Chapter 18 Chapter 17 Dare to Listen to the Truth: How Great the Ears Are

Many leaders have a habit of going their own way. Apart from their own opinions, they simply don't listen to any beneficial suggestions from others.And when others have opinions, they often order others to remain silent.When doubts arise in the organizational environment, those who come forward to raise doubts are likely to be labeled as "disloyal" or even regarded as troublemakers.What exactly is the best way to judge opposition and dissent?Those who have the courage to express dissenting or even opposing opinions should be encouraged. During the Warring States Period, a king once issued a decree to ask for advice: "The ministers and the people who can criticize the widow's faults face to face will be rewarded; Those who are heard by me will be rewarded." This decree has received excellent results.After a year, people want to speak out again, but they have nothing to say.And for a long time in this country, the country is prosperous and the people are peaceful, and the society is stable.

Since time immemorial, leaders who will do their own way and do what they want are doomed.This is a summary of historical experience. Readers who have read it all know the story of Guan Yu "losing Jingzhou carelessly". In fact, Guan Yu did not lose Jingzhou due to negligence, but because of his weakness of not being able to listen to different opinions.When Guan Yu was guarding Jingzhou, Lu Meng of Eastern Wu was the governor. Lu Meng had long planned to take back Jingzhou, which was deceived by Liu Bei, but he knew that a strong attack would only make him suffer, so he tried to exploit Guan Yu's weakness .Coincidentally, Guan Yu did not guard Jingzhou himself, but was leading troops outside to attack Fancheng. Seeing the rare opportunity, Lu Meng took the initiative to establish a good relationship with Guan Yu on the surface, and secretly used tricks to deceive Guan Yu.He falsely claimed that he was ill and asked Lu Xun, a scholar from the Eastern Wu Dynasty, to replace him as the governor.As soon as Lu Xun took office, he wrote a letter with friendly words and prepared generous gifts, and sent an envoy to visit Guan Yu. After Guan Yu heard about it, he relaxed his vigilance. You son is your general!" He didn't take Lu Xun seriously at all, thinking that Lu Xun could do nothing for Jingzhou, and instead pulled out the Jingzhou guards to attack Fancheng.Guan Yu's lieutenants Sima Wangfu and Zhao Lei didn't think so. They believed that Soochow must have a conspiracy, and urged Guan Yu not to withdraw the Jingzhou guards easily.However, Guan Yu did not seriously analyze and study Soochow's recent actions and signs. He just knew it but didn't know why.But then the fact is that the Soochow army crossed the river and captured Jingzhou City.

Up to this time, Guan Yu still did not believe the news that Jingzhou had fallen. When someone in the army rumored that Jingzhou had fallen, he angrily stopped him and said, "This is the enemy's rumor to disturb our army's morale! Soochow Lu Meng is critically ill. , Ruzi Lu Xun takes over the post of governor, nothing to worry about!" How supercilious this is.Later, after exploring the horse and reporting the truth, he believed that Jingzhou was really lost.Only then did Guan Yu turn pale with shock, and he had no choice but to go to the Jingzhou territorial police, but he didn't know that the public relations had also been captured by Lu Meng.At this moment when there is no way to advance or retreat, Guan Yu seems to have awakened a little bit, and he sighed deeply to Sima Wangfu beside him: "I regret not listening to the words of your step, it really happened today!"

If it is reasonable to say that Jingzhou was lost because of Guan Yu's carelessness, then Guan Yu's defeat in Maicheng was due to his disobedience to advice.When trapped in Maicheng, with no food and grass inside, and no reinforcements outside, Guan Yu decided to abandon Maicheng and break out to Xichuan.But how to go to Xichuan? He rejected Wang Fu's correct suggestion.There are two roads to go to Xichuan, one is the main road and the other is a remote path. Guan Yu planned to go to Xichuan by the small path. After hearing this, Wang Fu was afraid that Wu Wei would set up an ambush on the small path, so he quickly suggested that the troops take the main road.At this time, Guan Yu committed the old habit of going his own way again. He stubbornly refused to listen to Wang Fu's words, and confidently threatened: "Even if there is an ambush, why not be afraid!" He was determined to take the path.Wang Fu predicted that Guan Yu's departure would be bad or good.Despite all kinds of persuasion, it is still useless, what is the result?Both father and son were captured and killed.A generation of heroes and heroes caused great historical tragedies because they could not listen to different opinions at the same time.

