1000 Business Lessons Every Businessman Must Know

Chapter 104 Realm cultivation: The boss must know how to advance and retreat, and understand the radius (1)
[-]. The boss needs to know how to advance and retreat
858. Don't Be Too Stubborn About Things

People who don't know how to adapt are not only unable to tolerate others, but what's worse, they can harm others and themselves.The same is true of the way to deal with advances and retreats in real life. If you don’t want the stupid things in the story to happen, then you should go around a few more circles when facing mean people, and don’t always dig into the horns.

When you can't get around in a dead end, first settle down and think about it, do you just insist on going straight, rather than cross the bridge leading to your destination?
Don't put a big lock on your mind, and accept the information from the outside world with an open heart, so that you can interact with each other and stimulate the spark of creativity.

One thing most people yearn for most is to have a brilliant strategy in their hands to make the business flourish.Yes, no matter what you do, it may not be smooth, and some will be twists and turns. It took a lot of effort and there is no good result.

In fact, there is a reason for everything you do. If you are not good at making changes smartly, you may come to a dead end.There is no doubt that no one wants to go to a dead end, not only does not want to go to a dead end, but the more ways to survive, the more pleasing to the eye.Anyone who is good at calculating their own minds, their unique skill is to be shrewd and change, so that their whole body can be flexible.In doing so, one can get rid of the passive state and give the opponent a sense of elusiveness, and the other can use anti-control strategies to set up difficult problems for the opponent, so as to gain the initiative for oneself.

Therefore, when doing anything, refrain from recklessness, and act after understanding the other party's mind, which can increase the success rate.How to do this?First of all, you must become a "reconnaissance expert", look, walk, ask, think in many ways, use the method of elimination, filter the other party's information, keep the most important ones, and then verify it several times.

859. Big things are clear, small things are confused

Zheng Banqiao has a famous saying "It's rare to be confused".In the work of the boss, you must adhere to principles on major issues of right and wrong, and there should be no ambiguity.But you don't have to be too serious about some small things, and you don't have to fight for the superior and the inferior.

As a boss, it is not easy to be aware of everything at all times.Human abilities are limited, and "everything is clear" often leads to "everything is not clear".Excessive attention to details and truth-seeking will inevitably distract the boss's energy and hinder the implementation of major issues.Therefore, the boss should be good at distinguishing between priorities and priorities, focus on major issues, be open-minded, be kind to others, and not be too serious about general trivial matters, so as to prevent all kinds of unprincipled disputes and personal disputes. It makes people short-sighted and narrow-minded, so as to ensure that people can concentrate on the implementation of major events.

The spirit of "confused" mentioned by Zheng Banqiao is to be clear about big things and confused about small things.But if the boss does not have a certain degree of self-cultivation and tolerance, not only is it difficult to understand the big things, but it is also rare to be confused about the small things;

"Zhuge Liang's Hanging Filial Piety" is a famous play. In the play, it is written: After the death of Zhou Yu, the governor of Wu State, Zhuge Liang went to Jiangdong to pay his respects to him.A group of ministers from Soochow wanted to take revenge and kill Zhuge Liang.But Lu Su disagreed and protected Zhuge Liang.Some people accused Lu Su of being confused.But Zhuge Liang praised him as a "rarely confused" Dr. Lu!Why?It is because Lu Su stands tall and sees far, and knows that the significance of the Shu-Wu alliance is far greater than a revenge.Lu Su's confusion in small matters is exactly the manifestation of his clear thinking in major matters.

It should also be noted that big things and small things are relative, and their relationship changes with time and conditions, and they can be converted into each other.This requires the boss to analyze and study the situation frequently, keep a clear head at all times, and firmly grasp the balance between big and small things, so that he can truly "be clear about big things and confused about small things."

860. Retreat as Advance and Bend to Extend

U.S. Steel is the number one company in the U.S. steel industry, accounting for one-third of U.S. steel output, and is one of the largest steel companies in the world.However, when Roderick became the company's chairman in 1979, the steel giant was facing a lot of difficulties: aging equipment, poor management, foreign imports competing for the market, and so on.In this case, in order to get out of the difficulty, he decided to adopt the tactics of retreating and advancing.

