Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Don't make promises easily, but keep every promise

What is the life of a leader?It's about keeping your word! If you want to have an excellent ability to control your subordinates, you must do what you say and do what you say.These advices should always appear in your heart: do not promise the company's decisions and plans that are still under discussion; If you're going to promise something, you have to be honest.Because honesty is a manifestation of noble moral standards, which means integrity of personality, open-mindedness and sincerity.Want to be a role model for others?Then treat people with sincerity! If you want to develop a high level of honesty, remember these words of advice: be sincere in everything you do at all times; try to be accurate in everything you say and do; your signature on any document is your honor to that document. Your guarantee is equivalent to your signature on a personal check, letter, memorandum or report; you must support what you think is right, and have the courage to bear the consequences of your own mistakes.As a leader, never lower your own standards, never sell your principles, and never deceive yourself; always put obligations and honor first.If you don't want to risk abandoning your principles, then you must put your sense of responsibility and personal honor above all else.

Never break a contract, breaking a contract is close to lying.Lying to your subordinates is tantamount to turning your face in front of your subordinates and destroying your image!Subordinates who are dissatisfied with their supervisors are usually liars.Therefore, there is one thing that a supervisor must absolutely avoid with his subordinates, and that is "breaking the contract."Could it be that there are so many lying bosses in the world? In fact, after careful scrutiny, I found that many supervisors lie because they have no choice but to lie: sometimes the supervisor does not want to lie in his heart, but due to various factors, the supervisor cannot fulfill the agreement; Mature, so they are forced to lie, but the subordinates do not understand the nature of the whole incident; some are caused by a misunderstanding, misremembering, mistelling or mishearing by the superior.Even so, the boss cannot handle the matter lightly.The boss should stick to one principle - I will never lie to my subordinates.

Subordinates usually keep an eye on what their boss says and does.Once you find your boss's mistakes or contradictions, you will spread them everywhere.Although this is not inconsistent with trust, it is not a glorious thing to be caught with pigtails.In fact, subordinates trust their superiors more than they imagined.Therefore, once a subordinate thinks "I have been cheated", the anger he will have on you is immeasurable. You may encounter a situation where a task that you thought was possible to complete suddenly fails, so you cannot fulfill the agreement with your subordinates.At this time, you should explain the whole story to the other party as soon as possible and apologize to him.If you can't speak up and don't seek a solution, the situation will become more serious.How to apologize?The trick to apologizing is respecting the other person's position.At the beginning, you must show your sincerity. If you just blindly defend yourself and try to cover up your mistakes, you will only lead to more serious consequences.Once the stigma of lying has spread, it is hard to get rid of; it takes a considerable period of time to eradicate it.

In the workplace, if you must tell a lie, it's best to find an opportunity to tell the truth after the fact.But the explanation cannot be just an excuse.After all, the other party is in a disadvantageous situation or encounters unpleasant things because of your lie.Therefore, you should first sincerely apologize for your lie, and then add another explanation.It would be best if the other party can understand your intentions.However, promises can't just stay in words, but must be put into action!Inconsistent words and deeds, cheating subordinates is a disease that leaders must overcome.Otherwise, the leader will suffer for himself and be ruined!

As the saying goes, "If you don't have faith, you don't know what to do."As a leader, whether you keep your word or not is not only related to the leader's personal prestige and achievements, but also related to the image and rise and fall of the collective.Therefore, in many cases, what a leader does not only represent himself, but also represents the group he is in. To others, his dishonesty is actually a collective dishonesty in the eyes of others. If he wants to protect the interests of the group , you must try your best to improve yourself. Duke Huan of Qi, surnamed Jiang and named Xiaobai, was a native of Qi State in the Spring and Autumn Period, the younger brother of Duke Xiang of Qi, and later he became the king of Qi State.During his reign, Qi State became the most powerful country among the vassal states in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Duke Huan of Qi was also listed as one of the Five Hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period by later generations.

Qi State once fought with Lu State, but Lu State sent General Cao Mo to lead the army to attack Qi State three times.King Lu Zhuang was afraid that Qi State would take advantage of the victory and seize the capital of Lu State, so he planned to ask Qi State for peace and donate the place of Suiyi.Duke Huan of Qi agreed to King Luzhuang's request, and the two countries decided to hold a signing ceremony in Kedi.But as soon as the two monarchs signed the treaty, Cao Mo rushed forward, put his dagger on Duke Huan's neck, and threatened, "Don't let anyone go forward, or I will kill him." The advisers and generals were all afraid of what might happen to Duke Huan of Qi, so they dared not go forward, so they asked, "What do you want?" Cao Mo said excitedly, "It is true that Qi is strong and Lu is weak. But Qi invaded and occupied the country. The territory of the State of Lu is too large, so that the border of the State of Qi has already extended to the city walls of the State of Lu. Once the walls of the State of Lu collapse, it will press down on the territory of the State of Qi. Please think about it!" The meaning is that you return all the land that you invaded to the Lu State, otherwise it will be detrimental to your monarch.

