How to Guide Your Change

“Change is the only constant in life” Heraclitus.

Then why are we so afraid of it?

In the post Organizational change I have written that employees, others as well, perceive stability as security and therefore normally oppose changes. Such perceptions present difficulties or even block a change.

Where, then, is the exit door to ‘changing’ that?

Let’s start with a simple question: what do I want to be?

The answer does not lay within New Year’s resolutions where we write down our wishes and intentions on a piece of paper, store it in a bottle and launch it to sea, hoping it will manifest by itself! No. The Universe isn’t going to make this happen. You are the only one to do it!

So, how then?

Sun Tzu wisdom and Leadership

In my previous posts I have deliberately omitted any connection to well-known book The Art of War by Sun Tzu. This book is one of the seven fundamental Chinese military books: from general Wei Liao Tzu, then Wu Tzu, The Methods of the Sima, Six Secret Teachings, the Three Strategies of Huang Shi Gong San Lue, and finally Questions and Replies (Wen Dui) between Tang Taizong and Li Wei Gong. These seven important military texts of ancient China are called Wu Jing Qi Shu or The Seven Military Classics. The texts were canonized under this name during the eleventh century, and past the Song Dynasty were included in most military encyclopedias.

The Art of War was created in sixth century before our era and contains the rules of warfare, which are grouped into different aspects and collected in 13 chapters. Each chapter is devoted to one aspect of warfare. Outside of China this book has long been regarded as the book of ‘the ultimate’ military wisdom and as the oldest and the most famous product of military strategy and tactics.

Leadership and perfectionism

Perfection!

A word that bursts our imagination in all life areas - business, private, leisure, recreational etc.
What is ‘perfection’? Why do we strive for it?

At the beginning of our Universe, the timeline back 13.7 billion years, the expansion begun from ‘Big Bang’. Some 380.000 years later huge clouds of hydrogen and helium atoms were formed but they had no structure. This sort of cosmic mush, as recent studies show, had some imperfection built in. Because of them we are able to measure just tiny differences in cosmic background temperature today. And tiny differences were enough for the Universe to move on to the next stage of building complexity. First, the stars were born …

It seems that it is the imperfection that generates complexity and change as David Christian describes in his TED talk: “And where you have slightly more complex things, you can get slightly more complex things. And in this way, complexity builds stage by stage”.

Dualism vs. Yin-Yang

Can Western dualism be compared to Yin and Yang?

We are probably all aware that René Descartes was a major figure in seventeenth-century European continental rationalism. His most famous expression was/is ‘Cogito ergo sum,’( in French: ‘Je pense, donc je suis’) or in English: ‘I think, therefore I am’  ‘I am thinking, therefore I exist’ or ‘I do think, therefore I do exist.’ He definitely shaped or better defined Western polarization culture’s thinking.

Descartes defined the roots of Western dualism in ‘Description of the human body’ and the ‘Passions of the soul’ in which he advised that the body functions like a machine. In contradiction to the body, the mind or soul was described as a non-material object that lacks extension and motion and does not follow the laws of nature. This form of dualism or duality has a problem when one proposes that the mind controls the body and that the body can also influence otherwise rational mind. 

The dualism, as a philosophical matter, is then transferred to all themes such as good-bad, heaven-hell, day-night, left-right, man-woman, etc. This polarization is very strict and does not allow any big or small interconnection and/or interdependency. This kind of thinking was strongly supported by prevailing religion in Western hemisphere at the time.

Yin & Yang in Leadership

Yin and Yang is a brilliant symbol and a superb allegory approach to describe excellence in leadership. Let me point out some of the possible applications already posted in my blogs. In the post “IQ & EQ for Leaders” I've written about the importance of “intelligence and emotional quotients” to the leadership. For a leader it is crucial to find a proper mixture of EQ and IQ substances to achieve correct methods/processes that deliver desired results. It is not enough to possess one or the other, the same as in Yin and Yang concept. Another blog “Virtue – Morality – Ethics and leadership” I claimed that virtue motivates, morals and ethics constrain. The last two represent an ego which could be one of the biggest barriers for people to work together effectively (EGO and Leadership?) in multicultural organizations that are spread around the globe. Again here we have two opposite things in leadership that “conflict” with each other.

But Yin and Yang is much more than mere opposites.

Learning Leadership from Martial Arts - I

The central blog question is: “How to successfully lead a group of people coming from different cultural backgrounds?”

Today we are facing important and challenging (new) factors in leadership and management: different languages, time zones, channels/modes of communication, physical distance, and consequently a large and variable mixture of cultural factors. All these factors influence work processes, decision-making, management, work habits and even get embodied in national work-related legislation. To be able to lead and to predict behaviors a modern leader is supposed to grasp them and not to give and take offence due to misunderstanding of cultural issues. In today’s global world it is increasingly important and desirable to understand these differences and understand how they require a different leadership and management style.

