Leadership by Virtue: Dé Ling Dao (???) - Martial Arts Philosophy Behind Leadership Process to Rise Above Our ‘Cultural Background Noise’

By Jaro Berce

The story is showing from a first-person perspective the internal growing up of a leadership process based on non-Western approach. The main character, brought up in Europe and therefore used to Western cultural background noise although practicing Chinese martial arts, has to learn and understand the differences brought by Far East principles if he wants to grasp leadership from a different angle.

On the whole, a Western leadership is thought and understood as an external process of a person that influences others. Most of leadership and management books that deal with leadership and managers describe what and how to do it to be more efficient and successful. They describe tools to use to do it. This is called an external process. Outward, because others see leaders as how they behave or how they use those tools in a leadership style and/or process. But we all live our lives and perceive surrounding environment only from our internal eyes.

Therefore, the focal questions raised in a book are the following: Do all leaders have the same fears, problems, and difficulties or happiness, pleasure, and delight in being what they are? What are their feelings when leading people, making decisions, or taking responsibility? How do they sense and perceive their subordinates? In a book, those are called internal issues and are dealt with and described through a different approachan approach that is based on the Far East mentality and shown through Chinese martial arts and Chinese philosophy.

The book has eighteen (18) chapters. Chapters one to five are dedicated to the background setting and the evolution of the story and characters; Chapters six to nine are devoted to open different approaches and mentality that is coming from Far East and Martial arts philosophy and in parallel gradually introducing difficulties in leadership process and (miss)understanding of those Far East concepts; in a Chapter ten main character is pushed to the limits of solving leadership dilemma and private concerns; Chapter eleven is dedicated to open the eyes about the new concepts; in a Chapter twelve the foundation of Far East philosophy behind Martial arts is described that would be further on used for the Leadership by Virtue principle; Chapters thirteen to seventeen are telling one by one and thus portraying internal concepts used in Martial arts principles and Eastern philosophy and how to transfer those into (internal) leadership development; final Chapter eighteen is dedicated to merge those Far East and Martial arts concepts and philosophies with known Western ones and thus opening a new entanglement approach proposed with the use of the Leadership by Virtue.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781466965102

Jaro Berce

Jaro Berce, PhD, achieved a degree in electrical engineering and received a PhD in social sciences from the University of Ljubljana and gained a master’s degree in computer science in the USA. At the beginning of his professional career, his work focused only on research and development of information technology and electrical engineering systems at the Institute of Jožef Stefan. Later on, he started to build his expertise also in the fields of project management, organization restructuring, consultancy, and entrepreneurship. He cofounded, managed, and served on the board of directors of two information technology consulting and engineering firms. One-GRAD d.d. played an important role as it was the first company whose stock was sold on a new-founded Yugoslav stock market in 1989. At the beginning of ’90s, he started a family business with the eBerce (http://eberce.si) company. Jaro Berce was involved in management consultancy for a strategic redirection and restructuring projects on behalf of big four multinational consulting companies. He worked at board level in both the private and public sectors. He was a supervisory board member and a chair of a supervisory board in different big companies where he has proven successful management and leadership abilities. Comfortable taking on responsibility and a charismatic communicator, he currently holds an assistant professorship and a project management position within the Center of Social Informatics of the University of Ljubljana, Faculty for Social Sciences. He was fortunate enough to have lived, been educated, worked, and experienced in many different places of culture starting in Europe via Africa and USA to China. On his varied journey, he has met and had several bosses. They were both good and troublesome. Since his very early age, Jaro Berce is dedicated to martial arts, in last decade specifically to Chinese martial arts. On a daily basis he practice Yong Chun (??) more known as Wing Chun, Qì Gong (??) and/or T’ai Chi Ch’uan (???).

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© Copyright 2013 Jaro Berce.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-6509-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-6508-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-6510-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012924108

Trafford rev. 02/01/2013

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Contents

FOREWORD

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ONE

Nothing is impossible to a willing mind. (Books of Han Dynasty)

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once. (Samuel Smiles)

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. (Vince T. Lombardi)

TWO

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. (Barry LePatner)

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. (Lou Holtz)

Success is not in what you have, but who you are. (Bo Bennett)

THREE

There are two types of people—those who come into a room and say, Well, here I am! and those who come in and say, Ah, there you are.(Frederick L. Collins)

It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated. (Alec Bourne)

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not. (George Bernard Shaw)

FOUR

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people. (Chinese saying)

The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions. (Mike Krzyzewski)

There is never enough time, unless you’re serving it. (Malcolm Forbes)

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. (William Penn)

FIVE

If you think you can or if you think you can’t you’re probably right. (Henry Ford)

Don’t fight the problem, decide it. (George C. Marshall)

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. (Daoism)

Leadership is not domination, but the art of persuading people to work toward a common goal. (Daniel Goleman)

SIX

Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned. (Harold S. Geneen)

A person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the man doing it. (Chinese proverb)

Knowledge comes from your instructors; wisdom comes from within. (Dan Inosanto)

The mind is like a fertile garden. It will grow anything you wish to plant. And so it is with success, healthy thoughts or with negative ones. (Joe Hyams)

SEVEN

A single question can be more influential than a thousand statements. (Bo Bennett)

The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. (Woodrow Wilson)

If you say YES too quickly, you may have to say NO. If you think things are done too easily, you might find them hard to do. If you face trouble sanely, it cannot trouble you. (Lǎo Zǐ)

EIGHT

Pushing and/or pulling people is always less effective than truly leading people. (Timothy H. Warneka)

The moving waters are full of life and health; only in still waters is stagnation and death. (David Josiah Brewer)

Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless. (Thomas A. Edison)

NINE

It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear. (Dick Cavett)

There are three constants in life . . . change, choice, and principles. (Stephen Covey)

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. (Albert Einstein)

TEN

In order to achieve victory you must place yourself in your opponent’s skin. (Tsutomu Oshima)

