Leadership Lessons from Confucius: in at the deep end
Ziyou said: “Among the students of Zixia the younger ones are well trained for sprinkling and sweeping the floor, responding to instructions, and greeting guests. But these are only details. When it comes to the fundamentals, they are totally lost. How is this possible?” When Zixia heard this he said: “No! Ziyou is badly mistaken! When it comes to the way of the exemplary person, who is to decide what should be taught first and what should be taught last? Students should be taught according to their characteristics in the same way plants and trees are sorted. How can it be the way of the exemplary person to turn them into fools? Starting at the beginning and working through to the end — is this not the path of a sage?”
子曰：「色厲而內荏，譬諸小人，其猶穿窬之盜也與。」子游曰：「子夏之門人小子，當洒掃，應對，進退，則可矣。抑末也；本之則無，如之何？」子夏聞之曰：「噫！言游過矣！君子之道，孰先傳焉？孰後倦焉？譬諸草木，區以別矣。君子之道，焉可誣也？有始有卒者，其惟聖人乎！」
Think very carefully before you throw one of your staff in at the deep end to see if they can swim. While there’s a chance that they may be able to handle the challenge you give them, there is an even greater risk that you will damage their confidence by giving them a task that they are ill-equipped to take on.
Spend time to understand the capabilities and personalities of all your team members so that you can identify the appropriate projects and training programs that will enable them to reach their full potential. Remember that everyone grows at a different pace. As a leader it is your responsibility to tailor the development pathways of your staff to meet their specific needs.
Notes
This article features a translation of Chapter 12 of Book 19 of the Analects of Confucius. You can read my full translation of Book 19 here.
(1) Ziyou is taking a potshot at Zixia for making his younger followers carry out menial ritual tasks rather than instructing them in the grand moral principles of the Confucian way. By implication, he is criticizing Zixia for focusing on minor matters and neglecting the important ones.
(2) In his riposte, Zixia advocates a more targeted approach in which students starting out in their studies (grass) should begin with basic tasks like the cultivation of good daily habits so that they can master the fundamentals before they are ready to become “trees” and undertake more advanced theoretical work. The main role of the teacher therefore is to determine what level each student is at and tailor their instruction accordingly.
I shot this image in a hillside temple on the Four Beasts near to Taipei.
