Chinese Wisdom: Inspiring Quotes For Global Leaders
Steve Tappin
CEO of Beyond Unity | Co-author Awareness Code and Secrets of CEO's | Leadership Coach to Globally Award-Winning CEOs | Host of BBC CEO GURU | LinkedIn Influencer
I’d like to share with you some of my inspiring and wise quotes from Chinese philosophers, entrepreneurs and CEOs. My sense is that it’s good for leaders to draw from the East as well as the West. In the daily journey through life and leadership, I hope that these quotes can inspire you too.
As CEO of Xinfu, I’m privileged to coach top CEOs not just from the US and Europe, but also from China, and find out what makes them tick. As I've got to know China, I’ve met some real characters. From Jack Ma to Huang Nubo, there’s a new generation of entrepreneurs who dream big and are the modern-day heroes of their country. I’d like to introduce some of these Chinese CEOs and bring them to life in their own words.
In turn, many of these CEOs draw upon the timeless wisdom of the ancient Chinese philosophers, who are still massively influential in 2013. They have internalized the thinking of the likes of Confucius and Sun Tzu, on the nature of family, society and humanity, to determine how they run their companies today.
Ancient or modern, I hope you can take something for your leadership from the words and pictures below.
So, let me hand over to the CEOs. You can click on any of their pictures to explore their detailed World Of CEOs Dossiers, featuring full detailed profiles:
Jack Ma, Chairman & Founder, Alibaba Group
Jack Ma is founder of Alibaba, China’s answer to eBay and Amazon, and a cult leadership figure. He recently stepped down as CEO to focus more on education and the environment, and last month opened up a new tai chi school with movie star Jet Li.
Jack is also quoted as saying:
“Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way.”
“Others can imitate my management model, but they can never endure the hardships I have experienced, nor have my passion persistently to push forward.”
"The excellent never regard anyone as their competitor. That is why I always say that I have no competitors. If you consider someone your enemy, then anyone can be your enemy, and vice versa."
Li Ka-shing, Chairman, Hutchison Whampoa
Often referred to as "Superman" because of his business prowess, Ka-shing's companies make up 15% of the market cap of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2002, he founded Cheung Kong, Beijing's "Billionaires' Business School". He is also known for the phrase:
"Reputation, which cannot be measured by money, is the cornerstone of a company’s future growth."
Huang Nubo, Chairman, Zhongkun Group
Extrovert Huang caused a stir when, in 2012, he tried to buy 115 square miles of Iceland (the country) for use as an exotic golf course. Having recently returned from climbing Mount Everest, he said:
Operating a company in China is like mountain climbing; there are a lot of uncertainties and you need a lot of perseverance, toleration of loneliness, desperation and fear to reach the peak. 99% of entrepreneurs give up because they are not persistent.”
Huang Nubo also has a softer side, and has published several books of poetry under the pen name Luo Ying, including 'No More Melancholy'. He told me:
“Work hard to be a better person and pursue positive values. Most importantly, you must work hard to become someone that is indispensable to others, to your children, parents, friends and ultimately, to society.”
Liu Chuanzhi, Founder, Lenovo
Much revered as the "godfather" of modern entrepreneurship in China, Liu Chuanzhi is a firm meritocrat, and believes in the "fast stable" approach to nurturing new talent. He is also painfully aware of the collective suffering in the country's past, and has said:
“I look at an issue by comparing it with history. A person that has suffered famine and a person that hasn’t will have very different feelings towards a bowl of rice.”
Now it's over to the ancient Chinese philosophers...
Confucius
Confucius, born 551BC, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. He believed that human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucius advocated an enduring approach to personal development:
"I can always find a teacher amongst people I’m with. I will choose to learn from his strengths, and see his weaknesses in myself and make changes accordingly."
Laozi
Laozi's ‘Tao Te Ching’ book underpins Daoism, which in modern China is both a philosophical tradition and organized religion. He advocated humility in leadership and a restrained approach to statecraft. His emphasis on “naturalness” translates into a way of life characterized by simplicity, calmness, and freedom from the tyranny of desire. He said:
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
Sun Tzu
General Sun Tzu's classic work ‘The Art Of War’ forms a systematic guide to strategy and tactics. Modern Chinese scholars see a direct relationship between their contemporary struggles and those of China in Sun Tzu's time. One of his key messages was:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”
Over To You
I hope you found it inspiring and insightful to hear from China's best. I am currently collecting quotes for an English version of my 'Dream To Last' book (which interviews 200 Chinese CEOs), aimed at a Western audience. As such, I would be particularly interested to discover which of these quotes resonated with you most.
I'd also love to hear your suggestions on any other quotes which have inspired you to become a better leader.
Do follow me here on LinkedIn to get weekly updates on both Eastern and Western CEOs, as well as the latest leadership insights.
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By Steve Tappin
Chief Executive, Xinfu, Host BBC CEO Guru & Founder, World Of CEOs
Steve is a personal confidant to many of the world’s top CEOs. He is the host of BBC ‘CEO Guru’, which features in-depth, on-the-record interviews with the CEOs of General Electric, Lenovo, WPP, China Vanke, Wholefoods and Unilever.
Founder Of WorldOfCEOs.com, Steve is the author of ‘The Secrets Of CEOs’, which interviews 200 CEOs on business life and leadership. His latest book, ‘Dream to Last’, was published in Mandarin in December 2012, by Beijing University Press, and will be released in English later this year.
To receive Steve’s weekly ‘CEO Insider’ email, sign up at:
ni hao Michael Liu. Re; " many chinese people lost the essense of chinese culture." I would like to find out more, the essense of chinese culture. Please could you point me in the right direction. xie xie
IAXOV | Unleashing humanity’s next leap in potential
11y"The Will To Win Is Not Nearly As Important As The Will To Prepare To Win": Inspires me to constantly vet out incremental knowledge into understanding so I have the wisdom to make incremental wins.
Kieron Seamons Studio, Little China World Studios, Sandman Animation Studios, Mr. Sandman Music School,.
11yI liked Huang NanBo's words , 'Operating a company in China is like mountain climbing; there are a lot of uncertainties and you need a lot of perseverance, toleration of loneliness, desperation and fear to reach the peak. 99% of entrepreneurs give up because they are not persistent.” Although it is less poetic than confucius , it is very real and hard hitting comparison. Anyone Foreigner who has set up a business venture in China will know what I mean. 1,000 forces against you to fail, pushes you even more for that 1% chance to succeed. Lovely. ON A LIGHTER NOTE, I always say " no animation studio can, the sandman can !" Kieron SANDMAN ANIMATION STUDIO
Data & Analytics Engineering
11yThis is Huang Nubo's softer side? “Work hard to be a better person and pursue positive values. Most importantly, you must work hard to become someone that is indispensable to others, to your children, parents, friends and ultimately, to society.” This compulsion to work hard, hard, hard, to define your self worth is China's core pathology.
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11yWell written article. I have also read 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu which I greatly recommend for all. Although it focuses more on military strategy and tactics of that period, it provides informal education in business strategies.