Duke Huan of Qi knew that he would surely lose his life if he did not agree to Cao Mo's request, so he hastened to say to Cao Mo, "Very well. I promise you to return all the land that you have invaded from the State of Lu." Sure enough, he put down the dagger in his hand, let go of Duke Huan of Qi and pushed him into the ranks of Qi's courtiers. Duke Huan of Qi was furious about this, and wanted to break the promise after he got out of danger.At this time, Guan Zhong said to him: "It's not right for you to do this. They hijacked you because they didn't want to make a covenant with you. You didn't expect this in advance, which shows that you are not smart; you are in danger and have to obey others Threats, this shows that you are not very brave; you promise others but do not want to keep your promises, this shows that you are not trustworthy. As the king of a country, you are neither brave nor smart, now you want to be dishonest, and you will Who else will truly admire you? And if you return the land to the State of Lu as promised, the world will give you the reputation of honesty, which is much more valuable than the land of the State of Lu." Duke Huan of Qi listened He felt that what Guan Zhong said was very reasonable, so he returned the land occupied by the Lu State to the State of Lu as promised.

When the princes heard about Duke Huan of Qi's keeping his promise, they all felt that Duke Huan of Qi was a trustworthy person, so they attached themselves to Qi State one after another.Two years later, the princes accepted the invitation of Duke Huan of Qi to gather in Zhendi, and they sincerely asked Duke Huan of Qi to preside over the meeting.From then on, Duke Huan of Qi became the overlord recognized by the princes, began to command the world, and created the brilliant achievement of "nine princes unite, govern the world under one roof". In the story, Duke Huan of Qi obeyed Guan Zhong's advice, kept his promise, returned the land of Lu State, and won the trust of the princes of all countries. This cannot but be said to be an important reason why he became the head of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons.

The ancients said, "Once a word is spoken, it is hard to follow it", and it also said that "Words must be done, and actions must be resolute".This is the knowledge of being a human being, and it is also the goal of handling interpersonal relationships and establishing prestige.One of the worst things many leaders can do is make promises and not keep them.They don't cherish the value of this promise, and after satisfying the subordinates' hopes audibly and visually, they leave people with a long wait and the disappointment of no news in the end. Promises are like hormones, and they are the best way to stimulate people's enthusiasm.Imagine making an exciting promise when your mind is excited: If the task is overfulfilled, everyone will be able to get a 40% dividend at the end of the month.What a piece of good news!People with high emotions have no time to consider its authenticity, and their imagination has entered the scene of dividends at the end of the month through the tunnel of time and space.

Then people are counting the days on their fingers, turning your promises into spiritual motivation and putting them into hard work.At the end of the month, what else is the focus of attention?Perhaps what you hope for most at this time is that there is a sudden big event that will draw people's attention there.Or, it is better if the subordinates have amnesia and ask you "Who am I?" when they see you. Unfulfilled promises are worse than lies.Although lies may cause a lot of trouble in the city, there will always be a day when people will understand the truth.However, unfulfilled promises are defrauded of people's sincere contributions.It's like letting an innocent kid run errands for you to deliver an urgent mail, and when the kid comes back sweating profusely to demand the promised reward, you run away.That kid may have learned to take deposits from then on.However, once your subordinates have such a mentality, then you are a failed leader in the organization, your authority is gone, and your trust is lost.The naked relationship between management and being managed will make leaders feel that they are in an organizational environment constructed by rigid digital symbols.