As there are numerous studies of cultural impact on management, leadership, team building, motivation, etc. I will not describe them, but rather follow a different path. People share a lot of the same habits, reactions, behaviors, etc. that are more culturally independent and are effectively and efficiently used in martial arts training and teaching. Can the same approach be taken in a new way to a different leadership?

Dao De Jing

Dao De Jing is a transcript of around five thousand Chinese characters in eighty-one chapters or sections. The chapter divisions were during history in later editions reorganized and supplemented with commentary. The title of the Dao De Jing text comes from the opening words of its two sections: DAO represented in chapters 1 to 37 and DE from chapter 38 to 81.

To explain the title we can separate containing terms. The term Dao was explained in my blog “Dào (Dao, Tao) – the Way” and De in “De – Virtue –Dé”. The third word Jing is translated as ‘canon,’ ‘great,’ or ‘classic’ text.

Thus, Dao De Jing can be translated as ‘The Classic/Canon of the Way/Path and the Power/Virtue.’ Even if this well-known text title did not become generally used until the Tang dynasty (618–905), it is fundamental to philosophical Daoism and it strongly influenced other old Chinese schools, such as Legalism and Neo-Confucianism. This ancient book is also central to Chinese religion, not only for religious Daoism, but also Chinese Buddhism which, when first introduced into China, was largely interpreted through the use of Daoist words and concepts.

De – Virtue - Dé

In my blog: Virtue – Morality – Ethics and leadership I wrote that virtue motivates and morals and ethics constrain. To support that statement here I’d like to describe virtue through Chinese  ancient text ‘Dào DéJīng’.

Dé is conventionally translated as ‘virtue’ or ‘power,’ and refers to how the Way or Dào functions, or literally “walks” throughout the visible world. ‘Moral authority’ is probably the closest modern English equivalent to Dé. It was an opening stanza in the oldest version of Dào Dé Jīng, now it is introduced in stanza 38 that describes virtue:

High virtue by obliging not - acquires moral force.

Low virtue obliges always and thus lacks moral force.

High virtue neither strives nor acts for its own ends.

Low virtue does not strive but acts for its own ends.

High kindness does strive but not for its own ends.

High service also strives and does so for its ends.

High ritual not only strives but compliance failing stops at nothing to compel conformance.

Thus the loss of the Way meant the advent of virtue.

The loss of virtue, the advent of kindness.

The loss of kindness, the advent of service.

The loss of service, the advent of ritual rule.

Ritual rule turned loyal trust to deceit, leading to disorder.

All that has been learned adorns the Wayand engenders delusion.

Hence those strong and true keep commitment 

shun deceit, stay with the kernel that’s real and shun flowery adornment, choosing the first, refusing the last. (Moss)

Dào (Dao, Tao) – the Way

In my blogs I have been using a term Dào (Dao, Tao) and would like to share with you my understanding of the meaning of the concept.

Dào is usually translated as way, road, channel, path, doctrine, or line. Chinese language is a tonal language so we must not confuse Dào with Dǎo, although for us it sounds the same. The latter, Dǎo, has an entirely different meaning: to lead, to transform, to guide, to conduct and or to direct.

There are some who would like to believe that Dào is a sort of ultimate creator, a God? It is not. God interferes with people and things, Dào never does. It is said that he who pursues Dào does less day by day. Less and less is done until nothing is done at all; when nothing is done at all, nothing is left undone. This is the fundamental difference between God and Dào – there is no interference when Dào is in concern. At the same time we should understand that Dào in Daoism can have dual meaning. One is religious and the other philosophical. The understanding and use of Dào in my book Leadership by Virtue is the latter.

China’s history and culture impacting Leadership - 3

The third example I would like to share with you is the historical novel Three Kingdoms, written in the tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals which are attributed to Confucius. The historical novel of the Three Kingdoms is so important because it describes China’s tradition of political culture and the struggle to define its political form, transporting the reader from the highest councils of dynastic power to the lowest fringes of society, from the capital and key provinces to the edges of the empire and beyond. The novel offers a startling and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought. The novel has in turn influenced the ways that the Chinese think about power, diplomacy, and war. It is a tale of China itself in its infinite variety.

While ‘preserving moral judgment’ in every turn of phrase the novel marks the ‘rise and fall of kingdoms’ in a grand sweep of time. The novel has added to this tradition by reaching the broadest possible public with its message. This challenges a reader to reflect on how his own conduct measures up to the standards of loyalty and filial piety as they are fulfilled or betrayed in the novel. As Jiang Daqi said in the preface to the novel ‘merely to read it but not apply [its lessons] vigorously in one’s own life, is inferior to [real] study.’