With each step upward to the goal, spiritual and physical unification of mind and body seems nearer. (Joe Hyams)

ELEVEN

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. (George Bernard Shaw)

Have you ever tried to pick up a child or a dog who did not want to be lifted? They both seem to be heavier—this is because the mind is truly a source of power, and when a mind and body are coordinated, Qì manifests itself. (Joe Hyams)

It is better to spend three years looking for a good master than ten years training with a bad one. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

TWELVE

Before a man can fight, he must first learn to stand. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

THIRTEEN

Beginning students block an assault, experienced Wǔ Shù men attack after blocking, but true masters no longer have the need to block. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

You have to give up strength to get power. (Sensei Mary Heiny)

It is better to sweat in practice than to bleed in battle. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

Every master was once a novice. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

FOURTEEN

Before a man can fight, he must first learn to stand. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

Advance daily throughout your life, becoming more skillful today than yesterday. This is a never ending process. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

When the archer misses the center of the target, he does not blame the bow or arrow. He seeks for the cause of failure within himself. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

FIFTEEN

Before a man can fight, he must first learn to stand. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

A great martial artist will never make a show of being great; that is how his greatness is achieved. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

Knowledge of body weakness is every bit as important as the ability to hit a given target proficiently. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

SIXTEEN

First you crawl, then you walk, then you run. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill; to subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

SEVENTEEN

Learning one hundred things is not as good as practicing one thing well. Practicing one hundred things is not as good as mastering one thing perfectly. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

A martial artist without philosophy is nothing more than a street fighter. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

It is usually the depth of skill rather than the variety of technique that decides the winner. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

The superior man moves his lips; the mean man moves his fists. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

EIGHTEEN

The tree that does not bend with the wind will be broken by the wind. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

The most important part of a fight begins before you draw your sword. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

The discipline of knowledge in the Oriental view is to be used towards attaining moral excellence. Granting emotion and desire their place, the true martial artist is not dominated by them. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

GLOSSARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY and LITERATURE

ENDNOTES

I would like to dedicate this book to all of you (West or East / North or South), teachers or parents that like to have a good reading in quiet times, for example, on vacation or during peaceful night times, but also to those that are in the midst of an organizational or management crisis and need a beacon in those changing times and environment. It will strengthen you, train for the battles, help to avoid them and calm you at the same time. It should be read with peaceful mind and open heart as I tried to, so to speak, find the point where ‘East and West meet’.

FOREWORD

A work crew is clearing a trail. The crew boss and workers hear a lone voice from above. A crew member in a tree top is yelling You are going the wrong direction.

Being boss is not necessarily being a leader. On the surface leadership is about getting everybody doing the right things in the right ways. Internally it is more than a position, or having the right tools and knowledge; it is about the very fibre of the person, engaged in realization and learning, and it is not just for the person at the top of the tree.

For the past quarter century I have observed the path Jaro recounts in this book. It is a path to a deeper understanding of the meaning of leadership, and of self within leadership. The story unfolds around issues of governance and commerce, around family and self, and the quest for prowess within the martial arts. The story is told at several levels and its telling as a story is indebted to the ways of learning embedded in the Asian martial arts. At one level the story is the reflective realization of leadership in business and government, at another level it is about parenthood and partnership, and its sustaining thread is as a student of the Asian martial arts. The view of learning as both realization and acquisition, and using storytelling, are central to the martial arts. Using the martial arts as a storyline leaves the reader to reflect and read at the same time.

This is a book to be read in quiet moments when one can reflect on the meaning of what is being said., where one can be absorbed in contemplation about being and leadership in the context of one’s own life is at the moment. This is not a how to book. There are no recipes or checklists on how to be a leader. It is also not about how to get a competitive edge in the pursuit of leadership, although it inspires approaches to leadership that will no doubt have their own rewards.

The oft quoted business proverb There are too many Chiefs and not enough Indians is taken to mean that within organizations everyone cannot be boss. That can be misleading. The proverb is more properly is a criticism of dysfunctional organizational process. In a functional organization everyone should, at all times, engage in appropriate leadership. Reflecting on my own work dealing with organization and process in electronic (Internet) venues, I find it noteworthy that the learning strategies of the age old Asian martial arts carry timely lessons for leadership, and leadership training there as well.

The language of the stories is straight forward, and does not bow to current trends or language in the areas of leadership and entrepreneurship. The text is conversational, more like a novel than a primer for leadership development. This is intended to both nurture and nourish the mind of the reader. At key points the narrative breaks, leaving the reader to reflect on what has just passed, and to ponder what comes next when that thread is resumed. This too is deliberate and drawn from how the Master instructs the pupil.

This approach is more than just a choice of pedagogy to convey knowledge and conduct training. It is integral to learning, thinking and reflection as a process of realization and acquisition. Maybe I should say acquisition first and realization second, but that would convey the wrong impression, suggesting that acquisition is a lock-step prerequisite for realization. It is in fact the dance between the two that enriches the learning process.

There are a yin and yang within leadership. There is an outer strategy directed at the organizational structures and processes that surround an endeavour, and an inner strategy that involves internalizing information from the external world. There is also a compass or positioning system of ethical and logistic tools for orchestrating one’s leadership.

There are hundreds of books addressing the yang of outer leadership, complete with checklists, game plans, and first person accounts of how successful people exercised leadership. This book is about the yin of inner leadership. It complements outer leadership strategies in two ways. It focuses on the internal development of leadership skills, skills that are not context specific and are deployable across different settings, including family and personal life. This is in contrast to the all too frequent Alpha Male models of leadership. It also provides insights into the inner leadership skills a good leader, much as a martial arts teacher, must cultivate in colleagues and subordinates, and nurture within one’s family social setting and community duties.