The first is to reduce the size of the company in order to seek new development.He closes factories, lays off people, throws away baggage;

Secondly, he sold a batch of idle assets, so that he had working capital in hand;
Third, he found another way in the market, acquiring oil companies for US$50 billion to expand his business scope.Roderick himself believes that "as the top leader of an enterprise, all activities should be carried out around improving the profitability of the enterprise."After Roderick's efforts, the strategy of retreating into advance has achieved results, which has saved U.S. Steel from being affected by the most sluggish storm in the Western steel industry in the past 40 years, turned defeat into victory, and finally got out of the predicament.

"Sun Tzu's Art of War" puts forward the viewpoint of "advance when you see what you can see, and retreat when you know difficulties", which means that when you realize that continuing to advance may lead to an unfavorable ending or a possible reversal of the battle situation, you should make a decisive decision, stop attacking, or retreat quickly , This is exactly the "degree" in dialectics, that is, the critical line for things to maintain their own quality in the development and change of things.If you go too far, you will pass, and if you pass, you will make mistakes.If you do not consider issues strategically and macroscopically, and continue to use troops beyond the limits of your own strength, the initiative will be transferred to the enemy, and a favorable situation will turn into a disadvantageous situation.Therefore, it is a problem that a boss should pay great attention to to retreat when difficulties are encountered and to accept when things are good.

861. Master the Boundary of Urgency and Slack

Psychological research has found that in work, there is a curvilinear relationship between stress and work efficiency. When arousal is enhanced, work efficiency will increase, but after reaching an optimal level, efficiency will no longer increase to some extent , and as the awakening continues to strengthen, work efficiency will decrease instead.This is because excessive stress can lead to fear, anger, anxiety and aggressive behavior.

On the title page of Japanese elementary school students' textbooks, it is written: Japan has a small land, a large population, and poor resources. Only technology can establish a country, otherwise it cannot survive.This kind of crisis education from childhood puts the Japanese in a stressful atmosphere. Only by working hard and mastering advanced technology can they stand in the forest of the world.

The boss should pay attention to the scale when creating a sense of urgency at work. It must be bounded by the psychological endurance of the subordinates, and there must be a "degree".If it exceeds this degree and breaks through the psychological tolerance limit of subordinates, the result may be counterproductive.Too loose will not work, loose and loose, procrastinating, work efficiency will inevitably be low, this is the lower limit of "degree", otherwise too strict, it will break through the upper limit of "degree".

During the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu was defeated and died in Maicheng. After Zhang Fei heard the news, he ordered the army to set up a white flag and a white armor within three days.The two generals under the tent, Hong Jiang and Zhang Day, were too urgent and begged for a few days of grace, but they were beaten by Zhang Fei until they vomited blood. They felt that there was no hope of completing the deadline, so they killed Zhang Fei in despair and voted for Soochow.

In enterprise management, we can often see such a phenomenon: when the contracting quota is reasonable and the contractor can achieve it through hard work, the contracting result is often higher than the quota, reflecting the increase in efficiency; When they have to contract and it is difficult to complete even if they work very hard, the contracting result is often much lower than the reasonable weight value. The reason is that excessive pressure makes them resist and reduce work efficiency.

It can be seen from this that the boss must grasp the boundary between urgency and slack, not only to create a certain amount of pressure but also to keep the subordinates from being too tense, so that the sense of urgency is suitable for the subordinates' own factors and the objective conditions at the time, otherwise, things will backfire. , not reaching the expected purpose.

862. Can't be arrogant

When Franklin was young, he was a proud and arrogant person, arrogant in words and deeds, and aggressive in every way.The biggest reason for his personality is that his father indulged him too much and never reprimanded him for his behavior.A close friend of his father couldn't see it, and one day, he said to him: "Franklin, think about it, your behavior of not respecting other people's opinions and being self-righteous in everything, what will happen to you? People suffer. After you have been embarrassed a few times, no one is willing to listen to your arrogant and proud remarks. Your friends will stay away from you one by one, so as not to be wronged, so that you will no longer be able to obey others. Get a little knowledge there. Besides, what you know now is, frankly, so limited that it doesn't work at all."

