Tao In You

“There are three ways a leader can bring disasters to his own army:

• Ordering an advance — when he does not realize the army is in no position to advance; or ordering a retreat — not realizing the army is in no position to retreat.  This is called entangling the army.
• Interfering with the army’s administration, when he is unaware of how an army is managed.  This leads confusion to the officers and troops.
• Commanding the army, when he is unaware of how to change with changes of situation.  This will lead to hesitation of the officers and troops.

When the army is confused and hesitant, the enemies will take advantage.  A confused arm surrenders its victory to others.”

– Sun Tzu Chapter 3 (translated by Tekson)

 
While a leader can do a lot of good for the people he leads, he can equally doing a lot of harm to them without him knowing.

A good leader, therefore, must know when he should take the flag and run, and when he should stay in the background.

Embrace simplicity.
Put others first.
Desire little.

                                                Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching 19

One of the most powerful ways of getting an organzation to work is to make things simple.  Make your vision clear, easy to follow. 

And then, get everyone in the organization to think about customers and team work. 

Desire little, just do what’re right! 

If you can do so, your organization and people will transcend their limits in no time.   

Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inhalingsounds/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

… Tao of leadership …

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)

Tao of Leadership …

What do the best of leaders do?

Pick the right men for the job, and let them get the job done.

“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.

If you don’t trust the people,
they will become untrustworthy.”

Lao Tzu on Tao of Leadership

When you desire too much, you tense up, and this in fact can close yourself to opportunities.

If you want happiness and success, learn to let yourself go and lose up.

Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery.
By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real.

Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1

Tao of leadership is more like farming, rather than hunting.

In farming, you plough the land and plant the seeds, but see nothing.  You water the plants and remove the weeds.  Still, you see nothing.  You patiently wait in faith before the fruits are born.  However, before they are ripe, you can do nothing.

Finally, it is time for harvest.  When the next season comes around, you harvest again.

Hunting is different.  You capture the prey, and enjoy the reward immeditately.  You have to, nevertheless, continuously hunting for new preys.  There is no recurring harvests.

As a leader, if you can function like a farmer, or a hunter.

As a farmer-type of leader, you invest in, and cultivate your relationship with your peaple.  You may not get anything immediately, but there will come a time when you can start harvesting, and enjoy the fruits of loyalty team in the long run.

If you behave like a hunter, you can exact respect and obedience by force.  It will, however, ‘kill’ the loyalty. If there is no loyalty, the leadership will not last.

Those who lead people by following the Tao
don’t use weapons to enforce their will.
Weapons often turn upon the wielder.

- Lao Tze 30

Before a palace is built, it is in the architect’s mind’s eye.

Before an enterprise is born, it is in the founder’s dream.

Being able to see the unseen is an ability that distinguishes the leader and follower, the creator and admirer.

Non-being is origin of the universe,
Being is mother of all creations.
See the non-being, and you can see the hidden mystery.
See the being, and you can appreciate the manifestations.

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

What should you do when someone is angry at you?

Simple answer: not to get angry.

But …  how do you not to get angry?

There are many ways to do this.  This is one of them: empty yourself.

Two great things happen when you can empty yourself in this case:

• First, you allow the anger to pass through you; rather than intensify it with your anger.
• Second, it allows you to cut down the noises, and listen to what’s underlying the person’s anger.  It helps you to react in a better way.

“It is easier to carry an empty cup
than one that is filled to the brim. ”

– Lao Tzu (Chapter 9)

A very valuable lesson that I’ve learned about success is to value failure.

It sounds paradoxical, but life is paradoxical.

There are opposite forces in all things we do.  Day is not purely day; and night is not purely night.  The moment when the sun rises, the day is inching to the night every second.

So why must a failure be a failure, and not a journey taking you closer to success?

In order to attract success, learn to see failure not as failure, but a necessary element of success.  Only when you are able to see failure in this way, that you are able to spot in failure opportunities that breed success.

As Lao Tze says,

“If you want to become whole,
first let yourself become broken.
If you want to become straight,
first let yourself become twisted.
If you want to become full,
first let yourself become empty.
If you want to become new,
first let yourself become old.
Those whose desires are few gets them,
those whose desires are great go astray. ”
(Chapter 22)

Why many people can’t make decision, even about the most insignificant things in life?

They are not sure what they should eat for lunch and wear for the party; not to mention how they should react when their bosses ask them to comment on something.

What is keeping them from making a decision?

Little do they know, it could be their desire.

When they think of eating Italian pasta, they miss the steak.  When they are about to put on their jeans, they miss their skirts.

The problem is our desire is endless.  And if you keep thinking about the many things your want, no decision can ever be made.

Instead, find out the best options available, before entertaining your desire.  You’ll find decision-making is not exactly a hassle.

Learn from Lao Tze:

Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery.
By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real. (Chapter 1)

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