I hate you, but I’m promoting you”

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““I hate you, but I’m promoting you.” Once, while talking with a manager, he told me a true story. He said, \"Our company has a finance manager who is quite competent in terms of business skills, but he likes to be clever and manipulate others; many people don’t like him very much.\" A year ago, when he was still the deputy finance director, a violation occurred that angered me so much that I almost fired him: one of our major clients wanted to make significant changes to the payment terms for a large-scale transaction, and he agreed to those changes and went through the necessary procedures without my knowledge or that of the relevant supervisors. You should know that the receipt of funds from that transaction has a significant impact on our company’s cash flow. His actions caused a great deal of trouble for the company’s operations. I was very angry at the time, so I went to find him and ordered him to resolve this issue within a set time limit; otherwise, he would face severe punishment. He’s quite brave too, having managed to finish it within the deadline. After that, this guy became much more disciplined in his actions, but he remained dissatisfied and started to watch me like a thief. I was furious, utterly annoyed; I just wanted to fire him. But years of leadership experience have taught me that it’s dangerous to implement decisions made in anger or on impulse right away. So, this matter lingered in my mind for a whole week. A week later, I changed my mind: I appointed him as the head of the finance department. You must think I’m crazy. No, I thought it through carefully. I admit I lack the patience to be as magnanimous as a prime minister ； I don’t want to try to win him over to work for me. I think more about my future. I have seen too many managers slide into darkness due to the expansion of their selfish desires and a top-down organizational culture. I have served as the manager of several state-owned enterprises, and now I have successfully led the restructuring of these companies. I feel great about myself, and everyone around me obeys my orders. I know that it’s easy for a leader to lose themselves at times, and my friend has reminded me of this as well. But it wasn’t until I encountered the problems posed by this deputy finance officer and spent a week thinking about them that I truly realized I needed someone to keep an eye on me, to call out to me when I went off track, even if that call was harsh. So, I went to this deputy head of the finance department and told him seriously, \"I’m annoyed by you, I even hate you, but I will appoint you as the head of the finance department right away.\" With you around, I won’t and dare not act recklessly. But at the same time, I have to tell you: don’t let me catch you doing anything improper, or you’re dead! ” Since then, he has worked very diligently and in a systematic manner. As for me, although I find it a bit inconvenient, I feel at ease inside. Overcoming oneself is far from as easy as it sounds. When you’re not sure you can overcome yourself, letting someone else help you do so becomes your only option—never rely on luck, because there is only one step from success to downfall, and it’s a road with no return. *This article was originally published in the third issue of the magazine “Enterprise Management” in 2002