How does Cao Cao manage his subordinates
The way of employing people is an important part of Cao Cao's success. Chen Shou's History of the Three Kingdoms is a biography of Cao Cao, and finally there is a summary of the History of the Three Kingdoms, which expresses such a meaning: First, defeating Yuan Shao is the most important success of Cao Cao's life; Second, why did Cao Cao defeat Yuan Shao? There are two reasons, the first is that Cao Cao is good at strategy, and the second is that Cao Cao is good at employing people. This is the summary of Cao Cao's life by Chen Shou, the author of The Three Kingdoms, which shows how important the way of employing people is to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao's way of employing people:
The first is: know people well and be suitable for their talents.
It is Yu Xun and Guo Jia's comments on Cao Cao's way of employing people. Talent is unified with knowing people to make good use of them or knowing people to be good at their duties. What does it mean to know people and be good at their duties? Including three contents: first, know who is the talent; Second, know what kind of talents these people are, or what kind of talents they are; Third, know where to put these people. This is called knowing people and being good at their duties. Knowing people and being good is the first, followed by being good, and being good depends on talent. For example, what are the characteristics of Cui Yan and Mao Jie that we have repeatedly mentioned? Honest and upright, Cao Cao asked them to preside over the work of the organization department and the cadre department and select officials. Sure enough, the two of them selected and recommended people with both ability and political integrity. Let's take Zao Zuo and Ren Jun as examples. What are their characteristics? After hard work, Cao Cao let them go to the wasteland. As a result, Cao Cao's land reclamation system was carried out and implemented, and Cao Cao gained rich grain, grass and economic foundation. This is the first characteristic of Cao Cao's employment, knowing people well and being suitable for their talents. This feature, even the people who hate Cao Cao the most, such as Hong Mai who wrote "Rong Zhai Essays", admits that Hong Mai also has such an evaluation of Cao Cao's employment: "One official is wise and effective, and the power is divided into one county, no matter how big or small, it is outstanding." In other words, no matter who he arranges to do what, he is very suitable and competent. This is the first characteristic.
The second feature: push sincerity to win trust, and choose people without doubt. This is the general principle of employing people. People who doubt people don't need it, and people who know how to use people don't doubt it. But Cao Cao is a little special here. What's so special? First, Cao Cao is in troubled times. What are the characteristics of troubled times? People's hearts are floating, interpersonal relationships are tense, and people lack trust and sincerity. In Cao Cao's words, this is called "the autumn of suspicion", and everyone does not trust it. This is the first characteristic. The second feature is the dual role of Cao Cao. In Zhou Yu's words, Cao Cao was called "Han Xiang, but he was actually a Han thief". Of course, it is still uncertain whether Cao Cao is a Chinese thief. At least we can say for sure that Cao Cao still wanted to maintain the Han Dynasty in the early stage, but later his personal ambition expanded and he became a traitor and wanted to replace him. But even in the early stage, Cao Cao had his own small abacus. He nominally recruited talents for the Han Dynasty, but in fact he hoped that these talents would be used by him. But in this way, he has another advantage, and he also has a shortcoming, that is, Cao Cao's "serving the emperor to make the princes" or "relying on the emperor to make the princes". He has both advantages and disadvantages. What are his strengths? He can use the name of the central government, the Han Dynasty and the current emperor to attract talents with the official position, title and salary of this government, which is more convenient than Liu Bei and Sun Quan. What are his shortcomings? It is because he can't figure out who he is recruiting, whether he is loyal to the emperor or loyal to him, and it is inevitable that he will have doubts. The third feature is the complexity of Cao Cao's camp. There were former officials of the Eastern Han Dynasty, newly recruited officials, people brought out by Cao Cao himself, and people who took refuge in Cao Cao, surrendered to Cao Cao and surrendered to other camps of Cao Cao. Then these people are also suspicious of each other, which means that for Cao Cao, trust and sincerity are particularly important at this time, in this environment and under this condition. As the leader at this time, Cao Cao must show his tolerance and sincerity.