Only by becoming a trustworthy leader can a leader generate prestige and gain the trust of his subordinates. "Book of Shang Jun" records that Shang Yang is preparing to reform the law in Qin State and formulate new laws.In order to convince the people that the new law can be resolutely implemented, he set up a log at the south gate of the capital and said to the onlookers: "Whoever can move this log from the south gate to the north gate will reward him with fifty taels of silver." .” Most people don’t believe in such a good thing, fearing that Shang Yang’s promise will not be fulfilled.Just when everyone was hesitating, a man picked up the wood and walked from the south gate to the north gate.Shang Yang fulfilled his promise on the spot and rewarded him with fifty taels of silver.In this way, people began to believe what Shang Yang said.Since then, when he introduced new laws, they were easy to obey. The ancients in our country were very particular about the principle that words are not many, but promises must be kept.It is because of your trustworthiness that you can gain people's trust.Ordinary people's trustworthiness is only related to their interpersonal relationships; while politicians and military strategists' trustworthiness is related to the major issues of governing the country and the army.Today, trustworthiness has become an important factor for the success of an enterprise. Although everyone knows to keep their promises and what it means to keep their promises, there are always some people who cannot keep their promises due to some special reasons.As a leader, you should pay special attention to this aspect.In particular, some leaders, when their subordinates do something that satisfies them, they will always blurt out a promise, and most of these promises are related to promotion and salary increase, which makes subordinates look forward to it.But maybe due to his busy schedule, he forgot after he said it, which would greatly dampen the enthusiasm of his subordinates. Even, leaders who do not keep their promises will cause subordinates to have a sense of distrust of their superiors.How can a leader who cannot gain the trust of his subordinates lead his team to achieve excellent results?The success of a leader is always inseparable from the efforts of the team's grassroots staff.Therefore, promises to subordinates should not be underestimated, or they should not make promises, and if they make promises, they must be kept.Even if the leader needs to pay a certain amount in the end, he must keep his promise, otherwise, he will lose even more things. Leaders should also remember that honesty and trustworthiness are a very important criterion that people should abide by when interacting with others, and it is also an important way to achieve success.Only when you show your integrity to others, can others entrust their knowledge and knowledge to you.So, be honest and do things in a down-to-earth manner, and you will definitely win the affirmation of others. Don't try to use any improper means to obtain something that doesn't belong to you, otherwise you will still be a loser in the end. When Song Lian was young, his family was very poor and had no money to study.As a lover of reading, he can only borrow books from people who have a collection of books.Every time he borrows books, he can always return them in time according to the agreed deadline, so people are willing to lend them to him. Once, Song Lian borrowed a good book, and the more he read it, the more he liked it, so he decided to copy it down.However, the deadline for returning the book was approaching. In order to return it on time, he copied the book day and night.It was the midwinter season at that time, the sky was freezing and the cold was blowing, and Song Lian's house didn't have any heating equipment, so his hands were frozen and stiff.He had to put down his pen, stretch out his hands, squeeze them together, stretch them out again, and squeeze them together again, or put his hands to his mouth to breathe, and wait for his hands to warm up before continuing to copy. When Song Lian's mother woke up, she found that the light in her son's room was still on, so she opened the door curtain and came in, "Son, why aren't you sleeping? It's already midnight, it's so cold, be careful not to freeze your body." Song Lian replied: "Mother, I'm copying books!" Mother said: "It's too late today, go to bed quickly, and copy tomorrow. The weather is warmer during the day and the room is bright." Song Lian said: "Tomorrow is too late, I will If you promise to return the book tomorrow, you must finish copying it tonight." Niang said again: "They have so many books at home, so they won't be in a hurry to ask for this book?" "That's true!" Song Lian copied the book while Answer, "However, no matter whether people are waiting to read this book or not, they must return it when it is due, and there is no delay for a day." Song Lian's mother saw that he insisted on continuing to copy, so she didn't say anything.In this way, Song Lian copied until dawn, and finally finished copying the book.During the day, he returned the book to the host.The man took the book and saw that it was clean, not folded or folded, and it was still so flat. He was very happy, and said to Song Lian, "Come and have a look, this row is full of good books. You can borrow any one you want." Take your pick." Over time, Song Lian borrowed many books and greatly increased his knowledge.As Song Lian grew up, he realized that he could not comprehend many important parts of the book by studying hard by himself, and needed someone to point him out.So he decided to look for a famous teacher.Soon, Song Lian inquired about a very learned man and made an appointment with him to visit. The scholar's home is far away.Unfortunately, just a few days before departure, it snowed heavily one after another; after finally clearing up, a strong northwest wind blew up.The wind blows the snow, and the sky and the earth