Legendary Captain

"Why don't we ask Mr. Li for advice?" Seeing that Lin Bo couldn't make up his mind either, Lu Xinyu was also in a state of confusion, and inevitably began to think of that ally again.

The "General Manager Li" that Lu Xinyu mentioned is Li Chuan, the marketing director of Xingyou Airlines!

"Li Chuan..." Lin Bo seemed to have suddenly grasped something and hurriedly asked Lu Xinyu, "What did that secretary say back then? Recite it again, as accurately as possible!"

"This..." Lu Xinyu was a little stumped. He could say the general meaning, but it would be difficult to say it word for word.

Lu Xinyu tried hard to recall the scene: "She seemed to say... that the company's higher-ups were biased towards me, and then... that I shouldn't let this matter bring me back to the same starting point as Qin Zongyang, or something like that!"

Lin Bo pondered for a moment, then finally grasped the crux of the problem: "She's saying the company's upper management favors you, not the president? Are you sure?"

After thinking it over and over again, Lu Xinyu finally confirmed that the secretary was referring to a senior executive of the company, not the president.

"Company executives, company executives... Marketing Director, Li Chuan! AOC Director, Wei Zhibin!" Lin Bo murmured the two names.

These two directors are members of their small group!

"You mean the president wants to clean up the problem of cliques?" Lu Xinyu was perceptive and could detect a dangerous aura just from Lin Bo's self-talk.

But upon further reflection, it seemed impossible. He said, "That shouldn't be the case! She was parachuted in, not permanently stationed. A little 'gilding' is enough; there's no need to go after a group of mid- to high-level leaders!"

The presidents of Xingyou Airlines are all parachuted in from the group headquarters, and they all have to go back after a few years. Those leaders who are parachuted in know that their principle here is not to seek merit, but to avoid mistakes.

For genuine reform, a few years is simply not enough! It's pointless to toil away for years, only to achieve some results and then have to relinquish power to headquarters, ultimately benefiting the next leader. Besides, reforms are always fraught with setbacks; what's the point if you don't reap the rewards but instead end up with a bad reputation?

Few people would do something so thankless and exhausting!

Therefore, the first thing every newly appointed CEO does upon taking office is to win over the company's middle and senior management. As the saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake; the easiest way to avoid being sidelined is to become one of them, sharing common interests. At that point, forget about sidelining them; they'll be scrambling to support them!

Actually, there's another way to avoid being sidelined! That is to forcefully break up cliques and resolutely curb factionalism. However, doing so could easily shake the interests of many mid- to high-level leaders, and if the leadership is in turmoil, it could easily lead to disastrous consequences.

If a person with the courage and ability can suppress such consequences, the entire company will be reborn. However, if they cannot suppress them, then the instigator will face accountability from the group headquarters.

For each newly appointed president, who is not part of their own company, there's no need to gamble their future on Star Travel Airlines' future.

The problems within Star Trek Airlines' clique were already quite obvious, but successive presidents all turned a blind eye, adopting a policy of appeasement. As long as this bomb of factionalism didn't explode during their term, it was fine; whether subsequent presidents would be killed by it was not within their consideration.

In fact, the phenomenon of Star Travel Airlines forming alliances is inextricably linked to these self-preserving CEOs.

Xingyou Airlines originally rarely exhibited any close-knit group dynamics, because it lacked a person to tighten the reins. As a result, the newly appointed presidents became those reins. With each change of president, the reins were tightened more and more, and now they are inseparable.

In Lu Xinyu's memory, the previous president was just like that, so he didn't think that this president would be any different from the past.

Breaking up cliques would shake the fundamental interests of many people, and he didn't believe this president had the courage to do so. Humans are inherently selfish; that's an irrefutable truth.

"This is different, this time is different!" Lin Bo, recalling the current president's identity, felt an increasing sense that something big was about to happen: "Don't judge the current president based on past experience!"

"Different? What's different? People have a thousand faces, but when it comes to their own interests, aren't they all the same?" Lu Xinyu scoffed.

Lin Bo's eyes flashed with a sharp light. Suddenly, he said to Lu Xinyu in a very serious tone, "Don't associate with Li Chuan and Wei Zhibin for the time being. Try to sever ties with them as much as possible."

"What did you say?" Lu Xinyu asked incredulously. "I finally got on this ship, and now you're telling me to get off when there's no show of it?"

Before becoming the deputy general manager of the flight department, Lu Xinyu wasn't even qualified to associate with this small group. It was only recently, with the high probability of him taking over as general manager of the flight department, that he managed to get close to Li Chuan and Wei Zhibin. And now, before he could even enjoy the benefits, Lin Bo is telling him to sever ties with his two powerful backers—it's utterly absurd!

"Compared to our new president, Li Chuan and Wei Zhibin's ship is a dangerous vessel riddled with holes. Why are you so fixated on a ship destined to sink?" Lin Bo sighed.

"The president's ship is big enough, but it will eventually sail away. What good will it do once you get on board?" Lu Xinyu sneered.

The CEO holds a high position and wields great power, but that position is constantly changing. Only the other senior executives from within the local community are truly reliable pillars to rely on! Moreover, it's uncertain who will prevail when a CEO parachuted in with no connections clashes head-on with a small, established local group that has been operating for many years!

"Would I harm you?" Lin Bo advised. "It's clear the president still favors you; otherwise, he wouldn't have said that to remind you. However, the last sentence shows that your advantage isn't that great. Otherwise, there would have been no need to say that."

Lin Bo felt that if he wasn't mistaken, the first sentence, which said that the company's senior management favored Lu Xinyu, seemed more like a warning, while the later statement that he didn't want Lu Xinyu and Qin Zongyang to return to the same starting point seemed more like a reflection of the president's favoritism towards Lu Xinyu.

However, the bluntness of the latter statement also indicates that Lu Xinyu's advantage is not significant. It could vanish in an instant. Therefore, it doesn't matter if she says it aloud; the so-called bias is only minor and insufficient to be a decisive factor.

"This is the president's real test for you!" Lin Bo said.

Lu Xinyu seemed a little agitated: "You keep saying 'President, President,' what makes you think she has such great power? It seems that in your words, this newly appointed president is someone who can do whatever she wants, without any constraints?"

"No!" Lin Bo said decisively, without the slightest hesitation: "Because her surname is Wen! Wen from the Wen Group!"