Within the modern university my own courses have been designed around a acquire first, do later model of learning. I realize how deeply flawed this model is as a way of nurturing leadership and entrepreneurship, I have looked elsewhere, increasingly in the electronic spaces of the Internet, for fertile ground in which to emulate the ways in which to nurture the student toward realization and acquisition. To the extent that I have success I am deeply indebted to what I have learned working with Jaro.

Dr. Sam Lanfranco, PhD in economy

Professor Emeritus & Senior Scholar Economy,

York University, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA

The main character, Ben, is a typical high-tech enthusiast educated in the Western way who suddenly finds out that he has some deficiencies. The Western approach, driven by more technology, more analyticity, more knowledge, and more causality, raises his fears. Is this path sufficient to overcome his perceived shortages?

Ben is a typical product of the popular Western Logos mind-set. In the event that there is no proof of a connection between cause and consequence, a Western Mind can be driven into uncertainty. Doubt is defined as a safeguard, as the demarcation of truth and untruth, as well as the delimitation of the credible and incredible.

Parmenides can be identified as the father of a doubtful attitude, who the non-split world of Heraclitus and Sophocles redefined as the duality of spirit and matter, a subject and an object, a form and a substance. After that, man ceased to experience the Spirit, a Truth and a God as an integrated whole, and began to define them as objects. The Truth has lost its attractiveness, and Usefulness became a basic element and a measure of value and validity.

Ben’s effectiveness and efficiency is in proportion to his own image as a manager, as a ruler of others and himself. Uncertainty, and being pulled between emotions, instincts, intuition, mind and body, is causing Ben distress, anxiety, and anger.

In his early stages Ben defines the martial arts of Wing Chun as a double form, frustration and release. Is this a paradox? The frustration comes from the non-understanding of the Eastern way, and the consciousness of cause and effect. On the other hand Ben experiences relaxation as a somatic response to the coordination of his mind, body, and emotions.

Ben, the same as Tales, makes efforts and plans, hoping that once he will become the master of the future. The typical trap of the Westerner living between, planning for the future, and ruminating on mistakes of the past. Planning for the future usually causes anxiety. Contemplating the past is accompanied by guilt, and consequently with the hope of forgiveness, or by avoidance of responsibility in the form of anger toward others.

Martial arts offers Ben a momentary and anticipative accomplishment. A paradox? The West teaches that the response of a manager is differentiation, followed then by integration, and finally comes a logical simplification. In the East, with a single stroke, a master of martial arts binds together rational-emotional-physical as an amalgamated chain. Possible?

The Eastern world and Ben’s Shifu offer the experience of a presence in a world that is changing, the experience of an insight into the natural rhythm of oneself, others, and the Universe, and down-to-earth instantaneous adaptation. Promising?

This book teaches the demanding way of meeting East and West, and offers conceptualized life thoughts and system formations. A curiosity relaxed and transferred into the Western synergy, in the twinkling of an eye, by the integration of Sān Bǎo, Shén, Jīng, and Qì.

The meeting of East and West is probably another individual intellectualized reality, which is a fundamentally unique meeting with oneself. Within the microsecond between emotion and action there is an unlimited infinitively wide range of free action.

Have a good journey reading and applying!

Dr. Željko Ćurić, PhD in medicine and Black belt holder in Taekwondo

Director of project(s) at O. K. Consulting,

Company for Education and Transformation Management ltd., Ljubljana, SLOVENIA

PREFACE

Act without doing;

work without effort.

Think of the small as large

and the few as many.

Confront the difficult

while it is still easy;

accomplish the great task

by a series of small acts.

The Master never reaches for the great;

thus he/she achieves greatness.

When he/she runs into difficulty,

he/she stops and gives him/herself to it.

He/She doesn’t cling to his/her own comfort;

thus problems are no problem for him/her.

—Dào Dé Jīng

There are no secrets in martial arts—only not yet uncovered territories. Therefore, one can learn just as much as one is prepared to. (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

This book is not just about leadership, but rather about a leader’s internal leadership personality too. I’ve read a lot of leadership and management books that deal with leadership and managers. They all describe what and how to do it to be more efficient and successful. Most of them describe tools to use to do it. All this I call external issues—outward because others see them as our behavior or how we use them in our leadership style and/or process. Meanwhile, I have had several opportunities to lead people, and I ask myself: Do other leaders have the same fears, problems, and difficulties or happiness, pleasure, and delight in being what they are? What are their feelings when leading people, making decisions, or taking responsibility? How do they sense and perceive their subordinates? These and others I call internal issues, and they had been floating in my mind for quite a long time. The trigger to start writing came in 2010, when I got a scholarship from the European project CONNEC that made possible my stay at the Xi’an Technological University (XATU) in China. There I’ve learned some fundamentals of philosophy that are present in China. I would like to thank both Ms. Li Chunqing and Mr. Li Gang from XATU, who during my teaching and researching understood my thought and research intentions. With their unselfish help and long discussions, they familiarized me step by step to the basics of Chinese philosophy and literature.

Connected to those leadership issues, my different views and thinking also came from my martial arts practice and their philosophy toward life and fights. When I was young, I started to practice judo, but after an injury I ceased. I was unhappy with this though, and later on I began to compete in ballroom dancing, where I learned how to concentrate during competition and some useful features in regard to corporeal performance. Years passed and finally I got an opportunity to start with martial arts again. Sometime at the end of the nineties, I was searching for a martial arts school for my sons, and when I found it, I asked if they also enrolled adults. Thanks goes to Sensei (先生) Mr. Tone Ančnik in Slovenia for accepting me and hence who became my first Shotokan karate teacher. I practiced it for years and achieved a black belt. In parallel, he introduced me to the Tai Chi Quán Yang-style, both barehanded and with sword.