are white.People are hiding at home, and there are almost no pedestrians on the road. Early this morning, Song Lian packed the bookcases, tied up the bedding, and was ready to go.The mother was shocked when she saw it: "Son, how can you go far away in such a heavy snowstorm?" Song Lian said: "Mother, if you don't start today, you will delay the day of apprenticeship." His mother advised him: "Son, you Think about it, you have to go through deep mountains and big valleys to get to the teacher. The snow in the mountains may be even deeper, so how can you move! Besides, you are wearing such an old cotton jacket, it is difficult to resist the cold!" Song Lian said: "Mother, promise How can I break my promise as a student? No matter how big the snowstorm is, I have to go!" The mother persuaded him again: "Son, even if you are late in such weather, the teacher will not blame you. Yours." "The teacher may not blame me, and I understand that. But I must keep my promise, and I can't break my promise just because the teacher won't blame me." After speaking, Song Lian bid farewell to his mother, braving the biting cold wind hit the road. After several days of trekking, when Song Lian arrived at the teacher's place on time, his whole body was almost frozen.When the teacher saw him, he was moved and praised again and again: "This young man is trustworthy and studious, and he will definitely become a talent in the future!" Later, Song Lian really became a famous minister of the generation. Someone once said: If you have integrity, you will master the method of success.It can be seen how important integrity is on the road to a person's success.The story of Song Lian tells us that the reason why Song Lian was able to become a knowledgeable and famous official of a generation is fundamentally because he has the character of honesty, trustworthiness and perseverance. We must remember that honesty and trustworthiness are a very important criterion that people should abide by when communicating with each other, and it is also an important way to achieve success.Only when you show your integrity can others teach you their own knowledge and knowledge.So, be honest and do things in a down-to-earth manner, and you will definitely win the affirmation of others. Don't try to use any improper means to obtain something that doesn't belong to you. In the end, you will still be a loser. In life, some people often like to promise others things casually, but in fact they can't do it. This is called "empty check". As a leader, it is especially important to avoid this.Some leaders who have just taken office, because they believe too much in their own strength, will easily promise their subordinates: "...I can guide you later." However, they often fail to do so.In this way, it is easy to leave an impression of "not keeping promises" in the minds of subordinates.Therefore, for a leader, a blank check must never be written, one is because it loses its rules, and the other is because it breaks promises to others. Mr. Wang, a young regional marketing director of a foreign trade company, wanted to solve the sales problem of the branch company, so he proposed various plans to the sales department.Every time he went to the head office on a business trip, he reported to the sales chief: "The sales of product A on my side are not good, and the supply of this product should be reduced", "At present, the sales volume of product B on my side has increased. The supply of goods should be appropriately increased", "Customers generally request door-to-door delivery, do we consider starting this business, which is convenient for customers and can maintain the source of customers", etc. Every time he raised these questions, the sales chief would answer him: "That's right! I see, I can think about it." or "I can discuss it with my boss, and we can talk about it later." But always Unable to give him a definite answer. One or two months passed quickly, and the matter was not resolved.Mr. Wang tried every means to submit a report to the executive director of the head office through the factory manager.After hearing this, the managing director said: "So that's the case, I know. I will make good arrangements and let the sales section chief handle this matter." After hearing the news from the managing director, Mr. Wang was very happy, thinking that the sales problem would soon come to an end. Solve it, then tell the subordinates and customers that the problem will be solved soon, it is only a matter of time. After another three months, there was no movement. In the sixth month, there was a small change, but it was just superficial work.At this point, the distrust of Mr. Wang by subordinates and customers has become even stronger.Mr. Wang has indeed made great efforts, but his subordinates and customers still cannot help criticizing him behind his back.In fact, the fault is not Mr. Wang himself, but because he was eager to solve the problem, but handled it improperly, which aroused these criticisms in vain. This example is very representative.Many times, when a leader hears a subordinate's request, he often thinks that the matter is easy to achieve, so he agrees without considering the various situations in detail.Afterwards, due to the change of the situation, or the wrong judgment, the implementation difficulties occurred, and the subordinates lost their trust.At this time, the only solution is to apologize and sincerely ask the subordinates to forgive.In this way, the subordinates will be relieved.Unfortunately, most leaders are unwilling to admit their mistakes, but pretend not to know, so there is a reason why subordinates do not trust such leaders. In fact, all those leaders who like to write empty promises, the result without exception is betrayal! What is reputation?It means being faithful and not cheating.It is said, "I examine myself three times a day. Are you being loyal to others? Are you not trusting your friends? Are you passing it on and not getting used to