however, what truly determines one’s fate is their “software”—their personality, attitude, and culture. Therefore, when foreign companies recruit employees, they emphasize \"communication skills,\" \"team spirit,\" and \"emotional resilience\" – in other words, they place more importance on internal qualities, which are the key factors determining an individual’s value.