We say that Cao Cao is so tolerant of those who betray him. He was tolerant of Zhang Xiu, Zhong Wei, Chen Bi and those who attacked him maliciously, such as Chen Lin. Why is he so tolerant of these people? He just wants to show the world that I, Cao Cao, sincerely hope that the talents from all over the world will come here to serve our country. I am sincere. Even if you betray me, I don't care, I don't regret it, I don't care, I don't even punish you. As long as you come again, he just wants to express this sincerity. So what did he get from such trust and sincerity? In exchange for loyalty. Yu Jin, for example, is a general promoted by Cao Cao himself from the ranks. When Cao Cao first went south to Zhang Xiu, didn't Zhang Xiu surrender to Cao Cao and then rebel? When he rebelled, Cao Cao was a little out of the water. At this time, Cao Jun was in a mess, but the banned team was neat, sorting out their own teams all the way, drumming all the way, and retreating in an orderly manner. On the way back, I met some other soldiers, disheveled and flustered. Yu Jin asked them what was going on, and they said, we were robbed by Qingzhou soldiers. Qingzhou soldiers are the yellow turban insurrectionary army that surrendered to Cao Cao. After the Yellow Scarf Army surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao incorporated them into Qingzhou soldiers, and Cao Cao was particularly tolerant of them. When these people saw Cao Cao's defeat, they rose up to make an insurrection and robbed Cao Cao's other teams. At first glance, it's ok. Since they are all tso's teams, how can they do this! Then the motorcade came to punish Qingzhou soldiers and then retreated. At this time, Qingzhou soldiers got the whole Yujin and rushed to find Cao Cao to tell Yujin. By the time Yu Jin returned to the base camp, it was already exciting, but Yu Jin packed up his team first and camped, and did not go to see Cao Cao in time. Someone told Yu Jin at that time that Qingzhou soldiers sued you. Why not make it clear to Zuo Zongtang? What are you doing camping now? Yu Jin said that the enemy soldiers would come as soon as they said. How can we meet the enemy if we are not ready? Business should be put first, personal honor and disgrace should be put behind. Besides, how wise Zuo Zongtang is, how can he listen to slanderers? After settling down the troops and getting ready for battle, I went to see Cao Cao in the Forbidden City. Cao Cao praised him and said that you really have the demeanor of a good general in ancient times. That's great. What is this? Trust for loyalty.
The third characteristic of Cao Cao's employment is: the order is forbidden, and the rewards and punishments are clear. Cao Cao is very strict in running the army. He issued various orders many times, demanding strict military discipline. Because Cao Cao knows very well that a team without discipline cannot defeat the enemy. And Cao Wei set an example. There is a famous story that the audience may be familiar with. That is, Cao Cao once ordered not to trample on farmland when marching. He wants to protect farmers. If anyone's horse steps on a wheat field, it's a crime of decapitation. So all Cao Cao's cavalry dismounted and walked carefully, holding the horse in one hand and using weapons in the other, covering the wheat with something. Cao Cao didn't dismount himself, so the horse got a fright. A guy jumped into the wheat field, and Cao Cao's horse stepped on it. Cao Cao dismounted at once, called the military judge and said, What shall we do? The military judge said, beheaded. Cao Cao said you should be put to death. Well, how is that possible? Anyway, there is this tradition in ancient times. A commander-in-chief can't punish doctors, can't cure Shu Ren, can't apply laws to venerable ones, and can't be beheaded. Cao Cao said there was nothing he could do, so he cut his hair. He drew his sword, cut off a hair and threw it on the ground, indicating that he had been punished. This story is recorded in a book that is very unfriendly to Cao Cao. The name of this book is "Biography of Cao Cao", which shows the hypocrisy and treachery of Cao Cao. He said you killed your head when you stepped on the wheat field, but you lost a hair. Actually, it's not. Cao Cao was also punished, which is called punishment. The punishment is to shave off his hair, because the ancients thought that the parents who suffered from this skin could not stop, and the punishment was an insult, so he was still punished, which still showed Cao Cao's strict law enforcement.
Then Cao Cao's punishment was heavy and his reward was unambiguous. Cao Cao's reward to his subordinates has a characteristic, that is, unlike some handsome men, he does not rely on temporary benefits. We know that there will be many so-called handsome guys when warlords scuffle. After a battle, the battle was won. Come, come, come, you, divide it. This is for you, this is for you, this is for you. Help yourself. It seems generous, but it doesn't mean anything. To reward a person, Cao Cao must have two things. First, this man must have made a great contribution. Second, Cao Cao's reward must be in place, that is, Cao Cao's reward must exceed your desired share, and he will increase the price. He is considerate when he rewards you, perhaps more considerate than you can imagine. Cao Cao is a very considerate person. If he doesn't do it, he will do it well. Human feelings must be full. As a commander-in-chief, Cao Cao has a prominent feature, that is, he never competes with his subordinates for wind, face and credit, and all the credit goes to his subordinates; Second, his reward will never go through the motions, and it will definitely benefit you. Cao Cao is a very, very real person, and it is this real style that makes everyone feel that following Cao Cao is indeed the right thing.