Later I got an opportunity to move to Spain, where in the beginning I continued to practice karate Kyohan-style, but shortly found a passion for Wing Chun. Acknowledgments go to Shī Fǔ (师辅) Mr. José Luis Dominguez Bolaños—Chang Lee and his school that attracted me. He taught me the fundamentals of Qì Gōng, as well as insisting that I bind martial arts with traditional Chinese medicine and language. Moving from Spain, I continued to practice Wing Chun and Tai Chi. At times, I could not find a good school and therefore I started to train more and more by myself. There came other occasions, such as the one where I stayed for two months in Xi’an, China. There I had the great opportunity to meet Shī Fǔ Ms. Gao Fuzhen, with whom I duly, each morning, practiced Tai Chi Quán in a park, Changle Park, that was near to my apartment. She was a passionate teacher, and though we barely understood each other, she repeatedly showed and corrected me. I would also like to thank all the nice and kind people that practiced Tai Chi Quán in the park with me. Thanks for the Wing Chun evening classes, and the Chinese way of tea drinking in Xi’an also go to Shī Fǔ Mr. Zhang Guanchang (张馆长).

The journey is the reward (Daoism). I agree with the proverb, as my life has been very dynamic and heterogeneous. And I do not regret or want to change it. I was fortunate enough to have lived, been educated, worked, and experienced many different places of culture starting in Europe via Africa and USA and more; therefore leadership attracted me early in my life. During my secondary school education, I was already having experiences with organizing and managing big school and sports events. Ski trips with several buses and school ski competitions were one of my spheres. I have to admit that during those Yugoslav times in the seventies, our class was very progressive and entrepreneurial. We were all organizing quite a lot of events from which we collected money to pay for a final one-week trip to the Croatian island Vis for the whole class and some professors. This experience helped me later in life when I moved from different positions in different companies. Somewhere at the end of the eighties, I founded the first nonbanking stock company Grad in Yugoslavia with friends. I’ve been working for big blue-chip consulting companies and for the Slovenian government during its accession to the European Union.

On my varied journey, I have met and had several bosses. They were both good and troublesome. The last ones from time to time got on my nerves. It is not a criticism! I don’t blame them or even take offense. Yet several times I was annoyed because they could not motivate me with their behavior, albeit they were supposed to. Instead, I was demotivated by their injustices, emptiness of demands, inconsistencies, lack of transparency, self-importance, arrogance, superiority, miscommunication, or even management incompetence. Sometimes they were afraid of me; on other occasions they did not allow me to give my professional opinion.

Nevertheless, they taught me a lot and gave me good examples of leadership strategies that usually do not work. One of those bosses required me to write whatever he said, as he twisted and vacillated in his decisions all the time. I still use this skill today and have to admit that it helped me out of some big problems later in life. The other helped me to understand that people sense and detect if you playact and are not sincere. Even when he sent invitations to all the employees to come to a New Year’s office party, only 10 percent of them came. On the other side his predecessor did not have such encounters because he trusted his employees and was thus trusted too. Whenever I clearly explained my ideas to him, he supported me, but he always added that with executing them I had to take full responsibility too.

Although people rarely expose themselves, Dr. Vasja Vehovar, a professor and a PhD coadviser and colleague of mine at the University of Ljubljana, did support and protect me when I was bruised by the faculty dean that wanted to reprimand me because its administration didn’t inform me regarding the formal procedures to follow. With Dr. Vehovar’s gesture of firmness, I learned that self-importance and arrogance can be effectively overcome and it can be done in various ways. On the other hand, I had an entirely different experience with Mr. Janez Škrubej, CEO of a computer manufacturer, Iskra-Delta, which employed a personnel of two thousand people. He protected and defended me when I was blamed by my first superior that I had not done my work. We worked on the side late into the night, and my first superior would not accept programming and testing that had already been done by me but insisted that I work on during the whole night. Being tired, I rejected this with the explanation that I could make errors, which could cause our company unexpected costs. I’ve learned that self-important ego demonstration of power does not give always the results.

As with people, tasks, and companies, bosses are also different. Mr. Erik Vrenko, who was never my immediate boss but was a director and founder of Iskra Elektrooptika and a state secretary for research and science, knowing me for a long time, always had time—and even today still has it—to discuss and guide me on how a system of a leadership process should be organized and performed. Being a physicist by profession, his views and knowledge helped me several times in my career when I was too narrow-minded.

The other was Mr. Rado Faleskini, director of R&D at the Iskra Company, an electronic equipment manufacturer in Yugoslavia that employed as many as thirty-five thousand people in more than twenty-five subsidiaries, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. We did several projects together, and during his lead, he taught me that there are natural sciences and social sciences professionals and that they behave and react in different and sometimes conflicting ways. What is for one safe or normal could be for the other uncertain and risky. Long ago retired Peter Kind, a CEO of the European Commission Joint Research Centre, the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, with whom we shared bench during the Spanish language course, taught me that we have to learn through our whole lives. And there were several others too that taught me with their examples and behavior.

Although most martial arts principles, weapons, and the way they are practiced are described very authentically, all the names and most institutions, companies, and events are functionary or changed to keep the focus on the purposes of the book and to keep them anonymous; and if something in this book approaches accuracy, it’s probably a mistake. There are certain thoughts and concepts in the story arousing unusual, sometimes even opposite, reasoning that should inspire a diverse—a lateral—thinking on the subject. Therefore, the story evolves through the book from what could be identified as the primary chaos, then going through the phase I named Western understanding and finally starting to approach with martial art way. The summit of the content finishes with bringing together both the West and the East.

As there are no years without days, so there is nothing external without anything inside (Zhuangzi). This motto can embrace my entire upper management and other experiences that shaped me in my decision to write this book, as well as the entanglement of them. Leaders at the top are alone, and with this book, I would like to bestow on them and others that doing things right in the right way pays off; that my experiences, and not only mine, tell me that virtue is important; and that you should understand that nothing is hidden and there are no secret answers, it is just you being at the level that you are which prohibits you to understand. If there were simple solutions to the challenges of leading people, someone would have discovered them years ago, and that would have been that are Timothy H. Warneka’s words that I would like to use at the end of this explanation to tell you that even with this book, there are still open territories to explore.

