Are you the boss?
If you have to tell people that you are, you are not.
“The best leaders are those their people hardly know exist.
The next best is a leader who is loved and praised.
Next comes the one who is feared.
The worst one is the leader that is despised …
The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly.
When they have accomplished their task,
the people say, “Amazing!
We did it, all by ourselves!”Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching (17)
If you want your people to serve your goals, serve them first.
Serve your people, and they will serve you well.
The sage puts himself last;
And finds himself ahead.
He detaches from himself;
And find himself united with all things.Lao Tzu Tao Te Jing, Chapter 7
… tao of leadership … tao meaning
Lao Tzu and Confucius are considered the greatest philosophers in the Chinese history.
An interesting question is: what’s the difference between them?
The styles of the two philosophers are apparently different. If Confucius is an engineer, then Lao Tzu is a romantic. Confucius was obsessed with the rites and justice; Lao Tzu, on the other hand, emphasized spontaneity. Confucius talked specifically about how human relationship should be managed, while Lao Tzu wandered beyond the constraints of bondages through non-doing (wuwei) to achieve inner equilibrium .
They are as if the yin and yang of the Chinese culture, and your appreciation of the tradition would not be complete, if you know only one of them.
Confucius was nevertheless highly impressed by Lao Tzu. This was what he said after their rare meeting:
“I know how birds can fly, fishes swim, and animals run. The runner may be snared, the swimmer hooked, and the flyer shot by the arrow. But there is the dragon: I cannot tell how he mounts on the wind through the clouds, and rises to heaven. Today I have seen Lao-tzu, and can only compare him to the dragon.”
Confucius talked about Lao Tzu after their meetinng
