Understanding Life through the Study of History

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“Understanding Life through the Study of History” (1)! While reading historical texts today, I suddenly understood the difference between a leader’s anger and that of an employee, and I would like to share this with you. The Strategies of the Warring States recounts a dialogue between Tang Sui (who was initially a retainer of Lord Xinling from the State of Wei; after the incident involving the ‘tiger tally’, Lord Xinling settled in the State of Zhao, and Tang Sui then joined Lord Anling – a man of great talent) and the King of Qin: 1. Background: After the King of Qin conquered the State of Wei, Lord Anling still held onto his territory. The King of Qin sent an envoy to Lord Anling, saying, “I am willing to exchange 500 li of land (which is 10 times the size of Anling’s territory) for Anling itself.” Lord Anling refused to agree to this exchange, so he sent Tang Sui back to talk to the King of Qin. 2. Dialogue: The King of Qin said, “Do you know what it is like when an emperor gets angry?” When the emperor is angered, millions perish, and blood flows for thousands of miles. “ Tang Sui asked, “King of Qin, do you know what the anger of the common people is?” “ The King of Qin replied, “The anger of commoners is nothing more than knocking their own heads against the ground.” Tang Sui said, “Your Majesty is wrong; the anger of commoners means two corpses lying on the ground and blood spreading over a distance of five steps.” At the same time, he adopted a stance ready to fight to the death with the King of Qin, eventually forcing the king to concede on the spot. The above story illustrates how people in different positions understand \"anger.\" Leaders believe that \"employees’ anger is not something to fear, as long as it serves its purpose,\" meaning that employees’ anger is merely a way of expressing frustration, while when it comes to their own anger toward the leaders, employees dare to be angry but not to speak out. In other words, it’s the attitude of “I’m number one at my workplace; who am I afraid of?” The employee thought, \"If you provoke me, I’ll fight to the death; I’d even dare to overthrow the emperor. How could I be afraid of you, someone wearing leather shoes, when I’m just wearing straw sandals?\" “ Therefore, who will win in the end depends on psychology and corresponding interests. I advise everyone to exercise restraint when angry and not to make reckless sacrifices; if it comes to \"two dead bodies and blood everywhere,\" it will only result in mutual damage. In this society, it’s not about a fight to the death, but rather about achieving a \"win-win\" outcome. If you think it’s correct after reading, please stay! ! Subsequently, “Understanding Life through the Study of History” and “Understanding Life through the Study of History” (Part 2) will be published in series! Upon reading about Zeng Guopan committing suicide after suffering three defeats, I realized that he might not have really wanted to die. There are many places where one can commit suicide; why choose to drown in front of subordinates? Just slash the neck with a knife and that’s it; or, if one wants to keep the body intact, forcing a subordinate to throw it into the water is also an option! Personally, I think it’s a form of showmanship; the purpose is to demonstrate one’s resolve in front of subordinates – namely, the resolve to sacrifice one’s life for the country, in order to motivate them to work hard. :Victory: Realization: 1. In many situations, a leader’s actions are not sincere; they are not motivated by genuine feelings. One should try to figure out their intentions. For example, if you go on a business trip with him and offer to take care of some tasks for him, he might say it’s not necessary, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect his true feelings. 2. As a leader, you too should learn Zeng Guopan’s method of motivating subordinates. “Insights into Life from Reading History Books” (III)! Once, Emperor Wu of Han inspected the officials’ quarters and encountered an old man in his seventies. Emperor Wu asked, \"What is your surname, old sir?\" When shall I be your husband here? The old man said, “My name is Yan Si. I served as an official here during the reign of Emperor Wen.” Emperor Wu asked again, \"Why hasn’t the sir made any progress and remains a court official all this time?\" Yan Si said, \"Emperor Wen favored literature, while I preferred martial arts; Emperor Jing preferred people of advanced age, yet I was still young at that time; Emperor Wu favored the young, while I was already old. That’s why I was not valued by any of these three emperors and have remained here as a court official all this time.\" Realization: 1. Without a suitable platform, even if you are like gold, you will remain undiscovered; this platform is given to you by your leaders, and you must always be grateful for it ； 2. As a subordinate, one sometimes has to cater to the leader’s preferences; otherwise, one will end up like Yan Si and remain overlooked forever. You need to understand that leaders are also ordinary people; they’re not gods, and they too need to live a normal life. It turned out that a leader frankly told me, “I’m also a human being; I have my own vanity, I need praise as well, I need you to compliment me.” What a wonderful thing he said. This post was last edited by atkqn0030 on 2009-4-6 08:03.]