Chapter 23 Twenty-third letter: There must be a spirit of cooperation

Motto: Treat others as you want others to treat you. A friendship based on business is far better than a business based on friendship. Be nice to people on the way up because you'll run into them on the way down. (The essence of life is struggle and competition. Struggle and competition are stimulating.) May16, 1901 Dear John: That handshake between you and Mr. Morgan was the greatest in American economic history, and I'm sure posterity will remember it generously because, as the Wall Street Journal put it, it marked "a A super warship jointly built by Wall Street tycoons and oil tycoons has set sail, and it will be unstoppable and unsinkable."

John, do you know what this is called?This is the power of cooperation. Collaboration, which may seem weak or shameful in the eyes of the self-important, is always wise in my opinion, as long as it benefits me.Now, I want you to know the fact that: If it is not God who has achieved my great career today, I am willing to attribute it to the support of three major forces: the first force comes from following the rules, which can make the enterprise sustainable; the second force comes from cruelty Ruthless competition, it will make every competition more perfect; the third force comes from cooperation, which allows me to gain benefits and benefits in cooperation.

And the reason why I can run ahead of my competitors is that I am good at taking shortcuts—cooperating with people.At every stop on my wealth creation journey, you can see the sign of cooperation.Because from the day I stepped into the society, I knew that at any time, anywhere, as long as there is competition, no one can fight alone, unless he wants to kill himself, a smart person will form a cooperative relationship with others, including competitors , to use the power of others to make oneself exist or become stronger. Of course, I can make a hypothesis that is likely to come true. If we don't hold hands with Mr. Morgan, both of us are likely to lose both sides, and our opponent, Mr. Carnegie, will benefit from it and make people in the steel industry. The industry has always been thriving trend continues.But now, Mr. Carnegie must be beating his chest and feet. Think about it, who can remain calm when his opponent is encroaching on his territory?Unless he's a dead man lying in a grave.

Cooperation can suppress the opponent or make the opponent out, so as to achieve the goal of making strides towards the goal. In other words, cooperation is not necessarily the pursuit of victory.Unfortunately, only a few people understand the secrets of it. However, cooperation is not equal to friendship, love and marriage. The purpose of cooperation is not to gain affection, but to gain benefits and benefits.We should know that success depends on the support and cooperation of others. There is a gap between our ideals and ourselves, and we must bridge this gap.You must rely on the support and cooperation of others.

Of course, I would never say no to a friendship with a business partner, and I believe a friendship built on business is far better than a business built on friendship.For example my work with Mr. Henry Flagler.Henry is my eternal confidant and best assistant; I form an alliance with him, and what he allows me is not only investment, but also wisdom and spiritual support.Henry, like me, was never complacent and ambitious, and it was his dream to be the master of the oil industry.Until now, I still remember the scene when we started working together. At that time, except for eating and sleeping, we were almost inseparable. We went to and from get off work, thinking together, making plans together, motivating each other, and strengthening each other's determination.That time, like a honeymoon, will always be a pleasant memory for me.

Today, decades have passed, and we are still as close as brothers. I will not sell this emotion for any amount of money.That's why I keep telling you to call him Uncle Henry instead of Mr. Henry. I never try to buy or sell friendship, because friendship cannot be bought with money.Friendship needs the support of true love behind it.The reason why Henry and I have unrepentant cooperation and eternal friendship is not only that we are accomplices in pursuit of interests, but more importantly, we are both self-disciplined people, and we all know how we want others to treat us. You, how you treat others and the value of doing it from now on.

"Don't do to others what you don't want done to you" is not only my code of conduct, but also my wise attitude towards cooperation.Therefore, I never use wealth to bully weaker opponents. I would rather have a heart-to-heart talk with them than put on a domineering stance to overwhelm them. Otherwise, I may ruin our cooperation and stop the goal in the middle . Of course, there are times when I can't forget to humiliate someone who is insolent, as I did with Mr. Vanderbilt, the owner of the New York Central Railroad. Vanderbilt was born aristocratically, he made military exploits in the Civil War, and enjoyed the title of general, but he regarded the honor he received on the battlefield as the capital of his life, and thought that he could control the transportation power, so he could treat us as day laborers.

Once, Henry found him to talk about transportation, but who knew that this arrogant guy actually said: "Young man, you want to talk to me? Your military rank seems to be lower! Henry has never been insulted like this, but Good upbringing helped him at that moment, and he didn't lose his composure, but when he returned to the office, his beautiful pen holder suffered, and he smashed it to pieces. I quickly comforted him: "Henry, I forgot what that dog piss said, and I will definitely get your dignity back." Later, Vanderbilt was eager to do business with us, and asked us to negotiate with him, and I sent someone to tell him : "Yes, but you have to come to our office to talk." As a result, this general, who was used to being fawned on and flattered by others, could only condescend to meet a young man who was more than 40 years younger than him, and at the same time he had to submit to two Conditions put forward by young people.I think at that moment, General Vanderbilt must have understood this truth: be nice to people when you go up, because you will meet them when you go down.

I loathe being rude to people, and I know the value of being patient and gentle with subordinates and co-workers - helping to achieve goals.I know that money can buy talents, but not hearts, but if I pay them with respect, I will let them serve me faithfully.This is where I was able to build an efficient management team. But I don't want this to lead to wrong judgments, thinking that cooperation is being a good person.No!Cooperation is not a matter of being a good person, but a matter of benefits and interests.No alliance is forever, and cooperation is only a profit-making tactic.When the environment changes, the tactics will change accordingly, otherwise, you lose.The reality is harsh, and you have to be tougher, but, obviously, also be a good person.

John, the nature of life is struggle and competition, and they are exciting.However, when they develop into conflicts, they are often destructive and destructive, and timely cooperation can resolve them. love your father