Written by: Sun Zhenyao, CEO of HP China
Sun Zhenyao:
Mr. Sun Zhenyao joined HP Taiwan as a common engineer right after graduation from the university. From then on, his life had been closely connected with IT industry.
Mr. Sun Zhenyao started his job as a sales representative, and then got promoted to manager of the branch. In 1990, he became the one in charge of the PC business of HP Taiwan.
In 1991, Mr. Sun Zhenyao went a long way to assume the position of General Manager, Personal System Group, HP China. After that, since HP business in his charge had got enormous growth years in a row, and cooperation with domestic clients had grown deeper and deeper as well, he was promoted to Vice President, HP China in 1995, and continued to be the General Manager of Personal System Group. He had been the President of HP China from 2001 to 2007.
Career Life is Like a Marathon
Normally, we work 35 years in our lifetime, just like a marathon. The difference is that there is no professional player in the contest, and every one only has one chance. The thing is not many but only a minority of people who can stick to the end. Therefore, to strive for a leading position in the beginning does not have too much significance.
The career life is like a sports competition, and we have to go through preliminary contest, re-contest and final contest. In the preliminary contest, we step into the society with similar capability, and it’s often easy to stand out with more efforts than others. Thus, some people become managers in their twenties, and some others also become managers in their thirties and win the preliminary contest at a later time. Those who can join the re-contest are winners in the preliminary contest. At this stage only working hard and carefully is not sufficient to walk away. One needs to be hard bitten, understand power of teamwork, know how to win over others and have a long-term vision……
It seems not easy to win the re-contest, but it is not that hard indeed. There is a universal rule that success also brings with it pretension and self-complacence. Some winners of the preliminary contest might deem that they understand all, but do not know they only make little achievement, and become self-complacent and stop learning.
When the final contest comes, all players are master-hands and probably they can merely wait for others to make mistakes. And the universal rule works again. The winners of re-contest are not only over-confident and self-complacent but also perverse. They do not listen to others, some become ill-tempered, fickle in mood and bad in health. Their biggest enemies are themselves. Like sports contest, the final contest among experts is determined by who makes fewer mistakes.
Not Being Happy is Because You Do Not Know What You Want
Are you happy when you are working? Do you ever feel unhappy after having worked for some time? Do you feel that your work is in a chaos and going to work everyday is nothing but suffering? Do you feel that current company you work for is not as good as you had thought? What have you obtained from your work? Are you happy every day?
Actually, the reason why you are unhappy about your work is because you do not know what you want! Now that you do not know your target, you will not have anything to pursue and do not know what to seek for, and therefore cannot get anything.
I always suggest that the most important thing to notice in your career is yourself and what you want. Probably most of people have never thought of this question before, and they only care about a job with decent salary. I know every one longs for salary, but do you really want to repeat the process of job hunting every a few years? Do you want to spend your time every year in the anxiety for work and salary? If not, please think it over.
The more you are anxious for a job, the more you will be unclear about what you want and the more chances you will fail. Consequently, our resume is scrabbled and next recruiter will frown on your resume. Where there is living pressure there are anxieties. Positive people can be motivated by anxiety, while negative ones may be lost in it. Every one must make a choice under pressure because it is life, like it or not.
There is no easy success without any cost. Please forget all pressures for survival and figure out what you want most, since it is the most crucial.
What is a Good Job?
All human are keen on face-saving and likes to compare with others, even if comparing on jobs, no matter whether it measures up or not. We all think foreign enterprises excel other companies, but where? Ok, let’s say their office buildings are more impressive; maybe they live in better hotels during business trip; or others will envy jobs in foreign enterprise. All of these factors are something shown to others, but why do you live so hard just for showing something to others? To find a job, should you consider what you want or think about what others would like to see?
Most of my university classmates have gone to US. So have several cousins of mine. But their parents are left in China without anyone to take care, and even nobody knew several times when they fainted at home. Is going abroad really glorious? Just like some one said,“Many things are like watching pornies – audience may feel well, but actors may not.”
We always want to find out the best, but what is the best? You deem it the best because you really know it or simply others say it is the best? Even if it is the best for others, is it by all means the best for you as well?
