What are the characteristics of Liu Chuanzhi’s outlook on leadership?

One, killing two birds with one stone

The first generation of entrepreneurs after the reform and opening up generally have passionate patriotic feelings, and there are not many who can integrate this enthusiasm into business management. There are only a few, but Liu Chuanzhi is probably the only one who can make it almost perfect and still succeed today.

“We hope that we will have the opportunity to connect our lives and lives with the entire cause of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and even with the national science and technology reform policy.” ——April 1989 to Zhou Guangzhao, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences A letter.

"If we think of ourselves as dragons (meaning 'carps transform into dragons'), then it is indeed what we have to do to China's computer industry, high-tech industries, and China's export-oriented enterprises. The historic role of the establishment of the starting point” - speech at the Lenovo Cadre Conference in March 1992.

“Carry up the banner of national industry.”——Report speech to the leaders of the Ministry of Electronics Industry in September 1994.

Although these three powerful words are just a drop in the ocean among the hundreds of speeches given by Liu Chuanzhi’s leader Lenovo in the past 30 years, they are of the same origin and reflect Liu Chuanzhi’s heroic spirit and heavy sense of responsibility. Also intentionally or unintentionally achieving the wonderful effect of killing two birds with one stone.

Winning the trust and support of superiors. If the confession in the "Letter to Zhou Guangzhao" was to gain the understanding and trust of the company's actual controller at the time, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, then in 1994, the letter to Electronics The report from the leaders of the Ministry of Industry undoubtedly won the relevant departments’ support for Lenovo’s products.

The situation at that time was that the market share of foreign original and assembled computers such as Compaq, AST, and Super was as high as 70% to 80% in China. Domestic computer companies were retreating steadily, and several domestic computer manufacturers produced complete computers. Since 1993, major manufacturers have basically given up their original brands and created new brands through cooperation with foreign companies. Liu Chuanzhi said in his report to the leaders of the Ministry of Electronics Industry, "If we also give up the Lenovo brand of microcomputers, it is possible that domestic microcomputers will completely disappear." We insist on carrying the banner of national industry, but at the same time " We ask the government to pay attention to us and applaud us when we do well... We hope to formulate industry procurement policies that are conducive to the development of national industry and give priority to purchasing domestically produced goods on the premise of the same cost performance. ”

Lenovo's move indeed aroused a strong response. "People's Daily" reported on the front page that Lenovo held high the banner of national industry. Since then, relevant national policies have indeed responded effectively to Liu Chuanzhi's statement. In 1994 and 1995, Lenovo's domestic business's turnover and profits achieved rapid growth of more than 100% for two consecutive years. In 1996, its net profit growth exceeded 200%. For the first time, Lenovo's desktop market share in the country exceeded 10%. This is the first time that domestic computers have taken the lead in the Chinese market since the domestic computer industry began to introduce the term "market share" in 1994.

Gathering the body and mind of employees In that era of burning passion, not only entrepreneurs like Liu Chuanzhi were full of patriotic feelings, but even ordinary employees in many large and small companies also had a lot of patriotism. Deep national and national complex. It’s just that due to the different management systems of different enterprises and the different charisma of their leaders, the enthusiasm of employees in many state-owned (then called “state-owned”) and collective enterprises was not fully mobilized.

When a company has a fair and just management culture, a merit-based employment strategy, a reward and punishment system with clear rewards and punishments, and a charismatic leader who is far-sighted, dares to take action, and puts others before himself, " serve the country through industry”, “carry up the banner of national industry”, “challenge world famous brands”, “seize the international market”, “become a golden brand in the world”, and “contribute to the Chinese nation to stand among the nations of the world” (all A series of slogans full of patriotism such as Liu Chuanzhiyu) can generate a strong resonance in the inner world of employees, thus cleverly combining "patriotism", "love for the company" and "love for work and dedication". Together.

If in the early days of starting a business, "building a large company with an annual turnover of 2 million yuan" was Liu Chuanzhi's oath for the sake of the jobs of his brothers and sisters who followed him to start a business, then a series of subsequent events for the country The supreme dream of shouldering moral integrity and national honor has undoubtedly become the spiritual motivation that inspired Liu Chuanzhi himself and the Lenovo Group he led to overcome difficulties and obstacles. If any company can continue to track the market and continuously improve internal management, but also have such a spiritual power that condenses the iron will of its employees, then there is no reason for it to fail.

2. Political wisdom of advancing and retreating in an orderly manner

In the early days, Lenovo played a very small role in the small Zhongguancun, let alone had any big influence across the country. . But judging from the subsequent development, those large companies that wanted to be famous in the past were either slowly eliminated by the market because they hesitated, or they were too radical and had problems with "concepts", "environment" and "mechanisms" Died due to serious conflict. Although Lenovo has made some mistakes during its growth (such as being fined due to the "bonus tax" issue), the smart Liu Chuanzhi is very good at summarizing big principles from small mistakes, and is good at learning from the lessons of others' failures, and then in his own leadership Lenovo has achieved well-organized progress and retreat in its nearly 30 years of practice.