The fourth characteristic is: open-minded, see the sage Si Qi. Not to mention Cao Cao, he doesn't argue with his subordinates for credit, but his subordinates give him advice. If he doesn't adopt it, he will definitely review it and take all the mistakes on himself. Of course, many times Cao Cao can teach with an open mind, which is also a very important factor to attract talents, because as a person, he certainly hopes to get due rewards through his diligence and wisdom, which is one of his hopes, but he hopes that he can display his talents and his suggestions and plans can be adopted. When we read history books, we can see that there are many such records. Mao listens to them, goes with them and does good deeds. Of course, there are times when Mao doesn't listen. If he doesn't listen and makes a mistake, Cao Cao will definitely review it. Once when Cao Cao attacked Sun Quan, Cao Cao made a decision to move all the people in Huainan to the north. At that time, a man named Jiang Ji disagreed. Cao Cao said, "You see, Yuan Shao and I fought in Guandu last time and moved all the white horses to Yanjin." Jiang Ji said, "Cao Gong, the situation is different now from when you and Yuan Shao competed for a white horse. Moreover, people are homesick and homesick. Who wants to walk around? Do not move them. Cao Cao didn't listen. As soon as he heard that Cao Cao was going to move north, he went to Sun Quan. So later Jiang Ji went to see Cao Cao. As soon as Cao Cao heard that Jiang Ji was coming, he immediately went out to meet him. Then he smiled and took Jiang Ji's hand and said, Oh, Jiang Ji, look, I made this thing. I wanted them to avoid Sun Thief, but I drove them all to Sun Thief's place. Look what I did. Look back. Moreover, we should learn from him, that is, don't always frown when reviewing. Now some of our leaders have made mistakes and don't want to review because they seem to cry when reviewing, dissecting themselves deeply and having various feelings when reviewing. You can also review with a smile, and you won't lose face when reviewing. People who accept your comments still think you are sincere.
These are the four characteristics of Cao Cao's employment. According to these four characteristics, we can sum up eight sentences:
Sincere and emotional;
Open your heart and treat others sincerely;
Open and honest, convince people by reasoning;
Match words with deeds, take people by letter;
An order prohibiting and ruling the people according to law;
Put yourself in the other's shoes to be tolerant;
Young people blame themselves and reward others for their merits;
Reward people by rewarding their merits.
Cao Cao's way of employing people
Cao Cao has always implemented the employment policy of "meritocracy is promotion", and paid attention to inspecting and promoting talents from the aspect of ability. Put forward "don't restrain the virtuous" and "don't waste the short", even if it is "heartless and unfilial", people who have the skill of "governing the country and using troops" can boldly use it. He said: a man with a husband and a career may not be able to make progress, and an enterprising man may not be able to do it. Are Chen Ping and Su Qin loyal? And Chen pingding hanye, Su Qin weak face. From this point of view, scholars are short, mediocrity can be abolished! It means that people with high moral character are not necessarily talented, and talented people are not necessarily noble. For example, Cao Cao said: Chen Ping is not a pure and honest person, and Su Qin didn't keep his promise. However, Chen Ping helped Emperor Gaozu to establish the Western Han Imperial Industry, and Su Qin saved the weak Yan State. So Cao Cao thought: Even if talented people have some shortcomings and deficiencies, how can they abandon them? This passage better embodies the main spirit of Cao Cao's "meritocracy" and "lack of discipline". In A.D. 196, Cao Cao was determined to refresh politics after welcoming Emperor Han Xian into Xuchang. He once gave Xian Di a charter and put forward 14 reform proposals. In his preface, he emphasized that in order to make Qiang Bing rich and strong, the policy of "appointing people on their merits" must be implemented, which reflected his thought of paying attention to selecting talents from the perspective of ability and directly inspired the development of the ability of soldiers and counselors. In addition, Cao Cao also inherited the first
Qin's thought of employing people is that "the prime minister must start in the county, and the valiant soldier must be sent to the pawn" (3), "Set aside the ban and enjoy, and take Zhang Liao in the ruin of Lu" (4), and the above-mentioned Han Emperor made three generals. This was a powerful impact on the "cronyism" employment route at that time, and it also made the soldiers realize that anyone with certain ability could be reused. It not only meets the individual psychological needs of soldiers, but also takes into account the social impact of this practice, thus gaining the trust and loyalty of subordinates. Therefore, a large number of civil and military talents gathered around him, and attracted many famous advisers in the enemy camp to abandon the Lord. This shows that the employment route of "meritocracy" received good social effects at that time, and it was also an important reason why Cao Cao's power grew up and finally seized the ruling power.