At the end, I would like to conclude my introduction with And here I state my case of which I am certain / I lived a life that’s full / I traveled each and ev’ry highway. To paraphrase Frank Sinatra of my life motto The objective is not at the end of the way—the aim is the Way itself!

Jaro Berce, PhD / Zhào Débīn (赵德斌)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express gratitude to all of my four sons, in order of birth: Žiga, Jan, Tim, and Denis. All and each of them have taught me so many precious things, ideas, important life interpretations and shown me experiences that young people mostly undergoes without their parents’ knowledge if you do not listen to them. To my wife Aleksandra, who was passionate enough to live, to travel with me physically and mentally when we excitedly discussed different topics, and also when she struggled with me when I asked her to lecture my articles’ content or structure or grammar.

My deep thanks go to Dr. Sam Lanfranco, professor emeritus and senior scholar at Economy School of York University, my PhD coadviser and a dear friend of mine. His unselfish help in reading and commenting my thoughts, ideas, and conclusions were precious to improving the whole story and its expertise. I would like to express thanks to Dr. Željko Ćurić, PhD from psychology, an old friend of mine and a martial arts practice partner, helped me with his psychology profession in understanding principles of human behavior. Having an Aikido black belt, his comments about martial arts principles were received and discussed in detail. Dr. Janez Bešter PhD in economy, a friend with whom we share common views about life and economy, for his almost unlimited endurance and time to discuss myriads times with me about numerous views on economy and its role in modern societies. I would like to thank also my old friend from our secondary school years, Matjaž Vrhovec, who can share with me memories on our terrific youth, for his enduring and his provocative opinions during long hours of discussions about different topics described in the book. I should not forget Bogo Seme, business coach and consultant, to whom I owe that this book was finally written as he pointed out that I should not only talk but set a deadline when to finish. And to all those that have time to argue with me about different views.

My thanks go to Scribendi Proofreading team that took my words and sentences and polished them in a way that I never would be able.

Our interactions with Trafford publishing were truly a satisfying experience whose handle with care approach has made this demanding project possible from choosing my publishing package, copyediting, layout and formatting, book design and interior page layout, personal web page, book marketing, worldwide book distribution just to name some very important tasks needed in publishing a book.

And at the end, I would like to thank everyone that had and has faith in me during my life’s way and my path that was and still is unique and much different than what is perceived as typical.

As a result, what is in between the cover and back page turned out to be a very exceptional volume that covers the span from Far East philosophy to Western principles, from Martial arts concepts and philosophies to leadership, and leadership process, from »chaos« to bringing together both the West and the East.

Any errors, omissions and/or slights are unintentional and remain my sole responsibility.

Jaro Berce, PhD / Zhào Débīn (赵德斌)

Ljubljana, Slovenia, December 2012

ONE

Nick’s request makes Ben Young promise to help

Shifu Zhào Huī warns Bill

Nothing is impossible to a willing mind. (Books of Han Dynasty)

It is a nice and warm evening, rare for this time of year. March is still flirting with winter temperatures. I park the car in front of my dojoi where I have spent so many pleasant hours during the last ten years. The decision to go was tough after a long, exhausting workday. But I know that crossing the doorjamb would change my mood. I instinctively know that never once in those years did I feel sorry for coming. But I would only feel this when I left the dojo where I practice martial arts. Now I need some extra energy to force me to step into the dojo. It crosses my mind that I have heard once that a dojo is a miniature cosmos where we make contact with ourselves—our fears, anxieties, reactions, and habits (Hyams).

My intellectual mind is saying that practice as usual would clean my body as well as my mind. My body, because I have to Xīn Gōng Fu (辛功夫), as the Chinese would say, for an extremely hard workout, not only to be fit but to receive knowledge from my teacher too. That is why Gōng Fu (功夫), or better known as Kung Fu, is wrongly interpreted as a martial art. Martial arts are essentially avenues through which one can achieve spiritual serenity, mental tranquility, and the deepest self-confidence (Lee). They are therefore for health promotion, cultivation of mind, and self-protection. Their philosophy is based on the internal parts of the philosophies of Daoism, Chán (禪, in Japan called Zen), and I Ching (Book of Changes) on the principles of the idea of giving with adversity, to bend slightly and spring back stronger than before, and finally to adapt oneself harmoniously to the opponent’s movements without striving or resisting (Lee).

Our bodies are not intended to sit and be in meetings all day long. I remember in my school days when a gym teacher used to say that in ancient Roman times, a proverb, mens sana in corpora sano, a healthy mind in a healthy body, existed just to stimulate our recreation and motion. I intellectually know that I need some exercise to initiate blood flow, which will keep me fit in both respects. The stress that I’m accumulating during the day in meetings and with all those important decisions I have to make is just jamming my mind. Only the intellect is now helping me to not turn around and go back to sit in front of the TV in the safe environment of my home. But no, I have to endure the soft spirit that is shouting in me. You miss once and you start to let the practice pass more and more. So at the end you just do not go. I saw so many of my martial arts colleagues in those years that had not returned after such a crisis.

I can already hear the sounds of those that are changing their clothes in our changing room. I hear Martin explaining some issues that we had during the last training. He is a smart and very persistent third-level instructor. He is one of the Shifu’sii two major assistants. Martin has been with our Shifu the longest, so he knows a lot. As I enter, I hear Brian shouting to me, Hi, Ben! You look tired.

Yes, I really am.

You should stop working so hard and give others some room to do their jobs.

I know, I know, but nothing happens if I don’t steer and push.

You should use some Wing Chun techniques on them. Martin smiles at me.

Should I? You aren’t serious that I should punch my employees to get them to work harder, are you, Martin?

No, I don’t mean physically. I just wonder if you could use their energy in your process of leading them. It could save yours.

Yeah, if that was as easy as here in the dojo, then all managers would be practicing martial arts and applying those techniques to their jobs instead of going to expensive MBA programs, is my quick reply.