A thousand sheepskins are not as valuable as a fox's armpit skin; thousands of people bow their heads and obey, it is not as beneficial as one person to argue and argue.As a leader, one should have the generosity to follow advice, be able to listen to different opinions, and encourage subordinates to dare to speak different opinions.As the saying goes, "Gentlemen are harmonious but different, and villains are united but not harmonious." Leaders can often hear different opinions, which is beneficial to themselves and others. French social psychologist H. M．Tolede proposed: To test whether a person's intelligence is superior, it only depends on whether two opposite thoughts can be accommodated in the mind at the same time, without hindering his behavior in the world.The coexistence of two kinds of positive and negative thoughts shows that you can listen to different opinions, or in other words, you are not furious and angry when you hear the opposing opinions, but you can listen to and analyze the opposing opinions carefully, which means that you have understood the two aspects of the problem. All have been taken into account, if fully analyzed, it will have a positive impact on decision-making.

Yuan Shao finally lost to Cao Cao's tens of thousands of troops with a division of 100,000 because he could not tolerate opposition.Yuan Shao's soldiers are resourceful and have enough food, so it is better to defend; Cao Cao's soldiers are strong and brave and have little food, so it is better to fight quickly.Yuan Shao raised an army to fight, but Tian Feng strongly opposed it and was thrown into prison.Yuan Shao was defeated, and his vitality was greatly hurt. Because of great regret, "I don't listen to Tian Feng's words, I will be defeated and perish; when I go back now, how can I see him!"

When Tian Feng was in prison, the jailer congratulated him and said: "General Yuan has returned after a big defeat. You must see it again (you will be reused again)." If you are happy with the victory, you can still forgive me; if you lose the battle, you will be ashamed, and I don’t want to live.” Sure enough, the envoy was ordered to kill Tian Feng, and Tian Feng killed himself in the end. In the face of different opinions, Cao Cao adopted two attitudes that were diametrically opposed to Yuan Shao's.After Cao Cao initially settled Hebei, he discussed with everyone to attack Wuhuan in the west; Cao Hong and others strongly opposed it.Cao Cao listened to Guo Jia's words and took great pains to break Wuhuan.When he returned to Yizhou, he rewarded those who advised him first.Sincerely said to the generals: "The former alone took advantage of the danger to go on an expedition and succeeded by luck. Although he won, God blessed him, and he could not be a law. The advice of the kings is the plan of Wan'an, and it is rewarded. Don't be hard to say in the future (don't be afraid in the future) Comments)."

Tian Feng's objection was correct, but Yuan Shao killed him.Who would raise objections to such a confused leader?How could he escape the tragic failure and ridicule?Yuan Shao's four generations and three princes have a deep foundation, and Cao Cao also deeply lamented: "There are so many righteous men in Hebei! It's a pity that the Yuan family can't use it! If it can be used, I dare to look at this place!" Cao Cao, on the other hand, followed the good advice, never closed his eyes and listened, even if the objection was wrong, he still rewarded everyone and encouraged everyone to speak more.Because opponents always have reasons to oppose, and there must be merits in them.If you are lucky enough to despise, tease or even punish those who raise objections, it will only make everyone obedient.

Managers have power and status, so they are easily deceived by flattery and flattery, and cannot hear the truth.In real life, in order to win the favor and favor of the leader, most of the subordinates please, even fool the managers, and it is not uncommon to tell lies to deceive the superiors.Therefore, an excellent manager must have the sincerity, mind and action to listen to the truth. A leader led a group of 10 subordinates to a certain island in a small boat.On the way back, the leader proposed not to return to the voyage temporarily, but to go to another small island to play.One of them said: "There are many hidden reefs around the island, and the current is very dangerous. It's better not to go." After hearing this, the leader was very dissatisfied and said sharply: "Don't say unlucky words to spoil everyone's happiness. The weather is calm and calm." What’s the point? Those who agree to go stand to the left, and those who disagree stand to the right.” Many people observed their words and flattered their horses, but they all walked to the left one by one. When there was only one person left on the right, the boat capsized due to the shift of the center of gravity come over.

