Talents Management from Confucius

We will quote from “Doctrine of the Mean” 《中庸》where Confucius was asked about how to govern a state. His reply was:

a “故为政在人，取人以身，修身以道，修道以仁。
b 仁者，人也，亲亲为大。义者，宜也，尊贤为大。
c 亲亲之杀，尊贤之等，礼所生也。”

My translation:

a. Hence, governing is about people management.
Select people according to their character & behavior.
Character building is how they follow Dao(The Universal Way).
The Dao is cultivated through love/benevolence/compassion.

b. Love is about people. Loving those close to you takes priority.
Righteousness is about doing the right things and doing things rightly.
It is about respecting those with talents.

c. Preventing partiality due to loving your own, and preventing favoritism based on talents, requires the use of propriety (standards of proper behavior).

Interpretation:

So we can see Confucius pick character before talents or abilities. Judge his character first and then judge his abilities. Does this person have a love for others? Does he love his family? If he cannot even love those that are close to him, there is no way he can love people in general. Hence, he cannot be a good governor. Government is for the people.

However, love and respect could go overboard, so one should guards against partiality and favoritism, and nepotism. We need to establish proper standards and policies to guide the management of people.

Propriety, a right balance, is the main teaching of Confucius.

For more on management and leadership principles by Confucius,
please see: 

1. Management According to Confucius - 10 Keys
2. Management According to Confucius 2 - 5 Good & 4 Bad
3. Management According to Confucius 3 – Love & People-Centered

Lim Liat (c) 11 Oct 2021

What Emma Raducanu can learn from Leylah Fernandez & Maria Sharapova

Raducanu just lost her first match after returning from her US Open win. It is usually what happened for many before her who just climbed great heights. However, the US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez won hers to get into round three. She shared that she was lucky to meet Maria Sharapova, receive pretty good advice. She said she was not going to share those advice because it was very personal. 

Perhaps, she was not aware that Sharapova did share some good advice in Sharapova advances with advice for prodigies way back in May 2015.  I used it as a good example for mind-mapping and learning.  The post is The Effective Way of Learning - Sharapova Advice for Prodigies. Please refer to the post for her advice. 

I reproduced the key advice as follows:

1 Most important things in Life are not tennis --- Find them.

2 Watch out for the Temptations! Have fun but have control

3 Get, Be & Listen to Smart Mentors --- Note the need to obey them.

4 Remember the foundational reason for your success.

    --- Don't ever forget the who, what & how for your success.

5 So continue to develop it.

Emma had a good attitude after the loss and we are sure she will get back to the top very quickly. We wish both, Emma and Leylah all the very best in their tennis careers and we look forward to seeing them play.