But Martin doesn’t look so convinced about my last words. He teaches gymnastics at the secondary school. He probably does use some knowledge from here, but how would I use it? I push these thoughts away as I change into our official uniform of loose black Gōng Fu pants and a black T-shirt. The T-shirt has an emblem on the left sleeve with the Wing Chun inscription above an insignia of two bā zhǎn dāo representing this martial art style, and below the swords are two Chinese characters Zhào Huī (赵輝) representing our Shifu’s name. I tie my belt up properly. It looks more like a long shawl than a belt and has one red strip representing that I have a first-degree black belt compared to karate ranking. I earned it in the last five years of practicing Wing Chūn, the martial art that became internationally known in Cantonese,iii although proper pronunciation in Mandariniv is yǒng chūn (永萅), meaning eternal spring, as Shifu once told us. It is a marvelously efficient system of aggressive self-defense that allows one to adapt immediately to the size, strength, and fighting style of an attacker. I put on my special martial arts shoes that have flat rubber bottoms and good ankle support and allow me to stride along the ground.

I hear vivid talking all around me, and my mind slips away for a second, thinking about the times when I was committed to Shotokan karate. What a difference. Not only in dressing, but the spirit as well. Here we can talk during the lesson to imitate the real situations that can occur to you one day on the street. In that moment, it is not about being violent. You should control the situation. And the voice could be the key. If your voice is lost, you lose the third step in your defense. I remember our Shifu’s words: In most hostile events, our first degree of panic begins with fast and abrupt breathing. Then we begin to sweat. And the panic is climbing up our body from the feet to our brain. If we do not talk, the stiffness of the body prevents our defense. Our unconscious mind takes over the control to prepare us for fight or for flight. Yes, how many times those feelings are present during important meetings or when one has to make a decision quickly. We get imprisoned in our fears and anxieties to fail or to succeed, and we get cut off from the real decisions, pushed by the urgency of the situation.

My thoughts stop abruptly when Nick comments about the arrangements for our future competition championship. Our club is organizing it for the end of June, and Nick is discussing financial issues. We should get more sponsors to cover our event because costs are getting bigger and bigger each day, he says.

I know, and I did promise to help, I just have not had time to do it, I reply.

But you are a consultant for some big companies, aren’t you?

How can I explain to a young man that I’m in a very big change of my life and that this should be done carefully so that it does not look like it is more of a burden for a company?

Look, I promised that I’ll try to get some financial support. Okay?

Okay, but hurry up, otherwise we will have to get support from other companies.

Well, I understand, just give me some more time.

Until the end of April, is that okay?

Yes. Do you have some leaflets explaining what they would get in return?

Sure. I’ll give them to you at the end of our practice, so you won’t forget.

During our conversation, we slowly moved toward the entrance of our dojo and walk into the training hall.

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once. (Samuel Smiles)

Entering our training hall, we have a special ritual in which we give respect to the place and our Shifu. It consists of briefly standing still and a salute. Our training room is about fifteen by twenty meters. Not too big and not too small. I like the smell of the workouts that we do in it. It has the spirit. The room has a high ceiling, so in the summer we still have air to breathe and during the winter it is not too cold. On the left side of the entrance, there is a wall with mirrors, which are very useful to see what you perform correctly or what you should improve. On the wall where the entrance is, we have a precious rack with different weapons. They are fine replicas of ancient Chinese weapons. We have them to learn how to use these weapons. During the five-thousand-year Chinese history of martial arts weapons, styles, shapes, materials, and fabrication techniques have changed from one dynasty to the next.

In the rack, there are eighteen fundamental Chinese weapons with interesting shapes and names, like double daggers, large sweeper, nine-ring long-handled sword, double axe, double halberd, nine-ring broadsword, double double-edge sword, butterfly knife, long-handled axe, General Kwan long sword, Chay Yáng long-handled sword, moonteeth shovel, hook, Tai Chi sword and saber, and last but not least, the three-sectional stick. These weapons always trigger me to think what a human could do with just normal peasant tools, tools that were used for land cultivation and food production. In ancient times, a prohibition that stopped peasants from using weapons made them very imaginative; because they had to protect themselves from different gangs, they used whatever they have. Therefore, many different-shaped weapons evolved.

Most weapons that have blades and are used to slice, cut, hack, or chop are considered to be named dāo (dāo shù 刀术). Chinese character for shù stands for method or technique but represents here training with the dāo that should be performed slowly and deliberately, with great focus on both the weapon and your physical as well as postural position. You are also not allowed to forget the other hand that is not grasping the weapon. Dāo was first used in China during its Bronze Age. It is the most widely used weapon, in part due to the fact that its generic term is used for different weapons. The jiàn (剑) shù is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China and is considered the noblest of weapons, possibly one of the most difficult to learn, let alone to master. Then there is also the staff or gùn (棍) shù, which was used the first time by the martial artists of the Shào Lín Monastery or Shàolín Temple (少林寺).

The most important and often used weapons in our style of Wing Chun are only two. The first is a bā zhǎn dāo (八斬刀) or butterfly sword, literary meaning eight cutting swords, and the second is a liù diǎn bàn gùn (六點半棍) or long pole, known also as six and a half point long pole. These two main weapons are thought of as an extension to the empty-hand fight. Even though stances and footwork are somewhat different than in the empty-hand forms, mostly due to the extended range of an attacking weapon, the same theories and principles apply.