After hearing these words, Franklin was greatly moved. He knew his mistakes in the past and decided to change his mistakes from now on. .In a short time he went from a conceited man who was despised and refused to associate with, to a successful man who was loved everywhere.His life's work also owes to this transformation.

If Franklin hadn't accepted the advice of such an elder at that time, and still insisted on going his own way in everything, speaking indiscriminately, and not taking others seriously, the result would have been disastrous.

The same is true in the business field. If your career is on the way to glory, you can be proud of your career, but you can't rely on it to be arrogant, let alone be arrogant and look down on those who have achieved less than you.

Remember, bragging about your superiority will not only fail to arouse the respect of others, but will cause them to ridicule behind their backs or even in their faces.The only way to get respect from others is to respect others first.

863. Don’t Speak Evil and Make Enemies Easily

Chinese businessmen have always had a unique vision in knowing people, especially those who are honest and gentlemen.The so-called "A gentleman's friendship never speaks evil", that is, in this world, when interacting intimately with others, one must treat others with sincerity, and even if the relationship is severed, one must not speak ill of the other party.A well-cultivated boss, no matter what the reason is, will not utter bad words or slander the other party even if he breaks off the relationship.

If you hurt others due to your fault, you have to apologize to them in time. Such a move can turn an enemy into a friend and completely eliminate the hostility of the other party.Maybe you will get along better. The folk proverb "If you don't fight, you don't know each other" is rich in this philosophy. Since you offended others, you must have some kind of "venting" at that time. Instead of waiting for others' revenge, it is far better to take the initiative. Before paying tribute, in order to clear up the suspicion.

In order to avoid making enemies, there is one more thing to pay attention to, that is, don't have to have the upper hand when arguing with others.In fact, there is no winner in the quarrel.Even if you win verbally, at the same time you have created an enemy who harbors a grudge against you.There is always a reason for quarreling, and there is always a certain purpose. If you want to solve the problem, you should never adopt the method of quarreling.

Quarrels have no effect except to make people enemies and destroy their image of delicacy in public.Speak ill of others, slander others, and the other party will eventually hear about it and vent their resentment.In reality, some people have no principles in choosing friends. As long as they drink and have fun together, they feel that they are good friends. Such friends are often unreliable.Once they turn their faces in trouble, they immediately utter bad words and abuse each other endlessly.This is so childish and ignorant.It should be known that those who are short in Taoism will not gain any benefits except for their own reputation.Therefore, you must be cautious when making friends, and don't slander others when you break up.Otherwise, who would dare to approach you?

864. Be able to respond to changes and handle things flexibly

In the business field, no matter how clever a businessman is, it is impossible to predict everything, and it is inevitable that there will be discrepancies with the information you have.For example, maybe you didn’t expect that the person you were dealing with was a friend of your friend, or a friend of a competitor; maybe you didn’t expect that the other person was from Sichuan and didn’t like Sichuan cuisine; maybe you suddenly said something wrong, and so on.At this time, the situation you were prepared to deal with has changed completely. You can no longer respond to all changes with the same change, but you have to adapt to change. Everything depends on your ability to adapt.

Generally speaking, to be able to respond to changes, the following points must be done first.

1. Keep calm
No matter what situation arises, he can maintain a high degree of calmness and keep himself from losing his composure.For example, in a business communication, when talking about the price, the other party suddenly exposed your old background, saying that the price you gave a certain company was very low, but you gave them too high, which is really bullying and so on.If you're not calm, and you're overly nervous or agitated, you probably won't be able to handle the situation.Next, either admit the facts (which means making price concessions, losing credibility, and losing the trust of the other party), or arguing angrily and denying desperately, it is very likely that they broke up at that time.But if you are calm, you may quickly find out the reasons, such as the low price does not guarantee return and repair, new materials and new technologies are not used in a certain aspect, or there are differences in payment methods, delivery deadlines, quality insurance, etc.Anyway, you can always find a suitable reason to save the situation, so that both parties have the opportunity and possibility to continue the discussion.That depends on how you use it.