You are the one most clear about what you want, and others’ opinions are not that important. Many people are often influenced by others’ opinions, relatives’, friends’...... The thing is whose life you will live? Our life is not just continuation of parents’, neither precursor of children’s, nor different versions of friends’. At least, you shall not regret about decisions made by yourself.
I think a good job should fit you. To put it concretely, it shall be able to bring something you want. So you have to understand what you want, or you can never find a good job without knowing your requirement, since you only see those you cannot get for good and define what you have obtained as something undesirable.
Perhaps the best has already near by you, but you just have learned to treasure. People all seek for things beyond reach, while overlooking those in their hands.
Job-hopping and Accumulation
I am not against job-hopping, but it is by no means the best solution, and frequent job-hopping will arouse doubts about your loyalty and make you unable to work reassured.
There must be certain reasons behind job-hopping, and mostly you cannot bypass the problem when it occurs, be it unhappy in this way or that. If it cannot solve in this company neither can in another one. You have to believe, under 90% conditions, your current company is not that terrible and the one you think better may not that excellent as well. There is no perfect company. You do not know what to encounter in a different environment. You’d better solve it right away. Many problems might not be quite difficult when you get down to it. Sometimes you think there is no solution; in fact, that is simply “what you assume”.
Generally speaking, you will experience a bottleneck in the 2nd or 3rd working year and think about quitting the job or even changing an industry, assuming that you can get rid of all worries in this way and get better. In fact, this just makes you start from scratch, and eventually encounter what you have come across in your previous job or industry. Therefore, when you get over it, you go one big step forward. Every one has to go through the process and experience several bottlenecks in their career. If you get over but others do not, you succeed and win.
In the 2nd or 3rd working year, most people become master-hands and often get into repetitive process. Some people think they have understood all and stop making progress. One thing can be sure is that it is no end of the story. At this time, you have got to work as hard as two years before because this is just a beginning of your steady accumulation.
Have you known your client well enough? Do you know what their biggest worries are? Have you understood your boss well enough? And what are their biggest concerns? Have you known your team members well enough? What are their biggest concerns? If you don’t know, how can you say you have accumulated enough? If you do not know, how can you ask them to give you a hand or well manage them? If they do not want to do what you have told them, how can you succeed?
Wait for Your Chance
It's not necessary that those go across red lights will be bumped by cars, that every criminal will be arrested, that every mistake will be punished and that every corrupted officer will be shot to death. Likewise, it’s not sure all your efforts will be rewarded, every of your persistence will be noticed, all your payout will be returned fairly and every of your goodwill will be well-received…..This is life. Most of the times, we need patience and confidence. Each of us may be treated unfairly from time to time, and usually, waiting calmly is the best way to face it.
Many times we have to resist loneliness and wait for your moment. Zhou Runfa has waited for his, Liu Dehua has waited and Zhou Xingchi has waited as well......Notice those who have been so successful today, have you ever thought about their waiting and patience at the first place? Have you ever seen the Golden Horse Best Leading Actor set up a temporary stall selling thing on the street? Have you seen Deyun comic cross-talk group perform for only one spectator at the theatre? Have you noticed that Zhou Xingchi once did not have a line in his role? Every successful person has their blue days. In the most bright and beautiful age, they aspire for success but have to start from scratch, just like you at the moment. Nobody can guarantee they will be successful in the future, and they choose to wait for opportunities.
We always come across frustrations, always have low points in life, cannot win recognition from others or have to condescend, but it is just the most critical moment that most people cannot get over. However, if you can make it, you succeed. In this moment, we need to be patient and wait for your opportunities with confidence. At least, you are young, have not been to jail, don’t suffer from incurable disease and do not have unaffordable debt to pay for. The number of more unfortunate people is much more than those luckier, so what are you worried about? You must go step by step. Although it is most exciting coming to the destination, footsteps in between are often common or even boring. But if you cannot go over the common and boring process, you will have no chance to witness the excitement in the end.
Adversity is something God adopts for selecting the stronger. You’d better understand that you are in the same situation as others. Do not tell others you cannot persist, which only help enhance their confidence. Be the stronger one and smile at your competitors. Remember victory belongs to the patient one.
Step into the Right Industry and Follow the Right Boss
There are two things you need to pay special attention in the first job. Firstly, choose the right industry. Secondly, follow the right boss. The most influential factor in the first job is which industry you have chosen. Since nowadays, job division has become more and more specialized and we can only be experts in an industry. I do not think there is any industry particularly good or bad. You may find some industry not as perfect as it looks like after you enter it, but outsiders often cannot see.