Next to the rack stands a mù rén zhuāng fǎ (木人樁法), or wooden dummy, used for training the form with the same name and designed to cultivate fighting skill. The wooden dummy, or in Cantonese muk yan jong (木人樁), is an imitation of a body with three wooden arms and a leg, which are positioned for practicing Wing Chun techniques. The trunk is made of a cylindrical wooden stake of about a meter and a half in length and twenty-three centimeters in diameter. The two upper arms are stuck into chiseled holes at the same height of the upper part of the trunk, and a third arm, called the middle arm, is stuck into a hole in the middle below the two upper arms. A kind of leg, a short bent stake that is thicker than the three arms, is stuck in a hole below the middle arm. These externalities form the body of the dummy, which is fixed to the supporting frame by two crossbars that pass through holes in the upper and lower ends of the trunk. The two crossbars are flexible, but are fixed onto two perpendicular supporting pillars. These pillars are fixed firmly onto the wall in order to take heavy strikes. Life practicability in the dummy is provided in two ways: by flex in the cross slats when one moves the dummy forward or backward and by these slats sliding in the framework when one moves the dummy side to side. This gives the practitioner an impression of real responses to his or her hits.

On the wall to the right are south-facing windows that will give us light in the months to come. Today is already dark because it is eight o’clock in the evening. On the facing wall to the entrance there are some pictures. One is of well-known Shifu Ye Wen (more known by his other name, Yip Kai Man 葉繼問) who was considered the first Wǔ Shù (武術, Chinese expression for martial arts) master to teach the Chinese Wǔ Shù of Wing Chun openly. Then we have some pictures of our Shifu in his much younger years when he was still living in China and fistfighting abroad. One is very old and shows our Shifu fighting with Lǐ Xiǎo Lóng (李小龙, which means small dragon, more known by his English name Bruce Lee). There are also several certificates from different competitions that prove that our dojo is well trained.

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. (Vince T. Lombardi)

As usual, Martin and John, our second instructor, start our practice with the traditional salute and a short concentration time designed to condition oneself to the practice to come. The salute constitutes of the right hand clenched in a fist while the left lies open on top. The symbolism means to bring peace and cover the violence. This is the only time we all stand silently. Then each of us takes a place for the warm-up. We start with some different movements that warm our joints up, followed by more dynamic actions that prepare our cardiovascular systems to startup. Then we do mobility development and relax our muscles and tendons. Reinforcement is done by mixing several different series of pushups on open hands, fists, wrists, and fingers with sequences of different types of abdominal exercises. Martin decides who will be the next to count up to twenty when the first series is done. We count because in those physically hard times, as I mentioned, one has to acquaint oneself with relaxing techniques from which breathing and voicing are just two of them. I can hear counting and hard breathing, as well as some mumbling and groaning. But this doesn’t help because Martin pushes us to keep going. I hear him say, Do less, but do it right. Don’t try to do more than you can. Just remember the number, and next time, strive to do one more.

During this time my mind is already switching off all the issues and problems that have occupied it whole day long. I have to focus on what I’m doing and how I’m doing it so there is no room for other thoughts. Next are legs. We are already sweating a lot, and I just can’t remember anything else outside the gym. There are numerous ways to do crouches. We do them in mixed series too. Martin does all the exercises with us, but John walks around and helps those that are a bit lazy. He has a stick in his hand, which can sometimes be very annoying as he would use it in different ways to aggravate your efforts or as he would softly hit you to get you out of stability and sometimes would just be used as a stimulation to help you not to think about the painful repetitions.

This warm-up, which can last for as long as thirty minutes, gets everybody sweating and, like me, most probably forgetting about life outside the dojo doors. This is kind of a test for all newcomers: if they are prepared to go through this, then they can expect to learn something. Most young people that come to our dojo are not prepared to invest in these physical pains as a prerequisite to learn Wǔ Shù. At the beginning of a normal school year, in September, when we have official enrollment in our Wing Chun Wǔ Shù school, we are crowded with newcomers. Today, in March, most of them have already abandoned the school and only a few remain. These are definitely future brilliant martial artists. They have grasped the idea that the methods of martial arts are timeless and universal, but you have to gōng fu (work hard).

Because I am in my midfifties and my body has slowly stiffened with age, I have some back problems, so I can hardly keep pace with my much younger friends. I do fewer repetitions, but here nobody shouts at me as was the case during my karate classes. I just follow the principle of Wing Chun—do it the best way you can.

We get a short break so people can go to the bathroom and drink water. I ask Martin: Could you show me the sequence from last time again?

No problem, John, come here!

Okay, John replies.

Ben, the point is not to stop but to divert your opponent, so you have to do it like this… , Martin tells me during the demonstration.

Okay, I understand, but I have some problems with how to smoothly divert him. I try it. See.

No no, don’t use your force. Use his strength.

But how?

Just relax and use your whole body, not only your arms. Like this.

I try hard several times. Finally somehow I succeed. I feel great.

But there is no time for celebration because our Shifu starts the lesson. The trainings are strong moments of share, exchange, and of course, time to learn. He uses Martin to show us some base movements from one position and different strikes. He explains what the proper stance should be to execute the movement that is finalized by the strike.

You should have your body weight spread a bit less than 50 percent on your first leg and a bit more than 50 on your back one. This gives you the capability of protecting your groin and at the same time gives you mobility in any needed direction, he explains to us.

"The moving starts from the ground. You should start the movement by pushing from your back leg. The waist is the most important part of the moving body. It coordinates all movements. That is why we pay such big attention to abdominals—to have strong musculature around our waists.

"Sitting in your chairs during meetings or studying is not good for your musculature. Especially if you don’t sit upright.

"Only when you are in the course of coordinated movement and not falling on your first leg can you execute a good strike. This is done not with the arm, but with the whole body behind the fist.

"Look, if I hit only with my arm, then I’m hitting with the weight of one arm. But if you strike with your whole body, then you put the weight of your whole body behind the fist. Then the strike is efficient.

Do not worry about speed. This will come with practice. Just do it slow, so you and your partner can learn.

Then we break up into pairs and start to repeat what was demonstrated. I repeat once, twice, and three times, and then because I’m not satisfied, I call to John to show me again. He comes over and slowly demonstrates the sequence a few more times. I try it again and get a better feel for what I’m supposed to do. I continue to practice the moves.

