Leadership Lessons from Confucius: a dynamic combination

Zixia said: “Someone who excels in official duties should then devote themselves to learning; someone who excels in learning should then devote themselves to official duties.”
子夏曰：「仕而優則學，學而優則仕。」

The achievement of excellence in your chosen field requires a dynamic combination of academic study and practical application. While academic study is vital for grasping the fundamental principles of your field, it is only the through the practical application of these principles in the real world that you will be able to truly understand it and contribute to its future development.

Notes

This article features a translation of Chapter 13 of Book 19 of the Analects of Confucius. You can read my full translation of Book 19 here.

(1) The meaning of this passage is ambiguous. The key message appears to be that learning and officialdom are inextricably linked. To be a truly excellent official, you need to continue learning. To be a truly excellent student, you need to serve as an official in order to practice the principles you have learned. An alternative translation could be:

Zixia said: “When someone has time to spare from official duties, they should devote themselves to learning. When someone has time to spare from learning, they should devote themselves to official duties.”

(2) These are the final words from Zixia in the Analects. Despite or because of his austere teaching methods, he founded a successful school in the state of Wei after Confucius’s death and became an important promulgator of the sage’s teachings. Reportedly he lived to a ripe old age, serving at the court of Prince Wan of Wei in 406 BCE when he was ninety-nine.

I shot this image in a hillside temple on the Four Beasts near to Taipei.