Standing on one side is not a good thing.Leaders act arbitrarily, and those who tell the truth are excluded and isolated. Who wants to tell the truth?If leaders want to hear the truth, they must accommodate other people's ideas with an open mind, and have a democratic style, so that the masses want to speak and dare to speak, so that those who speak are innocent and those who hear it are safe. In addition, leaders should realize that those who dare to raise opinions are not prejudiced against themselves.Most people who dare to raise opinions are relatively ambitious, enterprising, strong sense of responsibility, keen thinking, and caring about their work.Lao Tzu said: "Trust words are not beautiful, and good words are not believed." The truth may not be pleasant, and the pleasant words may not be true.Some opinions may be extreme, incomplete, or incorrect, and some individuals may even express their dissatisfaction in anger.Leaders must be tolerant, magnanimous, and dialectical, and should not hold prejudices because of disagreements with themselves.You must have the spirit of seeking truth from facts and a broad mind and tolerance. When you hear some radical words, don't get angry. Only by not blocking the way of speaking can we express our attitude of advocating, appreciating, encouraging, and supporting telling the truth.Of course, when listening to different opinions or opposing opinions, it is also necessary to distinguish the truth from the false, and to figure out the truthful words, heartfelt words and baseless lies.We must distinguish between good and bad, good words and slander with ulterior motives.It is necessary to distinguish between the false and the real, and distinguish the truth without water, the meaningless empty words and the exaggerated big words.As long as the leader puts down his airs, has a little more human touch, treats each other with sincerity, is approachable, and makes friends with his subordinates, he can exchange his true feelings for the sincerity of his subordinates.