China’s history and culture impacting Leadership - 2

The second example from China’s history for an outstanding leadership can be taken from the novel: Journey to the West. The main character is Sūn Wùkōng, Brother Monkey or Great Sage. The narrative uses a lot of symbolism and is based on the Daoist philosophy. Brother Monkey represents the heart and resides in fire, which is a fifth Daoist element. He was born from a stone and acquired supernatural powers through Daoist practices on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, which is the source of yīn and yang. The whole settlement and the place represent the Daoist theory of five elements where the other four are: Fruit and Flowers represent wood, Water Curtain where Brother Monkey hides refers to water, Iron-Plated Bridge leading to his camp refers to metal, and Rocky hill refers to earth. 

China’s history and culture impacting Leadership - 1

In this and the next two blogs I will try to shed some light on the topic of how one should behave and what one should aim for to be a successful and superior leader. Here I will take it from a non-Western perspective – from China’s history that is quite rich and could be the source of potentially broader viewpoint in today’s (mostly western) leadership methodologies.

I begin with a story Outlaws of the Marsh. The main character Sòng Jiāng, the descendant of a landowner's family, nicknamed Timely Rain, was a clerk of the county magistrate’s court in Yuncheng. He was especially adherent to playing with weapons and adept at many forms of fighting. At the same time he had a reputation for being extremely filial and generous in helping those in needs. He helped anyone who sought his aid, high or low, making things easy for people, solving their difficulties, settling differences, saving lives, even providing his guest with food and lodging in the family manor. And so he was famed through the province of Shandong and Hebei. However, in silence he suffered in the face of the arbitrariness and corruption of the imperial justice system.

Wing Chun basics 4 Leadership

In the book Leadership by Virtue I refer to martial arts philosophies and Wing Chun principles with regard to a personal growth for those who strive to become an outstanding leader. Here I’d like to share some Wing Chun basics to illustrate this relationship:

Efficiency and effectiveness are both the hallmarks of Wing Chun. Out of these hallmarks spring three main principles: central line, economy of movement, simultaneous attack and defense. And these principles serve right only if you have cultured three roots: balance, structure and stance.

A correct stance is like a bamboo, firm but flexible, rooted but yielding. It gives us power to either deflect external forces or redirect them. Balance is connected to a structure that is embedded within a stance. A correct structure is not important just for the defense, but also for the attack. Being effectively ‘rooted’ or aligned against the ground enables the force of the hit to be taken and absorbed by the ground. Why a good leader has to have a stable stance I have already explained in my Leadership and stability blog post.

Martial arts philosophy

Better sweat in practice than bleed in battle (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

The combats and strategies were a constant topic through the human history. In China only there are seven important military texts. First is from worldwide well-known Sun Zǐ, (The Art of War), the next are from general Wèi Liáozi (The Art of War), Wú Qǐ (The Art of War), Sīmǎ Fǎ (The Marshal's Art of War or The Methods of the Sīmǎ Fǎ), the legendary figure Jiāng Zǐyá (Six Secret Teachings), general Zhang Liang (The Three Strategies of Huáng Shígōng), and finally: Questions and Replies between emperor Táng Tàizōng and general Lǐ Wèi Gōng. The texts were practically canonized under the name “The Seven Military Classics” already in 11^th century, and were later on included in most military encyclopedias. In military spheres it was as important as Confucius’s work is for the bureaucrats.

Better spend three years looking for a good master than ten years training with a bad one (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

In China a philosophy does not come only from the country’s rich culture but also from martial arts. The keystone in Chinese philosophy is a strong humanism that became a focus of numerous Chinese philosophers throughout the ages. This humanism does not imply exclusion or indifference to a supreme powers and the nature. Instead, the general conclusion goes towards the unity of human and ‘heaven.’ This spirit of synthesis has characterized the entire history of Chinese philosophy.

A range of similarly motivated philosophical doctrines is covered by Daoism. Two great philosophical systems of China stand alongside: Daoism and Confucianism. Somehow less influential and less important to the development of Chinese culture are ‘the School of Mo’ and ‘the School of law’. The latter was a utilitarian political philosophy that did not address higher questions like the nature and the purpose of life. Both of them evolved at about the same time as Confucianism and Daoism during the ‘Spring and Autumn Period’ (770–476 before our era), and ‘Warring States Period.’

Martial arts are a value-driven system

In the past, the main objective of martial arts was effective and efficient combat that regularly resulted in mortality or caused some degree of injury, often very severe, while today, martial arts are being used in more than one way. The first would be in the direct usage of martial arts that serves the original purpose. It is only used in extreme situations by military, police, and such organizations.Nowadays, the term is usually associated with various unarmed Asian martial arts, such as Wing Chun, karate do, judo, taekwondo, aikido, and others, and martial arts using mostly cold weaponry, such as kendo, ninjutsu, battojutsu. In reality, it encompasses a whole plethora of martial arts from around the world, like boxing, savate, capoeira, jeet kune do, krav maga, fencing, and much more. But here we need to be aware of the differences in the ways of thinking coming from the environments influenced by Confucianism, Daoism, or Buddhism on one side, and the West on the other. This is all reflected in those martial arts. While the Chinese martial arts are predominantly rhythmic in movement, the Western tend to be more dynamic and tense.