01 Responsibility determines opportunity There is a saying among the people: "Those who can't fight fear those who can; those who can fight fear those who are reckless." This shows that in the eyes of ordinary people, courage is ranked before skill. When courage is combined with personal profit-seeking behavior, it is private courage; when combined with social responsibility, it is responsibility. One of my students worked as a grassroots manager in a medium-sized manufacturing enterprise. One year, his company had an economic dispute with a partner company. Because of some unclear contradictions, the partner did not want to go through legal proceedings, so they gathered a group of thugs and stormed into the headquarters building of my student's company, capturing the chairman and demanding that the problem be solved according to their will. At that time, the employees, middle managers, and senior executives in the headquarters were all afraid of trouble and avoided getting involved. Only my student rushed forward, stood in front of the chairman, reasoned with the troublemakers, and eventually a fight broke out, and both sides ended up in the police station. After the incident subsided, he was promoted out of turn to vice president, and a year later, he was promoted to president. He later said to me with great emotion: "Teacher Dongfang, if it weren't for this economic dispute, according to seniority, this president position would probably never have come to me in my lifetime." I said, "You deserve it. It's the reward for your willingness to take responsibility." People often say that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. I think this saying is not entirely correct. You may be the most prepared and talented, but if you lack responsibility, opportunities will be taken away by people like my student. Don't be unconvinced. The sages also thought this way. For example, Dong Zhongshu summarized the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius and proposed the "Five Constant Virtues" of Confucianism that have influenced Chinese civilization for two thousand years: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. Among them, righteousness includes the meaning of courage and responsibility. Later, some people combined benevolence and righteousness into one, viewing it as "responsibility." This is also easy to understand: without courage, benevolence and righteousness cannot be put into action. Integrating this, it can be seen that what comes before propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness is the spirit of responsibility formed by the combination of benevolence, righteousness, and courage. This is the most important quality for human success. Only in the midst of great turmoil can one reveal one's true heroism. Who possesses the trait of being willing to take responsibility is difficult to discover in routine work and ordinary environments. Only in unconventional work and unusual situations, such as when a company encounters difficulties, setbacks, business transformation, busy periods, or temporary events, is the time for those who are willing to take responsibility to appear, show their skills, and play a significant role. For enterprises, what determines survival and development is not conventional talent, but extraordinary talent that is willing to take responsibility and has ability. To discover talent willing to take responsibility, some forward-looking companies, in addition to regular performance appraisal methods, also adopt the "key behavior assessment method," focusing on discovering outstanding and excellent performers in unconventional, exceptional, and unusual important events, and cultivating them as future successors in various positions.
02 Responsibility means being diligent in "handling matters" There was a young man who, after graduating from university in 2005, was hired by Kuxun. He started as an ordinary engineer, but in his second year of work, he was promoted two levels to become a middle-level manager, managing a team of forty to fifty people, responsible for all backend technology and many product-related tasks. This young man was Zhang Yiming, the later founder of Toutiao. At the same time, two PhDs from Tsinghua University's computer science department joined the company, and later both became subordinates of this ordinary undergraduate. He was neither the most technically skilled nor the most experienced at the time. What he got rapid promotion for was his diligence in "handling matters." He recalled: "When I first started working, I didn't distinguish between what I should do and what I shouldn't do. After finishing my own work, for most colleagues' problems, as long as I could help solve them, I would do it." "In the first two years of work, I basically went home at twelve or one o'clock every day, and after going home, I would program until quite late. It was indeed because of interest, not because the company required it." "I never set boundaries in what I did. At that time, I was responsible for technology, but when there were problems in product and sales, I would also actively participate in discussions to solve product solutions. I remember at the end of 2007, I went to meet clients with the company's sales director. This experience taught me what a good salesperson looks like." Many people clearly distinguish between what is within their duties and what is not, often saying, "This is not my job," or "That is not my job." But Zhang Yiming believed: "Your sense of responsibility and your motivation to do things well will drive you to do more things, allowing you to get great training." In fact, it was this sense of responsibility to be diligent in "handling matters," his enthusiasm for the entire business, and the rapid growth of his comprehensive abilities that made him extraordinary from the ordinary, making him shine and stand out from the crowd.