Modern management psychology believes that ability is "the sum of psychological characteristics that directly affect the efficiency of activities and enable them to be successfully completed." ⑤ In order to rationally develop and utilize human resources and make organizations play a greater group benefit, we must attach importance to individual abilities. Cao Cao clearly realized this at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is very worthy of recognition.
On the surface, however, Cao Cao's employment policy of "promoting only talents" and "not restraining conduct" is contradictory to the guiding ideology of "having both ability and political integrity" in the selection of modern leading cadres in China. But if we analyze the reasons from a deeper level, we will find that Cao Cao's point of view has his broader and far-reaching social significance:
First, Cao Cao put forward this theory in an environment full of "cronyism" in feudal society. From a historical point of view, "meritocracy" had a very progressive social significance at that time. It really laid a theoretical foundation for Cao Cao's political and military success.
Second, "inaction" is conditional. Cao Cao's original intention is that the "short sides" of a person's conduct can be ignored, and these "short sides" will not affect a person's fundamental quality. On the fundamental quality, he put forward the basic requirements for generals to be "loyal, righteous and righteous". It is believed that in the principles of "loyalty" and "righteousness", we should be single-minded and stick to moral integrity, and we should not be vague in the management process.
Thirdly, in modern management psychology, we attach importance to the standard of "having both ability and political integrity", which is essentially our theoretical goal. Of course, we strive to move towards this goal in the specific practice process, but it is quite difficult to fully meet the requirements of this goal.
From this point of view, Cao Cao's employment policy of "meritocracy" and "lack of discipline" not only conflicts with the employment standard of "having both ability and political integrity" in modern management psychology in China, but also provides positive and pragmatic theoretical reference for the employment route in the current social environment of reform and opening up in China, which has far-reaching significance.
The second is the art of employing people to "choose the enemy"
"Selecting generals to test the enemy" is a typical feature of Cao Cao's management psychological thought, that is, on the basis of mastering the psychological quality of generals and according to the different characteristics of the enemy, different generals are selected to control the enemy. Cao Cao repeatedly mentioned the requirements for the general's psychological quality in Cao Cao Ji and Sun Zi Zhu. It is believed that a competent general must have such psychological conditions. He said: strength, preparation, loyalty and righteousness. Every attack in the war is often the commander-in-chief, brave, firm, indomitable, self-reliant and tireless. He also sent another levy to take charge of the divisions and brigades, to appease the people and make peace. He was ordered not to commit crimes, and he got lost when the enemy ruled. ⑦ That is to say, a competent general must have strong martial arts, careful planning, loyal quality, single-minded temperament and stick to moral integrity. We should supervise the war, bravely break the enemy, personally beat the drums and be tireless. Leading troops to war can appease soldiers. Carry out orders, never violate them, be decisive when encountering the enemy, and never neglect them. Cao Cao believes that if a general can have these psychological qualities, he can not only defeat powerful enemies, but also set an example for his subordinates and boost the morale of the army. "If you are wise, you will be safe." Cao Cao spoke highly of the general's psychological quality.
On the other hand, as a general, we should also pay attention to correcting some bad psychological factors that interfere with operations. Cao Cao pointed out in Sun Tzu's Note: The general is angry and never tires of taking it, but he goes to the enemy in anger and collapses without measuring the weight. ⑨
In other words, when a general is in a bad mood, he goes to war with resentment in his heart and doesn't know his own ability. Under the interference of such bad psychological factors, he will eventually fail.
In 2 15 A.D., three generals, Zhang Liao, Le Jin and Li Dian, led 7,000 men to repel Sun Quan100000 invaders in Soochow and save He Fei. The victory of this campaign is also inseparable from Cao Cao's art of employing people who are well versed in the psychological quality of generals and "selecting generals to measure the enemy." Commanders Zhang Liao and Li Dian are good at attacking, while Le Jin is more cautious. So Cao Cao taught this esoteric religion: "If Sun Quan arrives, General Zhang and General Li will go to war, General Le will defend, and the army will not have to fight." Attending finally defeated Sun Quan. Later, Sun Sheng, a historian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, commented: "He Fei is weak on the defensive and helpless. Full-time will be belligerent and lead to failure; If you work full-time, you will be afraid and difficult to protect. It's wonderful that Cao Cao is brave and doesn't dare to use each other. " This is an example for Cao Cao to defeat the enemy according to the psychological qualities of generals, such as different personality differences and talent characteristics, and it is also a model for Cao Cao's successful application of the idea of "selecting generals to measure the enemy" in actual combat.
