#45 萃 Congregation – Culture & Leadership

 

45 萃 Congregation – Culture & Leadership

萃      泽地萃         兑上坤下

This hexagram has the Lakes trigram on top of the Earth trigram. Rivers flow into a big Lake on top of the Earth representing gathering together, to assemble or congregate. I chose the word “Congregation” because in the commentaries the author uses worship a few times. Upper Trigram Lake also represents joy. Lower trigram Earth represents love and obeying or following the leader. The combination represents a happy congregation of people and their leader. This hexagram differs from 44 姤 Encountering. 44 Encountering is one-to-one (husband & wife) or one group to one group. This hexagram is about many to many over a longer time period.

Description:

1. 亨: Smooth flow.
2. 王假有庙: The King came to lead the sacrifice to worship God in the temple
3. 利见大人: It is beneficial to meet up with leaders of great influence
4. 亨: Smooth flow.
5. 利贞: It is beneficial for perseverance in righteousness
6. 用大牲吉，利有攸往: Using large animals for the sacrifice brings blessings. It is beneficial to go somewhere (i.e. start a new project).

Textual Commentary:

彖曰：萃，聚也；顺以说，刚中而应，故聚也。王假有庙，致孝享也。利见大人亨，聚以正也。 用大牲吉，利有攸往，顺天命也。 观其所聚，而天地万物之情可见矣。

The congregation is a coming and gathering together. It is yielding that brings joy. Responding to the righteous and strong at the central and hence gathering together to be right. The King came to the temple to worship. It is to show and share with others about respecting and caring for the elders. It is beneficial to meet up with leaders of influence. It is smooth going. Gather together to be righteous. Using large animals for sacrifice brings blessings. It is beneficial to start a new project that follows the will of God. Observing the gathering then we can understand the ways of Heaven, Earth, and All Things.

Pictorial Commentary: 象曰：泽上於地，萃；君子以除戎器，戒不虞

Lakes on top of the Earth give rise to Congregation. Wise men renew their weapons to prepare for the unforeseen and get rid of worry.

Moral Teachings:

1. A congregation is powerful and has great potential for accomplishing great things.
2. But it must be guided in the ways of righteousness.
3. It must have a good leader that leads by example.
4. It must get good mentors or have a good board of directors in the case of a business corporation.
5. It must have members who follow the leadership willingly with their hearts.
6. That should be a commitment to the use of large resources for the benefit of all to do big and meaningful things.
7. There should be a continual renewal of resources (literally weapons) and be ready for any unforeseen events.
8. All the above steps will produce a culture of integrity and excellence for sustainable high performance.

Stage 1 Begin Six: Possessing integrity but did not continue to the end. It results in confusion and sub-groups being formed. A call for gathering is made and there is laughter. No worry. Progressing forward has no fault. 初六：有孚不终，乃乱乃萃，若号一握为笑，勿恤，往无咎。
The pictorial commentary explains that the confused gathering is due to confusion about the will or mission. 象曰：乃乱乃萃，其志乱也。

Set a clear mission, vision, and goals. Communicate to all clearly and often. Execute to completion.  Any shortfall, such as changes in the process, will result in confusion and the formation of interest groups of all kinds. However, because the people are still for the good of the company, a gathering together to clarify will get the whole company going again.

Stage 2 Second Six: Being led brings blessings. No fault. Follow after integrity and simple worship are sufficient. 六二：引吉，无咎，孚乃利用禴
The pictorial commentary explains that being led has no fault because the central positioning has not changed. 象曰：引吉无咎，中未变也

In Stage 1 we can clearly see the lack of leadership. At this stage, we can bring in wise mentors to help us. It is no embarrassment for us. We must still follow the way of righteousness and integrity to the end. Small actions of sincerity and leading by example go a long way in influencing all people to work well together.

Stage 3 Third Six: Gathered together. There are some sighing and complaints. There are no benefits. Going forward has no fault. However, there is a little regret. 六三：萃如，嗟如，无攸利，往无咎，小吝
The pictorial commentary explains that going forward has no fault because there is wind on top. 象曰：往无咎，上巽也

In a large gathering of people, there will be small groups of complaints. Such complaints bring no benefits but they don’t stop the main progress of the company. Nevertheless, if we can fix the issues, there will be no regrets. The main flow of the company can carry all along. We progress further to stage 4.

Stage 4 Fourth Nine: Great Blessing/Fortune. No fault. 九四：大吉，无咎。
象曰：大吉无咎，位不当也

The pictorial commentary explains that great blessings and no-fault come from incorrect positions. 

A good blessing should not be qualified as no fault. It shows that greater blessing is possible. Line Nine-Four is not in the right position firstly the fourth line is for yin (six) and not yang(nine) and secondly, a proper leader should be line-five. But because of the good culture and support, the weak leadership still brings progress.

Stage 5 Fifth Nine: Gathering has the right position. No fault. No trust at first. Start building with long-term righteousness. There are no regrets. 九五：萃有位，无咎。 匪孚，元永贞，悔亡
The pictorial commentary explains that even though the Congregation is rightly positioned, it has not achieved its ambition yet. 象曰：萃有位，志未光也。

A new CEO Leader is hired to run the organization. It is no fault. But he just started and has no trust from his people yet. He needs to work on it and pursue righteousness and will gain trust and it will last a long long time.

Stage 6 Top Six: Sighing and crying with tears. No fault. 上六：齎咨涕洟，无咎。
The pictorial commentary explains that the crying is because there is no peace yet at the top position. 象曰：齎咨涕洟，未安上也。

Most translations take 齎咨 to mean sighing. But if we split the words, the first means hold with both hands, and the second means consult (it could also mean sigh). At the topmost position, there is no more progress upward but only retirement. The person may try to find a way out and finding no good answer results in sadness and crying. Nevertheless, when one can face reality and take appropriate actions such as grooming the successor and planning for retirement, there will be no fault.

Summary:

The congregation has great potential to do great things. It must be guided by righteousness and wise leaders who lead by example, reporting to a board of mentors. Members willingly follow the leadership. There must be continued renewal and preparedness for the unforeseen. It will produce a culture of integrity and excellence for sustainable high performance.

Wisdom from the Stage Lines:

1. Set clear goals, then communicate clearly and execute the achievement of targets.
2. Get mentors to help. We must show good examples and integrity in little things.
3. Some complaints exist but do not stop the main flow.
4. A company with the right culture can have weaker leadership and yet prosper.
5. A New Leader needs to pursue righteousness and build trust that lasts.
6. Face up to the reality of no more progress and planning for it(succession and retirement) has no fault.

Related Hexagrams:

Having a large group of diverse people working happily and productively together is about relationship building and leadership.  You can refer to i-Ching Hexagrams Classified.

See also the two types of leadership at Leadership Styles of I-Ching #7Army -Mission Oriented and #19Approach – People Oriented.

Lim Liat (c) 2/6/2010