03 Responsibility means daring to "take the blame" I once heard a story from a friend who was a leader at a bank. In their unit, there was a manager in the customer relations department, Sister A. The work she handled was all thorny "customer dispute cases," often involving several departments, but once she took on a case, she would be responsible for it to the end, never pushing it to other departments. Even when facing personal threats and malice, she never backed down. People with responsibility are not afraid of difficulties, are not afraid of suffering losses, and are willing to "take the blame," just like Sister A. Especially as middle-level managers who connect the upper and lower levels, this position is not easy. If you want to satisfy the majority of people above and below and gain their support, you must have the spirit of "taking the blame." First, you must dare to "take the blame" for your subordinates. Jocko Willink served in the U.S. Navy SEALs and was a commander. After retiring, he joined a company. Entrusted by the board of directors, a vice president of this company was responsible for launching a series of reform plans internally, including reducing redundancy, improving the bonus system, and simplifying manufacturing processes. However, the reform plans did not go smoothly because the subordinates did not support the new plans and paid lip service, causing production efficiency to stagnate. The board was very dissatisfied and demanded an explanation from the vice president. Jocko suggested to the vice president: "Your subordinates' responsibility is your responsibility. At the board meeting, you have to tell everyone, 'I'll take the blame for this.'" The vice president was initially reluctant and said, "My plan is fine. It's really those guys who are resistant and uncooperative." Jocko persuaded him: "As a leader, taking full responsibility is the most basic ability. If you blame subordinates when something goes wrong, subordinates will blame lower-level employees. The attitude of shirking responsibility will infect each other, and in the end, the team will accomplish nothing." The vice president finally followed Jocko's advice. After reporting to the board, the directors thought he could have shifted the blame to his subordinates, but he voluntarily took all responsibility, showing he was a leader with vision and responsibility. Therefore, instead of blaming him, they supported him even more.
Second, you must dare to "take the blame" for the company. Don't be a "good old guy" who always pleases others; be willing to be the "bad guy." When facing bad behaviors that violate the company's goals, regulations, and interests, you must be brave in carrying out necessary criticism and struggle.
Third, you must dare to "take the blame" for your superiors. When your superiors face difficulties and challenges in their work, stand with them, face them together, and bear them together.
04 Responsibility means being brave in "bearing responsibility" More than ten years ago, during the SARS epidemic in Beijing, one of my consulting clients, the owner of a small company, came to me and said that their industry could not conduct business during SARS according to government regulations, and employees had nothing to do and no work to go to. Many companies in the same industry closed down because that saved the cost of paying wages. He asked me what to do. I suggested that he not mention closing down to his employees, but rather say it was a vacation, and during the vacation, basic wages would still be paid. I said: "Doing this, first, is your responsibility as the boss; second, SARS will definitely pass sooner or later. If you close down, employees will definitely leave, and then the overall cost of rehiring, selecting, and training people will be higher. If you make some sacrifices now, you won't lose in the end." After SARS passed, some of those companies that had closed down had to rehire and rebuild teams, which took a long time and severely damaged their vitality; some never recovered and gradually declined. But my client took the opportunity to seize market share from competitors and develop rapidly. Responsibility means being brave in "bearing responsibility." What I mean by "bearing responsibility" is that the boss must be thoroughly responsible to users, employees, and shareholders, and be willing to sacrifice when necessary. Feng Lun, a well-known real estate developer, talked about his many years of experience as a leader, saying: "Being the head is just three things. First, point the way for everyone, that's called 'pointing the way,' looking at the direction. Second, handle matters, bear responsibility. Third, sacrifice." If there are things that can't be settled, sacrifice your own interests, and everything can be settled. For example, you take a little less money, take it later, and when others are arguing, if it really doesn't work, you can give up some of your own to make them stop arguing. That's it. It's actually that simple. It is said that in Western navigation, there is an unwritten rule: when a ship encounters danger and is about to sink, the captain is always the last to leave, or if there are not enough lifeboats, the captain simply chooses to go down with the ship. In the movie "Titanic," which is based on a true story, after sending away the women and children with the only lifeboats, as the ship was sinking, the captain walked into the captain's cabin and chose to perish with the ship. This is a spirit of responsibility. Why is this so? Because only then will others trust you, dare to board your ship, and be willing to go on a long journey with you.
05 What exactly is responsibility In reality, there are many people who want to make big money, many who want to become high officials, many who want to shine, but few who have responsibility. I wonder, what exactly is responsibility? Responsibility goes beyond the general scope of responsibility. It means facing those troubles that are related to you but not entirely your responsibility. You could choose to avoid them, but you don't; instead, you take them on. This act of taking on means you have transcended yourself, expanded your burdens and responsibilities, and also expanded your influence and leadership, your potential and future. There is a saying: "As big as your heart is, as big as your stage is." I think that's too vague and empty. A more down-to-earth saying should be: "As big as your responsibility is, as big as your stage is!" So, the greater the responsibility you bear, the greater the cause you can accomplish; the more responsibility you fulfill, the greater the achievement you will have.
About the author: Dongfang Ying, father of the leapfrog development theory, advocate of true industry mind science, former president of a large industrial company, author of "Enterprise Over-speed Growth" and "Leapfrog Strategy," one of the Top Ten Economic News Figures in China in 2007. Producer of the WeChat public account "Leapfrog Enterprise" (ID: dfy82853236). -END-