2. Be confident
No matter what the situation arises, you must maintain a strong self-confidence and put yourself in a proactive position.For example, in communication, suddenly someone you don't like is inserted, what should you do?Walk away or be rude?These are not good ways.It's best to take the initiative, with a confident smile and a strong presence in control of the situation.

3. Round the field at the right time
In any case, you should be able to "smooth the field", dilute and resolve conflicts, find a way for yourself and the other party, and make the atmosphere change from tense to relaxed and from embarrassing to natural.In many cases, it is more important to rescue others than to cover up for yourself. On the one hand, it shows your understanding and respect for the other party, and on the other hand, it also leaves room for yourself.

4. Change the subject
Learn to subtly change the subject and distract others.Once you say something wrong or do something wrong, in addition to quickly admitting the mistake, you must also learn to deftly change the subject and attract other people's attention to other aspects.For example, use humor or jokes to divert the target, draw something about people into something, turn a tense topic into a light-hearted joke, etc.Of course, this requires some necessary eloquence and resilience training.

865. Stay One Step, Allow Three Points

It is a prudent way of dealing with the world to stay one step and give up three points. Proper humility will not only lead to no danger, but is an effective way to seek peace.In personal life, apart from issues of principle, we must persist. For small things and personal interests, humility will bring physical and mental happiness, as well as harmonious interpersonal relationships.Sometimes, this kind of "retreat" is "advance", and "giving up" is "gain".

In dealing with the world, sometimes it is wise to have the attitude of taking a step back when encountering problems. A step back is tantamount to laying the foundation for further progress in the future.Giving convenience to friends is actually leaving convenience for yourself in the future.

If you often fight over some trivial matters, no one will be willing to bow down, and you will fight. Afterwards, calm down and think about it. If you can bear three points at that time, the situation will be calm, the big things will be reduced, the small things will be resolved, and finally reconciliation.In fact, the more reasonable a person is, the more humble he is, the more he can show his open-mindedness and self-cultivation, and the more he can be admired by his friends.

Therefore, being a boss who can understand and tolerate the strengths and weaknesses of others will be popular.On the contrary, how can those bosses who only know how to find fault with others and endlessly criticize and preach, have the respect of their subordinates?Just keep a respectful distance from him!
Getting along with others is actually like dancing a ballroom dance. There are advances and retreats, and retreats and advances.Sometimes, a step back is the way to go.There may be such an experience. When you go to climb a famous mountain, you will often go straight to the main peak. First, you have the courage to say "you are not a hero if you don't reach the Great Wall". .So I dismissed the scenery along the way, and when I reached the peak, I was already out of breath and sweating profusely, but I didn't see the sunrise, I didn't see the Buddha's light, and I saw the sea of ​​clouds occasionally, but I thought it was nothing more than that, so I left disappointed.If you change the angle, don't set your goal at the top, but go wherever you go, take your time, walk all the way, enjoy the scenery calmly, you will feel that everywhere is beautiful.

866. Restoring Old Relationships and Turning Enemies into Friends

The relationship between people is very strange, some last forever, and some fade away.The fading of some friendships is mainly due to different interests or barriers; but the reversal of some relationships is due to misunderstandings and differences that have not been handled well. After one or two conflicts, they no longer communicate with each other, and even become enemies.

For business people, good interpersonal relationship does not mean that you have to like everyone, nor does it mean that you have to be close friends with everyone you know.If you think someone is a worthy friend, you should take good care of that friendship.

Relationships are like a big barn.Such a large building is originally solid, but if it is left unattended for many years, the invasion of wind and rain and the expansion of cracks will cause hidden dangers and crises.Once there is strong wind and heavy rain one day, it will suddenly collapse and become a pile of ruins.When you pick up old rafters and look at them, you'll find that a single piece of wood may look strong, but the dowels holding the tenons are rotten and can't hold the beams together.

(End of this chapter)