Failure to be a victim of reform. During the process of reform and opening up, some big entrepreneurs who were once famous across the country were slightly radical. They were imprisoned because their speed of change exceeded the speed of reform. So Liu Chuanzhi quickly adjusted his strategy and drew a "red" bottom line for himself - "not being a victim of reform." The meaning of this sentence is, "You have to figure out what can and cannot be done." If you push forward when the time is not ripe, "it will definitely lead to a bloody head." Later someone reminded me, "This sentence "The words don't sound good", so Liu Chuanzhi took advantage of the situation and transformed it into "not making mistakes in the reform." The general meaning has basically remained unchanged, but the "swords and swords" implicit in the original words have been completely eliminated, and more positive elements have been incorporated.

Everything needs to take a big turn. Around 1987, domestic enterprises started a craze for joint-stock reform. Many enterprises were eager to "quantify" equity to companies or individuals through "clarification of property rights", "management buyout" and other methods. under the name. Although many of these companies have successfully implemented "transformation", many others have made mistakes because of their eagerness for success. Although Liu Chuanzhi also had the idea of ????fighting for Lenovo's interests, he cleverly adopted the strategy of "making a big turn", so that Lenovo achieved the strategic goal of "safety transformation" step by step.

First, discuss the distribution plan first and then strive for substantial benefits. In Liu Chuanzhi’s words, it is not easy to have conflicts when allocating an “empty pie” without much concept of numbers, but the real “pie” is placed in front of everyone’s eyes, and the company’s value is growing very fast. When the time comes, distribution becomes difficult.

Second, strive for “dividend rights” first and then equity. After fully discussing the distribution plan and reaching an agreement, Liu Chuanzhi did not embark on a substantive equity transformation because the temptation of this "a dime of pie" was indeed too great. Therefore, he cleverly obtained 35% of the dividend rights in 1993, which was much weaker than the actual equity. This reduced unnecessary disputes inside and outside the company, and also laid the foundation for the subsequent equity reform. Foreshadowing.

The third is to strive for equity first and then strive for “dividends”. After receiving the dividend rights, Liu Chuanzhi was not in a hurry to distribute the money to everyone, but kept it in the company. On the one hand, this can reduce the psychological impact of "real money" distributing money on everyone, and on the other hand, it can also reserve funds for the future "redemption" of equity. When the 2001 policy allowed Lenovo to convert 35% of its dividend rights into employee shares, Liu Chuanzhi took out the dividend and purchased shares.

After a big turn, Liu Chuanzhi not only won the benefits he deserved for Lenovo, but also avoided making "principled" mistakes. At the same time, he also reduced the impact of public opinion inside and outside the company caused by too hasty distribution of benefits. .

Have ideals but don’t be idealistic. In the process of growth, any enterprise may encounter unfair treatment from the "external environment". If you respond in an idealistic way and insist on asking for a clear explanation, even if you win the lawsuit, the final result may not be beneficial to you.

In 1992, Lenovo established its own production base in Shenzhen, pulling components from Hong Kong to Shenzhen to assemble machines every day.

This was a common phenomenon at the time, and it can be imagined that the innocent people were unfairly treated by the local customs. Therefore, the "young and ignorant" Lenovo filed a lawsuit with the General Administration of Customs. After finding out the matter, the General Administration criticized the local customs in Shenzhen. Lenovo did win the lawsuit, but Lenovo’s life has “become even more difficult” since then. Forced by the situation, Lenovo later moved its production base to Huiyang, Guangdong. It was not until the State Council conducted a thorough rectification within the customs in 1998 that Lenovo's situation improved.

The bloody lesson made Liu Chuanzhi understand the principle of "having ideals but not idealizing them". The reason is simple, because the external environment is beyond personal control, and if you are idealistic, you will inevitably hit a wall. Therefore, Liu Chuanzhi requested that if the general environment cannot be changed, we should transform the local environment; if the local environment cannot be changed, we should transform the small environment; if we cannot change the small environment, then we must learn to be patient and "adapt here." Survive in this environment, and then wait for the opportunity to do something big.”

Later, as my country’s legal environment gradually improved and Lenovo Group’s “name” became bigger and bigger, the pressure from the external environment began. Unfair treatment is basically gone. Therefore, Liu Chuanzhi further evolved this famous saying: Lenovo people should have lofty ideals in their hearts, but in the specific process of doing things, they should pay attention to methods and strategies, and don't think about things too simply.

Looking back now, this "evolution" seems logical and does not need to be elaborated, but it truly reflects the continuous improvement of the domestic environment and Lenovo's small environment from one side. To a certain extent, it means the dynamic upgrade of Liu Chuanzhi’s management philosophy on the basis of the “old version”.