Change, says our Shifu. This indicates that your partner should now start to execute what was taught while you help him.

Hey, Bill, you are not here to make it harder for Nick. You are here to help him, I hear our Shifu say through the noise of our movements and talking. We are not here to feed our egos. We are here to learn how to manage different conflict situations. Therefore, the imitated conflicts taking place inside the dojo should help us to handle the conflicts that take place outside. Bill, try to understand this and help Nick improve his skills through your help and guidance.

Stop and watch again. You are here to help each other and not to give your colleague a difficult time. That will come later, Shifu says next.

"Martin, please come over here. Look, I’ll demonstrate again as some of you are doing it wrong.

You are not supposed to push. You are to use your opponent’s energy. Pushing is wasting your energy and our first principle is… ?

Economy of movements! we all shout out as a chorus.

Yes, and why don’t you follow the rule? This hard question feels like a hammer. We are silenced. We know that we have heard the same thing a thousand times. But when we are taught something new, we behave as if we have never heard this. So he demonstrates the moves again and we start to practice. Then a change of partners comes, and we have to do the same sequence with different partners. This gives you the opportunity to test a real situation. In the real environment, you could meet smaller, the same, or larger opponents and you should be prepared for this.

The next hour passes fast as we learn new things and practice them. The lesson ends with a quiet moment for stretching and relaxation and then finishes as it started, with the traditional salute.

We are back in the dressing room, all talking about what we have learned. Nick gives me some leaflets so that I will definitely not forget what I promised him. I’m happy that I was persistent and came and did not fail by not going. So I go home as a new person. The problems that occupied my mind all day long have vanished. Tomorrow will be another day. My brain is clear. My body aches, but this will pass. I’m full of new and positive energy and ready for tomorrow’s new challenges.

Dear reader, if you would like to know more why and how Ben gets involved in leadership, please read next chapter.

TWO

Ben drives in rush hour

Andrew Smith’s suggestion makes

Ben drinks a Dragon Well green tea

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. (Barry LePatner)

I’m in the middle of a morning traffic jam. After a fitful sleep of almost eight hours, I woke up and did twenty minutes of Qì Gōng (氣功) practice, which I do each morning. It is a Chinese meditative practice that uses slow refined movements and controlled breathing techniques to promote the circulation of Qì (or ch’i) within the human body. In Chinese philosophy, Qì is the vital energy or circulating life force that is thought to be inherent in all things; in traditional Chinese medicine, Qì is believed to regulate a person’s spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance. The Chinese say that these exercises help reduce stress and the effects of ageing, assist in natural healing, and enhance overall health. Qì Gōng has become my morning ritual before shaving and having a small breakfast.

Sitting in my car and waiting to move again, my mind return back to three months ago. It was a late afternoon, just after finishing my university class of management of e-business that I teach in this semester, when I answered a call on my cell and heard a familiar voice: Hello, Ben, Andrew speaking. How are you?

I have known Andrew Smith for a long time. We were classmates at the university faculty of electrical engineering for the first two years. Then when we had to decide which program to take, he went for telecommunication studies and I took computer sciences. He spent most of his professional career within the incumbent telecommunication company FixCom in our somewhat small central European country. Then one day he got an opportunity for an executive position in a company that was a provider of telecom equipment and he took it. Because of Andy’s knowledge at FixCom, he was later on appointed as chair of the supervisory board by the owners of FixCom. As normal in our country, FixCom has a two-tier board structure consisting of the board of directors and the supervisory board. The board of directors is responsible for day-to-day management of the business and long-term strategy. The supervisory board made up exclusively of outside representatives chosen by the shareholders is responsible for controlling management performance and selecting the members of the board of directors.

Hi, Andy. It has been a while since we have talked.

Yes, Ben, but I have been following your career.

Oh yes, I have been publishing a lot in newspapers.

Yes, but I have been following not only your academic one but your management consulting too.

Oh yes, I forgot that my second occupation sometimes has wider responses than the first one within and probably also outside of a profession. My consultancy work speaks for itself as I do have great successes with organizational transformations with big companies that need it in those harsh times to stay on the market.

Yes, and most of the time they are very positive.

I try hard to merge my business experiences with my academic ones. I have to admit that my students are eager to listen to them and they also help me do research on different management topics.

That is great, you have free workers.

No, that is not so. My students help with research, but they get seminar papers out of it and I grade them, so they get credit.

Oh, I know, that was just a joke. By the way, are you still doing martial arts?

Yes.

Wow, how do you manage to do all this? I’m preoccupied with my company’s management, not to mention the chair supervisory role at FixCom. My family is not very happy with my workaholic life either.

That answer costs one thousand Euros per hour.

Ha ha, you want to make money on me?

No no, Andy, that was just to make you think. You should start using some time management tools, and I can help you. At no charge, of course.

Because you just offered to help me, that I really appreciate as I need some help, I would like to broaden it and offer you a business proposal, but let’s meet and discuss it over lunch. When is convenient for you?

Would it be long or short?

Depends. But it is a very urgent topic so I would suggest that we have lunch together tomorrow and it is on me.

That pressing? Okay, tomorrow sounds great. One o’clock is fine with me because all my classes will be done by then. Where?

My secretary will make all the necessary arrangements and will call you early in the morning.

That is fine. Have a nice evening, Andy.

You too, bye.

The next day, we met in the well-known restaurant Grand Ma downtown. It is known for very good food and high prices, and it has some private rooms too. A lot of businesspeople meet there. The Grand Ma is situated in the middle of a park that stretches from the city’s main road toward the river and is surrounded by old tall buildings. Across from the restaurant is a well-known pub that serves different types of beer, and during warm times of the year at late evening or night hours, its garden is full of people drinking and chatting. In front of Grand Ma, there is also a small garden with chairs and tables for those that have fast but delicious salad bar lunches. On the right side, there is a covered winter garden, which is used primarily when it is