THE ART OF WAR BY SUN TZU BOOK SUMMARY
Once upon a time, there was a Chinese general who's known to be ruthless & vicious. If one of his soldiers became sick, he would cut off his head. The general looked upon his companions as no more than tools to be used in battle. There was no human connection between soldier & general, At last, one day, his cold-bloodlessness came to an end. He was betrayed & assassinated by his own soldiers." Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death "interpretation: The toxicity of a leader burst onto his employees is a dangerous attitude.
If you do not respect the people who work for you, they will disobey. Hence, their work ethic will decrease & resentment will take its place. Behaving in a discriminating manner towards them, Your employees will feel like heading to battle on their way to work. Being in a position of leadership doesn't mean that you are above the people who work for you. Be humble & earnest in caring for others & they will do the same for you. "The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat" One the major causes for business failure is the person winging it. They engage in a venture without knowing what they're are capable of offering. or how exactly their market works. So instead, Take your time, start off by studying yourself.
Before embarking on a business venture, question yourself:-what do I have to offer? And What are my weak points? For instance, You want to teach people self-development but you suffer from social anxiety. how are you supposed to teach people how to overcome anxiety if you're victimized by it in the first place. You could do it I'm not saying it's impossible, but you won't be able to explain the subject as good as the person who has conquered his anxiety. So it's critical to sharpen your abilities before engaging in any undertaking. Another example is perhaps you want to start a blog & concentrate your writing towards a specific niche. Before starting out, look up to other successful bloggers who are involved in that same market. Learn from their mistakes, perhaps you could contact one of them by email and ask for mentor-ship.
So remember, you can totally avoid failure by studying thyself & your market beforehand. Cultivate the skills necessary for success before starting out on any kind of business. You have to be well-informed about your market & the skills that are needed to grow your business & thereby doing this, you place yourself beyond the possibility of defeat. "when you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men's weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped"-If your business start-up fails. What are you willing to do there after? The idea here is to Always have a plan B in advance. Do not follow advice from people who emphasize that you should take the full risk.
Risk mitigation is key. Most people fail in business because they invest their whole savings into a single venture. Business is supposed to be a field of experiment, so don't expect success from the first shot. You can argue that some people have managed to build businesses in six months, but that is not the case for everyone. Consider your own unique situation & resources. Also, do not cling to your first business idea. HAVE a plan B, C & D if necessary. So, when you engage in actual fighting (aka business), if victory is long in coming, the men's weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped. Think of the weapons as your business plan, you don't know when it's going grow dull so Make sure to bring up a supply of weapons for your battle; a plan B. So john is about to start a business, he's focused, disciplined & ready for battle.
One day, his best friend questioned if he could partner with him. He wanted to help him out. John responded that he needed some time to think about it. He's conscious that his best friend is a good dude but he's not the kind of guy who's disciplined, reliable & ready for business start-ups. So if you were in john's position what would you do ?Will you disregard his lack of discipline & partner with him just because he's one of your closest friends ?Or are you going to say no ?Either way, you have to pick the right decision that will assure long-term success for your business. And that is: If you need a business partner, you're not going chose your best friend just because he's nagging you to do it or because you're going to feel bad for not letting him in.
The only reason to partner with someone is because of his energy & character.-the war strategy here is to "Pick out the right men "The people you work with have to be a source of energy & empowerment for you. Because in times of hardship, You will feed off of each other's attitude, and if the people you're working with cannot handle themselves & stay centered, the business will collapse. If you pick out among the incompetent, you will shortly hear from them "oh there's a lot of hard work involved in here, Sorry I have to quit "So again, the main idea here is to Pick out the right men. A wise king will never choose from the impaired & infected to battle beside him. He will choose among the greatest warriors & there by remaining calm & unshakable in disastrous circumstances will be, a piece of cake. And as always, thanks for Reading.
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