I think you should focus on the long-term, which industry is not what matters most. Sometimes you may feel the industry goes downhill, but the thing is no matter how bad the industry is, it becomes better if only few people are engaged in it. So when many people think negatively, usually the best moment is coming.
Gome, Suning and Yongle are all trading enterprises, they can equally be listed in the stock market; Chamate which sells tea and Heilan Home which sells clothes can be listed in the stock market as well……The thing is how to do rather than which industry you are in.
One thing to remember, in this world, throughout the history to the foreseeable future, successful and rich people are always less than common and non-successful people who account for a majority of all. Therefore, the approach and viewpoint of most people are often not the most effective. Something may be gotten in your good luck, but can be lost later in other places.
Following the right person means when you join an industry, you need to follow a good boss or a good mentor. Those who have just stepped into society often lack of experience, and they need to learn from others’ instruction. There are three rules of the so-called standards for judging a “good” boss.
Firstly, a good boss should be broad-minded. Those who are calm when they can get angry are mostly good bosses. However, a shortcoming prevalent among Chinese management is that they cannot tolerate those who are more capable than themselves. Thus, you may often notice that a capable leader is surrounded by a team of mediocre people or idle ones. You’d better not choose the afore-mentioned working environment.
Secondly, a good boss should be willing to stand in the shoes of his team members, which does not mean that he does not agree with them, instead, they must understand their standpoints and then try to persuade them afterwards. Those bosses who only care about their own thoughts often cannot be trusted by their team.
Last by not least, a good boss should be responsible. You’d better choose a boss who can take the responsibility for your mistake because it is his duty as a leader.
To meet more people and contact with those who are more capable than yourself, you may equally find good teachers. Do not associate with a group of depressed people, complaining about society and your boss, since it is no good for you and will only make you more negative. Stay with the stronger ones, learn what their perspective towards life are, how they do things, learn from them and then meet with even more capable people to repeat this benign circle.
Make a Choice
I always think that, what kind of people we will become is determined by ourselves to a great extent. Everyday we make various decisions. We may do it casually or with thorough considerations. And thousands of small decisions add up and eventually decide who we are.
To some extent, our future is chosen by ourselves instead of being given by others. Every day you may choose whether to provide customers with more considerate services, whether to be more patient with your colleagues, whether to do the job more carefully, whether to understand thing more clearly and whether to find out things in a more detailed way……
You may find your chance in daily life and change your life with every opportunity. You can choose to be the weaker or reverse. You always have another choice. But some choices may not have instant effect and need accumulation. For example, farmers may irrigate crops every day or wait for rains to water instead. It’s true that seeds may not grow immediately, but most seeds will finally grow up with frequent irrigation. But if you do not water them, you must have an undesirable harvest. Therefore, who you will be eventually is determined by every single small choice.
What do you choose to believe? Who do you choose to be your friends? What do you choose to do? How do you choose to do?...... We are faced with too many choices. For instance, it is how to do rather than which product to choose that matters most. It is not who to recruit but how to educate that matters. Most of the time objective conditions do not matter most and there is no clear line between right and wrong choice of objective conditions. The most important is how you choose to do it.
I cannot say you have choices on everything, but mostly you do, just you often do not regard it as a choice. Regard with every choice carefully, and you will have a better future.
Some Reflections
The story of Wang Shi, CEO of VanKe Group, who climbed the Mt. Everest, inspires me a lot. Although he took lots of materials upon departure, he had to reduce his burden constantly in the process to the peak. Finally, he could only take his oxygen bottle to the peak of the mountain. The same is true with our long lives.
What we need most is to grasp the opportunity in the proper timing and take actions accordingly, rather than planning.
I believe most people have their own goals, but I also know that many people only treat these goals as fantasies, and constantly find themselves excuses.
My philosophy is that a perfect performance results from sufficient preparation; try to change yourself and adapt to the changing environments, and then opportunities will naturally come; happiness and meaningful life derive from realizing the dream in your heart, rather than applauses.
I summarize life with three phases. The first phase is to find a job for living; the second phase is to find a job for interest; and the last phase is to find a job for your dream.