The third is the incentive means of "praising the dead"
According to management psychology, motivation is "a psychological process to stimulate certain thoughts, wishes and behaviors."
Cheng ". Incentive theory is regarded as the core content of modern management psychology, and the morale of the group is realized through incentive means. Cao Cao summed up this truth in his political and military career and put it into practice in management activities. He said: I have to. If you have too much trouble, you will follow the plan. Fight to the death, and there will be no losers in the land of death. In other words, soldiers will fight to the death if they have to. If they are in a dangerous corner, they will obey orders. On the contrary, the Jedi will easily inspire the courage of soldiers and turn defeat into victory. The only thing that works here is the soldiers' strong desire to survive in desperation, which has aroused high morale. At the same time, "praising the dead" is also an important factor to motivate subordinates. Cao Cao once said, "Praise the dead for their survival and kindly persuade them to come. "That is to say, rewarding the dead is to encourage the living, and rewarding the predecessors is to inspire future generations. Cao Cao used this method to boost the morale of the troops, let the soldiers fight for the country and kill the enemy bravely when they were alive, and also feel a kind of psychological comfort for their unfortunate sacrifice in advance. He also asked soldiers to decorate their helmets with chicken feathers. He said: If a chicken is angry, it won't lose the battle, it will die. People are crowned today, like this. This means that chickens are brave and will never give up until they fight to death. Therefore, Cao Cao believes that soldiers decorate their helmets with feathers, which symbolizes this fighting spirit. This has indeed given psychological encouragement and encouragement to the soldiers' fighting mood, and enabled the army to maintain strong morale.
Motivation is not only a management tool, but also a leadership art. Because any kind of behavior of people has a certain reason, and this reason is people's psychological needs. If leaders master and understand the psychological needs of their subordinates, they can take certain incentive measures to give them psychological satisfaction, so as to stimulate their work mood and activity efficiency to a greater extent and realize the goals of the organization as soon as possible. Cao Cao used this principle well in his life's practice, which is an effective prerequisite for his ultimate success. At the same time, it is also worth learning and learning from our modern leaders.
Fourth, the management principle of "clear rewards and punishments"
Cao Cao's management principle of "clear reward and punishment" coincides with the "fairness theory" put forward by modern western management psychology. Adams, an American psychologist, pointed out that the rationality and fairness of wages have a great influence on people's work enthusiasm when studying and analyzing the relationship between people's enthusiasm and distribution mode. Cao Cao also clearly pointed out in his notes to Sun Tzu: "If the army has no money, scholars will not come; If there is no reward for the army, the scholars will not go. " In 207 AD, after Cao Cao destroyed Yuan Shao Group, the largest separatist force in the north, he ordered to reward the heroes in order to encourage the soldiers to continue to contribute to the unified war. He said:
/kloc-in 0/9, my uprising soldiers suppressed the riots and were gram-negative. Is it my strength? This is the power of a wise scholar-bureaucrat. Although the world is not
I have decided that I should be with a wise scholar; How can it be safe to specialize in work! It promotes the determination of working and sealing. This means that I (Cao Cao) have won every battle in the uprising 19 years. This is not a personal credit, but is inseparable from the heroic struggle and advice of soldiers and counselors. At present, the world is not stable and unified. I should work together for it, how can I enjoy these merits and honors alone with peace of mind? Now, we should reward soldiers and appease them as soon as possible. It is not difficult to see that, on the other hand, in order to better implement the management principle of "clear reward and punishment" and strengthen the organizational discipline of the army, Cao Cao issued an order to repay the accounts for the defeated army. He said: impersonation is not a national code, it is to reward the superior and not punish the inferior. It ordered the general to go out to war, and the defeated army made amends, and the defeated army was exempted from official titles. This means that since I (Cao Cao) sent troops to fight, it is not in line with the national law to reward meritorious deeds and not punish criminals. People who go out with the army will be punished according to law if they lose the battle, and those who cause losses will be removed from their official positions and titles. In this way, there is a certain psychological tension between soldiers, and the sense of responsibility is strengthened.
From the above two points, we can see that Cao Cao's management principle of "clear reward and punishment" has a certain psychological basis, and it is very strict in the implementation process. He once said in "The Order of Children": "I don't have two words, not only don't want to be private, but my son doesn't want to be private." Cao Cao's management principle of "clear reward and punishment" also has certain reference value for our modern management psychology research. "Clear reward and punishment" makes people convinced, makes subordinates have strong enterprising spirit, and has great practical significance for successfully completing organizational goals.