it?" The ancients especially paid attention to loyalty when "advising others" and credibility when "making friends". For leaders, reputation is a kind of capital, a kind of "gold is not exchangeable" capital.If you have a good reputation, you can gather the team and win the trust of others.In many cases, running a business is the same as being a person. It is actually a never-ending process of earning reputation.Therefore, a well-known business leader once lamented that the easiest thing to earn in the world is money, and the hardest thing to earn is reputation.Why do you say that?Because he thinks that money is the kind of thing that can be earned by skill and strength, and it is nothing more than a question of earning more or less.And reputation cannot be earned by skills, but by inner quality and self-awareness.Therefore, if a government, enterprise or individual overdraws their reputation, they will definitely pay a heavy price. The advertisement performed by Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan made "Aiduo" almost a household name.Under the leadership of Hu Zhibiao, a 30-year-old Guangdong youth, Aiduo Company has created the most famous brand in the VCD market in China. Its extraordinary courage to win the "Biaowang" by spending 200 million yuan on CCTV has mobilized news media all over the country. The enthusiastic hype and its remarkable performance in the VCD market have brought untold wealth to itself and its partners. However, by the beginning of 1999, some abnormal phenomena appeared in Aiduo Company, and the advertisements about Aiduo Company's products broadcast on CCTV dropped sharply.In many big cities across the country, the outdoor advertisements of Aiduo Company, which used to be everywhere everywhere, have gradually become sparse without knowing it.In some national newspapers and periodicals, the advertisements of Aiduo Company have also been greatly reduced... By 2000, after a series of blows such as debt accumulation, advertising suspension, shareholder crisis, court closures, and subordinates leaving, it became extremely popular. The momentary Aiduo Company finally fell into trouble due to huge debts, and bankruptcy was imminent.In April, one year after the Aiduo crisis broke out, Hu Zhibiao had another accident and was criminally detained by the police on suspicion of commercial fraud.Therefore, it is reasonable to ask, "Where have we been working hard" for Aiduo Company and their leader Hu Zhibiao, who claim to be "we have been working hard"? One of the most low-level mistakes that Aiduo has made today is the lack of the most basic commercial credit. At the beginning of 1999, when Aiduo Company first showed signs of illness, according to the "Chinese Entrepreneur" magazine, Aiduo Company lacked even the most basic business reputation.A supplier of Aiduo Company said that the company has been cooperating with Aiduo Company for several years. At the beginning, it made a lot of efforts to win the order of Aiduo Company, and thought that it was a good opportunity to cooperate with Aiduo Company.Unexpectedly, the good times did not last long. From the end of 1997 to 1999, Aiduo Company successively occupied more than 8 million yuan of the company's funds, and still owed more than 5 million yuan.Another company also reported that during the several years of cooperation with Aiduo, the other party failed to pay the payment on time from the very beginning, and more than 2.4 million yuan of payment was not repaid.The supplier also said that Boss Lin (wife of Hu Zhibiao) of Aiduo Company once personally said: "Our company has made the following promise to cash in the promissory note of 400,000 yuan to your company before the end of December (1998). In January (1998) 1999) to pay 850,000 yuan, and pay off the balance before the Spring Festival, and hope that your company can accept this plan." However, a penny was not returned.What puzzled the supplier in particular was that on December 19, 1998, Aiduo Company issued a bad check of 400,000 yuan.Another supplier who also received a blank check bluntly criticized that Aiduo's work efficiency was low and there was no sincerity with the partner. After writing this, even if readers don’t know why Aiduo is in today’s embarrassment, they can understand why Aiduo has declined. A company that does not speak of credibility will be eliminated by the market sooner or later. Moreover, as the leader of China Central Television's Biaowang VCD, Aiduo has established a very good brand image in people's minds through advertising bombing.It can be said that the status of Aiduo Company in people's minds is beyond that of ordinary VCD brands.Because people have high expectations for Aiduo, but Aiduo's own technology and management can't keep up, and it is no different from the VCD technology of ordinary brands, which will inevitably lead to the decline of its status in people's minds.It can be said that Aiduo Company won the bid king and carried out advertising bombing, in essence, it overdraws its reputation and the brand "Aiduo", and the result of this overdraft will sooner or later bring great misfortune to the company and Hu Zhibiao . Moreover, Hu Zhibiao himself was suspected of commercial fraud and was detained by the police. This kind of thing is rare. Among the relatively well-known private entrepreneurs in China, Hu Zhibiao seems to be the first person in history, becoming "the first person to eat crabs." Entrepreneurs", if everyone eats crabs like this, China will definitely be hopeless, let alone "sow love and create the future".Hu Zhibiao once complained, "Everyone is sorry for me, it is the consultant planner who hired me that hurt me", but he seldom reflects on himself. He should ask himself, "Am I worthy of others? Do I have credibility? " Therefore, we must keep in mind that loyalty is the foundation of a person, the reputation of an enterprise is the soul of an enterprise, and the reputation of an individual is the life of an individual.