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty asked Wei Zheng: "Why are some monarchs in history wise and some stupid?" Only listen to Zhao Gao, Sui Yangdi believed in Yu Shiji, and as a result, his eyes and ears were blocked, which led to the collapse of the country. If the monarch can listen to the opinions of all parties, adopt the correct propositions below, and express his feelings above, he will be wise; if he only listens to the order If you don’t, you will be deceived, and you will be stupid.” Taizong listened to Wei Zheng’s words and nodded his head again and again: “The bright master thinks about the short and benefits the good, and the dark master protects the short and is forever foolish.” General de Gaulle has a beautiful writing style and is diligent in writing. Therefore, he has a special relationship with an important member of the think tank - the "penholder".He needs these people, and he needs them to write speeches and articles on the topics he assigns.But what these "pens" write for him often cannot be used by him. Once, a think tank drafted a speech for him, and he thought he was very satisfied.But when he got the manuscript that de Gaulle had read the next day, he was disappointed.De Gaulle has changed it beyond recognition.The think tank made a diagnosis, which showed that de Gaulle was very dissatisfied with himself, and he was already facing the disaster of being resigned.So he asked embarrassingly: "Is it still necessary for me to stay and work in the Presidential Palace?" De Gaulle said with a light smile: "Of course it is necessary! I need a speech script, just to sing against him." In this way, we can compete strategically with the think tanks around us, to deepen and develop our own thinking, to affirm or deny our own decisions, and to fight with our imaginary opponents or political enemies.As a result, he asked consultants and think tanks to write him reports, documents and memos constantly.When he confronts them, he confronts a learned man who is eloquent and thoughtful. De Gaulle was a president who responded to every letter.Documents he has read must be returned to the author the next day.On top of the document he left comments of his approval, disapproval, disputation, or praise of them.And these advisers and think tanks will find what they need in his brief instructions. All people with brains have their own thoughts, but they are not superstitious about their own thoughts. They always affirm or deny their own decisions and draw their own conclusions after listening to other people's thoughts—so no one dares to despise this kind of person. Two years ago, a reporter friend went to interview a township enterprise, and the entrepreneur who was well-known locally and the chairman of the enterprise was sitting in the office and sulked.It turned out that at the board meeting in the morning, he proposed the fruit juice production project again, but was rejected again. Talking about the management of the enterprise, he complained again and again: the enterprise is becoming more and more difficult to manage.He said: "When the company was first established, although the scale was small and the cultural quality of the employees was not high, everything was done smoothly. I pointed to the east, and no one went west. Now, the scale has grown, and the benefits have doubled. A large number of highly educated talents have been recruited. Ordinarily, the work should be more handy, but in fact, my words are not effective now, and people often disagree. Let’s talk about the production of fruit juice. You know, a bottle of Huiyuan or It’s Rumeng, and the restaurant sells it for ten or twenty yuan. We have a lot of fruit in this place. If it goes to the juice production line, think about the profit! But several vice presidents disagreed, saying that juice is popular now, but in the long run Look but..." Two years later, the chairman attended the National Model Worker Commendation Meeting in Beijing, and met with journalist friends again.During the chat, a reporter friend asked him if the fruit juice processing project was accepted later. He heaved a sigh and said, "Fortunately, it was not accepted at the beginning. If it was accepted, it would be a burden now. A family in a neighboring county joined the project. They all went in." He said with emotion that it is not necessarily a bad thing for someone in the company to say "no". As a leader, it is not necessarily a good thing for employees to be submissive in front of you.When someone says "no" to you, it's time to celebrate.If you always follow the path of past success, the next thing waiting for you is failure. Sun and Liu graduated from the same university in the same year, and were hired as project coordinators of a company at the same time.The two are equally talented, and their professional level is hard to distinguish. The difference is their attitude towards things. Every time when discussing the project designed by Liu, as long as everyone puts forward some opinions, he always argues with reason, one, two, three, four, five, so that others are speechless.Although everyone thinks he is reasonable, he always feels a little arrogant.Sometimes the leader graciously pointed out certain flaws in his project, and Liu would quote classics to find evidence, embarrassing the leader who is not high in theory. Sun Mou's attitude is just the opposite.For everyone's suggestions, he made serious records, with an attitude of listening attentively.Especially the instructions of the leader, he attached great importance to it, and asked for advice repeatedly if he was unclear.Participating in Sun's project discussion meeting, everyone has the opportunity to speak freely, and everyone is willing to give him their valuable opinions.Sun Mou's final revised project proposal must be impeccable and learn from others' strong points. As a result, the projects made by Sun were adopted every time, but the projects made by Liu were rarely adopted.The difference in performance widened the gap between them.Later, Sun was promoted to the deputy general manager of the company, while Liu had quit two years ago and is still a small employee. It is more important to adopt other people's advice than whether other people's opinions are correct.Sun Mou is better than Liu Mou in that he is indifferent to himself and always respects each other.Management is not about endless speech, but about listening. Microsoft in the United States is famous for its vitality, and Microsoft people in China are also full of vitality. One day, Lee Kai-fu, former dean of Microsoft China Research Institute, wanted to name the company's new conference room.He immediately asked the secretary to issue a notice via computer: the name of the conference room is now being called for, and the deadline is 6:00 pm tomorrow.It is recommended to use "the name of the most famous inventor in China" or "the most famous invention in China" to name. "I would suggest 'Gunpowder' as one of the names. That way, when you walk into the meeting room, you will be mobilized with all your strength to fight for your ideas." Thinking that the wisdom of him and his colleagues would explode with the power of gunpowder, Kai-fu Lee couldn't help being a little excited, and left another symbol ":-)" after this sentence.When these symbols are turned upright, they are a pair of small eyes, a small nose and two laughing mouths to show the happiness of the writer. By clicking a button on the screen, Kai-fu Lee's "suggestion" and his email were sent to everyone in the institute at the same time. The idea of ​​"gunpowder" immediately resonated with everyone's emotions. "How great it would be when we said, 'Let's go to the Gunpowder Depot to discuss'!" Secretary Xiao Xu immediately echoed Kai-Fu Lee's thoughts.In the e-mail he sent, he specially added new suggestions in Chinese: "Imagine other names, such as Sinan Che, Paper Mill, and Printing Factory." Xiao Li, a Ph.D. graduate from Zhejiang University, put forward his own idea: "Sinan Che" should be turned into a "Guide Office". "I like your ideas." Li Kaifu also joined everyone's discussion.He remembered that the Chinese invented the concept of "zero" in the digital field, "This is equivalent to half a computer!" He sent an email to all the researchers, "We should call a conference room 'Zero Room'. "Then he said jokingly: "But how do you say it in Chinese? Lingtang? That will remind people of 'Lingtang'." So this large group of young people who are familiar with both English and Chinese began to look for a suitable name between Chinese and English.Xiao Chen and Xiao Sun immediately realized that Zero Room can be translated as: Inspiration Room.Kai-fu Lee couldn't help cheering in the email. The stipulated deadline has been reached.The name of the meeting room determines the scheme: Guidance Hall, Gunpowder Depot, Paper Mill, Inspiration House, Printing House, Abacus Room. Ideas are the most valuable, but airs are disgusting; intelligence is the most valuable, but power is the least.Only when business leaders let go of their airs and power and listen to the voices of their subordinates, can the disease of large companies be overcome. (Introduction to Microsoft Corporation: Founded in 1975, the pioneer of personal computer software development, the founders are Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington State. Its main products are Windows operating system, Internet Explorer web browser and Microsoft Office office software suite. In 1999, the MSNMessenger network instant messaging client program was launched. In 2001, the Xbox game console was launched to participate in the competition in the game terminal market. Microsoft established its first representative office in Beijing, China in 1992 Since then, Microsoft has successively established research, product development and technical support service organizations such as Microsoft China Research and Development Center, Microsoft Global Technical Support Center and Microsoft Asia Research Institute in China. Microsoft China is the most complete subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation outside the US headquarters. company.)