3. The trinity of leadership experience

If "carrying up the banner of national industry" is a magical stroke, then building a team, setting a strategy, and leading a team are the "three elements of management" The proposal fully shows that Liu Chuanzhi's leadership ideas have begun to mature, and Lenovo Group has accordingly begun to advance from a "big" enterprise in the domestic market to a world-class enterprise in the sense of "pursuing excellence."

Building a team According to Liu Chuanzhi’s explanation, the top leader is the core of a fighting team. If he cannot form a team with unified will and fighting power and cannot effectively prevent sectarian struggles within the top management, then No need to talk about anything else. Therefore, no matter what the circumstances, forming a good team is "always the primary condition for enterprise development."

Strategy setting in Liu Chuanzhi’s eyes includes setting medium and long-term goals, formulating a strategic route to achieve this goal, decomposing the goals into phased goals and gradually realizing them. This is a "hard skill" test for leaders, and it is also the most "technological" part of Liu's three elements of management.

Leading the team This is the part of Liu's three elements of management that is "the richest in content", "the most demanding to do", and sounds "vivid".

According to Liu Chuanzhi’s own explanation, a good enterprise is like an army. It must advance and retreat in an orderly manner and maintain a stable position. To do this, it requires "leading the team" to complete many functions, such as: what kind of structure should be established to make the enterprise operate at the highest efficiency; what kind of culture should be established to enable employees and the enterprise to achieve maximum win-win results; What kind of management model should be adopted so that employees can obey orders and prohibitions; what kind of motivation methods should be adopted to enable young intellectuals to exert their maximum creativity and cultivate outstanding leaders, etc.

Looking back on the past 30 years, there have been many domestic entrepreneurs who have become famous, but not many companies that have continued to be successful. Although there are many reasons for their failure, "unclear development strategy", "chaotic internal management", "lack of reasonable talent echelon" and other misunderstandings that have been overused by scholars can almost be said to be the most common fault among their colleagues. "Weakness". We dare not say that Liu Chuanzhi's three management elements ensured Lenovo's success, but at least it is certain that without these three basic elements and relying solely on Liu Chuanzhi's leadership charisma, Lenovo Group would never be able to grow in such a healthy way. to this day.

Because the 21st century, known as the "knowledge economy", is no longer an era where "rash" entrepreneurs can win alone!

The art of preaching of "Four. Ordinary and surprising"

Expounding thoughts and expressing intentions through appropriate preaching can not only point out the direction for enterprise development, but also Being able to "set things right" from problems that arise during the development process is therefore one of the essential competencies of modern enterprise leaders.

If Huawei President Ren Zhengfei's "Ren's Preaching" is straightforward and true, such as "never be shy about distribution", "never let Lei Feng suffer", etc., Liu Chuanzhi's classic "Liu's Preaching", It clearly has the charm of Confucianism in our traditional culture.

“If you have 5% hope, you have to put in 100% effort.”

“Paranoia is persistence towards the goal!”

“Everyone We all face the possibility of setbacks and failures, which is part of each of us’ life experiences.”

“People’s great interest is to work hard towards the goals they have set step by step!”< /p>

“Small companies do things, big companies do things.”

These words may seem tepid and unremarkable, but if we compare them with the specific problems that Lenovo has encountered in its development process, If you look at the questions together, you will find the amazing value behind these simple languages. Take the first sentence listed above as an example.

In the selection of the "National Science and Technology Progress Award" held in 1988, Lenovo Hanka only won the second prize in the initial evaluation. Liu Chuanzhi was very dissatisfied with this result. He believed that "the importance of Lenovo Hanka in national economic applications has been seriously underestimated." However, the preliminary evaluation results have already been published in the People's Daily, making it almost impossible to make changes. In this regard, Liu Chuanzhi was not discouraged. He heard the news through various channels: if 10 review experts jointly request a review, a review meeting can be held; if two-thirds of the experts agree to the review, the preliminary review result will be Subject to change.

Liu Chuanzhi was very excited when he learned the news. However, in order to avoid the suspicion of "going through the back door", he did not go to experts directly. Instead, he first consulted experts in People's Daily, Guangming Daily, CCTV, etc. Lenovo Hanka is promoted in authoritative media in endless articles so that people can have a fuller understanding of Lenovo Hanka. Later, Liu Chuanzhi sent people to invite experts and demonstrated to them the powerful functions of Lenovo Hanka in great detail, demonstrating that Lenovo Hanka was instrumental in promoting "microcomputers" (the term "information technology" did not exist in China at that time, otherwise it would definitely Used) is of great significance in its widespread popularity in our country. As their understanding continues to deepen, experts have changed their original views.

In this way, Liu Chuanzhi successfully promoted the convening of the review conference against Lenovo Hanka with his perseverance and uncompromising attitude, and won the first prize in the National Science and Technology Progress Award that year. Award, which laid the foundation for the rapid development of Lenovo Group in the future.

Since then, a new slogan has appeared on the wall of Lenovo’s headquarters: “Turn 5% of hopes into 100% of reality!”

Excerpted from Baidu netizens, thank you.