Taoism and Leadership

[TaoBee]

Good Evening!

 

First let me preface this with how grateful I am to have a job I just wish it didn't put me in the role of upper management! Due to downsizing in the company..I have been upsized so to speak. I initially started in the company as a middle manager. I was happy with that-it gave me the income I needed to support my family as a single parent. Here I am almost 4 years later-no longer a single parent but now so high up on the food chain at work it makes me nauseated! I can whine and whing all I like that I didn't ask for it, its here and I have to deal.

 

I am currently reading a book on Taoism and Leadership- since I really wanted to combine them. WOW talk about a task. The stress alone makes one and then to incorporate what I am admittedly still learning just about Taoism...

 

Any advice? Would love to hear!

 

Thanks~ Peace and Love <3

[Marblehead]

I can whine and whing all I like that I didn't ask for it, its here and I have to deal.

 

Any advice? Would love to hear!

 

Thanks~ Peace and Love <3

 

Nope. No advice. Hehehe. Do your job and keep your mind and spirit clean.

[Trash Filter]

Bring more good to the world then evil before you die, and learn as much as you can about who you really are.

 

TF

[ben]

[devoid]

Hi TaoBee,

 

'Leadership' is a fairly new term - in many of the old works and true to the practice of martial arts for self-defense or even the execution of policy the old Chinese have great works related to strategy (which is important to leadership, albeit not leadership in isolation). I recommend Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

 

Here you will find a bunch of Tao related altruisms.

 

Here's how it starts:

1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance

to the State.

 

2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either

to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry

which can on no account be neglected.

 

3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant

factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations,

when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

 

4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth;

(4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

 

Source: http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

 

As you will notice, this may not be directly applicable to your situation. Yet, look again. The company you work for is the State in this case. You are the Commander.

 

The Moral Law is your ethics and responsibility to your customers and staff. Heaven and Earth constitute your environment (articles of incorporation, the laws that govern your business, the general public and the public's interest). Method and discipline make up how to manage.

 

Now, let's move a bit further into the text:

9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom,

sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.

-here, you find wisdom about to the leadership qualities you need to cultivate to lead your army/company.

 

As with many old Chinese texts, you can skim through it in about half an hour - yet you will find yourself coming back to it time and again.

 

I wish you happy trails, Commander TaoBee!

[TaoBee]

Nope. No advice. Hehehe. Do your job and keep your mind and spirit clean.

 

And no making faces at the staff!!

[TaoBee]

[TaoBee]

Hi TaoBee,

 

'Leadership' is a fairly new term - in many of the old works and true to the practice of martial arts for self-defense or even the execution of policy the old Chinese have great works related to strategy (which is important to leadership, albeit not leadership in isolation). I recommend Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

 

Here you will find a bunch of Tao related altruisms.

 

Here's how it starts:

 

 

Source: http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

 

As you will notice, this may not be directly applicable to your situation. Yet, look again. The company you work for is the State in this case. You are the Commander.

 

The Moral Law is your ethics and responsibility to your customers and staff. Heaven and Earth constitute your environment (articles of incorporation, the laws that govern your business, the general public and the public's interest). Method and discipline make up how to manage.

 

Now, let's move a bit further into the text:

 

-here, you find wisdom about to the leadership qualities you need to cultivate to lead your army/company.

 

As with many old Chinese texts, you can skim through it in about half an hour - yet you will find yourself coming back to it time and again.

 

I wish you happy trails, Commander TaoBee!

 

 

Hello!

 

I have thought of picking up this text before- one to simply read it (my son had talked about it before) and two, I wondered if it would pertain. I do believe I will be reading it.

 

Thank you everyone for your input. I have never been a micro managing type of manager. I am very hands off, but staff are aware of expectations. I am just a bit overwhelmed that my staff has doubled in size. And I'm in another 90 day probationary period. What??? You give me a job I didn't ask for, my choices are accept it or find another job (in this economy) AND you are putting me on another proby period? Hmmph! I would stamp my foot and scowl, but its so childish and petulant

 

Off to man the troops!!

 

Peace and Love <3

[Spectrum]

Natural Order

[forestofclarity]

I have found that the application of traditional leadership principles (full range leadership model, etc.) has been very effective rather than try to apply Taoist principles. Of course, my leadership experience is limited to small groups (no more than 5-10 people), but I have seen it effectively applied by people at higher levels.

 

Keep in mind that a lot of people will be advising you who don't have jobs (there are lots of students on the Taobums).

 

Taoist principles (and for me, Buddhist principles) are most effective for governing the inner kingdom. By holding oneself to a high standard of honesty, sincere, ethical conduct, developing objectivity, and so forth, I find I am better able to assess situations and know what to do.

