The business of leadership

Former colonel Li Kaicheng believes today's managers can learn a thing or two from Mao's Thoughts

Chairman Mao, despite a modest background compared to many of his peers, was able to command leadership of China. Now former Chinese army colonel Li Kaicheng, a scholar of Mao's leadership style, is teaching business leaders across the country how to adapt his ideas to managing a company.

The author of Red Management describes Mao Zedong as a "great leader", although he was born into an ordinary rural family in Hunan province and did not travel overseas like others in the Communist Party of China's founding leadership, including Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping.

Despite this background "he could make all these people follow him", says Li.

"We have to admit that he was a person full of wisdom and his experience of leadership worthy learning for any entrepreneur."

According to Li, Mao Zedong's ideas on management remain relevant today and have even been adopted by some Western companies.

"Previously, Western management theory considered employees a small part of a big machine who could be replaced if they did not function well," he says. "But Mao thought educating employees and influencing their way of thinking was important if a company wanted sustainable development."

Li says it is difficult to manage employees today, because when someone is sitting in front of a computer it's hard to tell whether they are working or doing something else online.

"Chairman Mao had his own way of managing people," he says. "He would first set a goal and convince people to pursue that goal. During the process of achieving the goal, he would place himself in the same position as others, thereby convincing them and making them ready to listen to him."

Li is a retired senior colonel. His grandfather was Li Kenong, a dominant figure in China's intelligence agencies and a CPC Central Committee member in 1956.

Although he did not study for a degree, he claims as a young man he studied psychology, social studies, religion and philosophy by himself, and later spent three years as a part time student of psychology at Beijing Normal University.

According to Li, many of China's most successful entrepreneurs served in the army and have studied Mao Zedong's thoughts, including Liu Chuanzhi, founder of China's largest PC maker Lenovo Group, and Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei.

During an interview on Xinhuanet.com, Liu admits his experience in the army influenced his personality and made him successful in business.

"I don't think there is a connection between me and Lenovo's success, but I have to say that my experience of serving in the army has shaped my personality, which helps and directs me in developing a successful career," Liu says.

Li says there are countless examples of successful Chinese entrepreneurs with a military background and others without this who have nevertheless studied Mao Zedong's thoughts. They include Zong Qinghou, chairman and CEO of Wahaha Group Co, China's largest beverage producer, who cites Mao Zedong as a role model and admits to studying his leadership style, according to Li.

This style adopts the ideas presented in a traditional Chinese saying, which states that a leader should be like a brother and a teacher, says Li. The meaning of this, he adds, is that leaders should care for their people like a brother and reason things out with them like a teacher.

Caring and helping were characteristics of Mao Zedong's leadership style, according to Li, through which he would persuade people to become dedicated to his goals.

"Unlike Western management, Mao's thoughts advocate that management is not a trade between employee and employer, as he thought that only people who loved their work would be devoted and want to make a contribution to the company," he says.

Mao also advocated setting an example as a leader, adds Li.

"As the leader of a company, a person should be very strict with themselves as only this will convince employees to do the same," he says.

According to Li, Mao Zedong won respect of his fellow soldiers during the Long March by refusing to take extra potatoes once offered by the cook and instead insisting on eating just two, the same as his comrades.

"A leader shouldn't think about how much he or she can benefit. Instead, he/she should think about being the first person to endure hardship," says Li.

The success of Toyota is based on the company's decision to embrace "Western scientific management" and Mao Zedong's leadership ideas, Li believes.

"Western management theories are worth learning, but Toyota was also smart enough to adopt Mao's management ideas about listening to employees' opinions and using the power of employees to solve problems that occur within the company," he says.

Li claims Western management theories advocate finding outside experts to help modernize, while Mao's thoughts call for empowering employees.

Mao also advocated creating an elite group, according to Li.

"There was an elite group of fearless troops within Mao's army," he says. "Chairman Mao was a smart person. He knew that building an elite team could strengthen the military."

Within a business setting, this translates into identifying the most loyal and driven members of staff.

Li believes there will be growing demand among business leaders to understand Mao Zedong's leadership ideas as an increasing number of companies look to compete abroad.

liaoxue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/19/2013 page28)