[ben]

[Marblehead]

[Otis]

[TaoBee]

Great advice from Ben here.

 

I have seen managers fall into easy ego traps, which are suggested by the above quote. For example, if the manager gets mad when people contradict him, then the staff will learn to self-censor, and the game becomes just about pleasing the manager. If the manager wants others to value his decisions, then people will learn to fake it.

 

The more "me" the manager injects into his job, the less "we" can flourish.

 

The best managers I've worked with know how to get great work out of their employees, by treating them as valuable, creative assets, not as tools to be put away when not in use. They don't overpower their employees, or punish them for straying from the "consensus reality" of the company/department/whatever. They encourage "out-of-the-box" thinking and don't sideline iconoclasts. They praise their employees publicly, and never steal credit. They recognize that humans can never be machines, and need to balance their productivity with their own natural cycles / life events / etc.

 

 

Lol I duck and dodge the other managers who fling their ego about like poo! I'm sorry you feel so unimportant that you feel the need to behave that way.

 

I also feel a good manager/human will admit their mistakes rather than throw other people under the bus.

 

"They recognize that humans can never be machines, and need to balance their productivity with their own natural cycles / life events / etc." Sigh...I wish my COO thought this way!

 

Peace and Love <3

[Mr. T]

hey bee,

 

while i really can't say much about your specific situation, the one thing that stuck out to me when reading your post was when you said "merging the two"...i assume meaning your study of the tao and your work life...

 

my only advice would be to think of it more as applying tao principles to your work situation...try first to observe the tao in action in your workplace. get to know literally everything by practicing openness and quiet mindfulness (eavesdropping! )...over time, the correct action for every situation will become obvious and things will begin to happen naturally...

 

at least, that's what "they" say should happen. and of course, this is easier said than done, and i wish that i could have these habits already ingrained in myself...things would be so much easier!! good luck with work.

Edited January 14, 2011 by Mr. T

[TaoBee]

hey bee,

 

while i really can't say much about your specific situation, the one thing that stuck out to me when reading your post was when you said "merging the two"...i assume meaning your study of the tao and your work life...

 

my only advice would be to think of it more as applying tao principles to your work situation...try first to observe the tao in action in your workplace. get to know literally everything by practicing openness and quiet mindfulness (eavesdropping! )...over time, the correct action for every situation will become obvious and things will begin to happen naturally...

 

at least, that's what "they" say should happen. and of course, this is easier said than done, and i wish that i could have these habits already ingrained in myself...things would be so much easier!! good luck with work.

 

 

Thank you!! I have started practicing wu wei at work...and that seems to be working well. And I am working on the quiet mindfulness...as I can be filterless (mouth fires off before the filter between brain and mouth have a chance to work!)

Easier said than done!

 

Peace and Love <3

[ben]

[pennyofheaven]

Good Evening!

 

First let me preface this with how grateful I am to have a job I just wish it didn't put me in the role of upper management! Due to downsizing in the company..I have been upsized so to speak. I initially started in the company as a middle manager. I was happy with that-it gave me the income I needed to support my family as a single parent. Here I am almost 4 years later-no longer a single parent but now so high up on the food chain at work it makes me nauseated! I can whine and whing all I like that I didn't ask for it, its here and I have to deal.

 

I am currently reading a book on Taoism and Leadership- since I really wanted to combine them. WOW talk about a task. The stress alone makes one and then to incorporate what I am admittedly still learning just about Taoism...

 

Any advice? Would love to hear!

 

Thanks~ Peace and Love <3

 

So you are not happy? Why do it if you're not?

[TaoBee]

So you are not happy? Why do it if you're not?

 

Why finances of course! Isn't that why any of us work? To have a roof, food, stuck with a car payment and all that jazz. I am working on downsizing our lives. I will be able to change my field once my son has moved on. He is still in high school. These are the only things holding me back.

 

Also it does help that I am happy elsewhere in my life- I share my world with the love of my life, I have creative outlets and I get to learn a little everyday. If I didn't have those gems in my world, work would be a larger thorn.

 

 

Peace and Love! <3

[pennyofheaven]

Why finances of course! Isn't that why any of us work? To have a roof, food, stuck with a car payment and all that jazz. I am working on downsizing our lives. I will be able to change my field once my son has moved on. He is still in high school. These are the only things holding me back.

 

Also it does help that I am happy elsewhere in my life- I share my world with the love of my life, I have creative outlets and I get to learn a little everyday. If I didn't have those gems in my world, work would be a larger thorn.

 

 

Peace and Love! <3

 

Ok, if that works for you. Loving what you do and doing what you love is far more rewarding than working at something you might not like or love. Since you are ok with what you do because of the happiness elsewhere thats all good too.

[Everything]

I can email you a copy of a book for free. It sums up the basis of Business economics, Administration and Psychology/quantum psychology, from a unification theorist, psychiatrist. This will give you the core essence from you which your task of organizing and making decisions for your company will become more abstract and easier to understand. This is the quickest way to prepare someone for such a position as yourself. With this on your background, making daily difficult decisions becomes less stressful.

 

However, I've find that people with no knowledge whatsoever can still succeed on these kind of situations pretty well. They have worldy shrewdness and experience. It requires alot of experience aswell to get better at leadership, fortunately you have the opportunity to experience it now. Without the proper knowledge/experience you will just jump around in circles or bump your head on the same walls over and over again, so educating yourself is quite important aswell. Still I must say experience is more important... Hehe

Well lets put it this way... Without knowledge you will be all over the place, without experience you'll bump against walls. Without both you will bump against walls all over the place.

 

If this is something that is bigger then your current available resources, internal and external, and you think you can't handle it, well... I would stop... Not much you can do about that, but suffering.

 

PM if you want the ebook, its a copy of the original.

[Paulw]

I was once in a supervisory job that I found extremely stressful and left the company to take another job with less money and less stress, the new company could see my potential and I was upgraded once again to assistant manager, unfortunately I failed miserably due to my wish to remain friends with the staff and the higher managers. I was unaware of the Tao back then and often wonder if I would have had better judgement had I known of the three treasures that Lao Tzu spoke of.

 

Chapter 67 sums it all up.

 

Everyone under heaven says that my Tao is great and beyond compare.

Because it is great, it seems different.

If it were not different, it would have vanished long ago.

 

I have three treasures which I hold and keep.

The first is mercy; the second is economy;

The third is daring not to be ahead of others.

From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity;

From humility comes leadership.

 

Nowadays men shun mercy, but try to be brave;

They abandon economy, but try to be generous;

They do not believe in humility, but always try to be first.

This is certain death.

 

Mercy brings victory in battle and strength in defense.

It is the means by which heaven saves and guards.

[TaoBee]

I was once in a supervisory job that I found extremely stressful and left the company to take another job with less money and less stress, the new company could see my potential and I was upgraded once again to assistant manager, unfortunately I failed miserably due to my wish to remain friends with the staff and the higher managers. I was unaware of the Tao back then and often wonder if I would have had better judgement had I known of the three treasures that Lao Tzu spoke of.

 

Chapter 67 sums it all up.

 

Everyone under heaven says that my Tao is great and beyond compare.

Because it is great, it seems different.

If it were not different, it would have vanished long ago.

 

I have three treasures which I hold and keep.

The first is mercy; the second is economy;

The third is daring not to be ahead of others.

From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity;

From humility comes leadership.

 

Nowadays men shun mercy, but try to be brave;

They abandon economy, but try to be generous;

They do not believe in humility, but always try to be first.

This is certain death.

 

Mercy brings victory in battle and strength in defense.

It is the means by which heaven saves and guards.

 

 

I have every intention of changing jobs to one with less responsibility, stress and naturally money...in hopefully 18 months or so! I think that centering yourself on the Tao in a work environment is both helpful and difficult. Corporate America is about money, status and power. As both a human and a Taoist, I am not. I thought being in the industry I am in, the money, status and power issue would be less...I was wrong.

[TaoBee]

I was once in a supervisory job that I found extremely stressful and left the company to take another job with less money and less stress, the new company could see my potential and I was upgraded once again to assistant manager, unfortunately I failed miserably due to my wish to remain friends with the staff and the higher managers. I was unaware of the Tao back then and often wonder if I would have had better judgement had I known of the three treasures that Lao Tzu spoke of.

 

Chapter 67 sums it all up.

 

Everyone under heaven says that my Tao is great and beyond compare.

Because it is great, it seems different.

If it were not different, it would have vanished long ago.

 

I have three treasures which I hold and keep.

The first is mercy; the second is economy;

The third is daring not to be ahead of others.

From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity;

From humility comes leadership.

 

Nowadays men shun mercy, but try to be brave;

They abandon economy, but try to be generous;

They do not believe in humility, but always try to be first.

This is certain death.

 

Mercy brings victory in battle and strength in defense.

It is the means by which heaven saves and guards.

 

 

Its all the responsibility. I despise being responsible for when Tom, Dick or Jane muck something up. Or having to fix everyone's issues. Responsibility blows.

 

Yup having a tough day. Bah.