A few months ago, I had the honor to go to Fuzhou with the former and current HR executives of Alibaba, Baidu, LeTV and Zhaijisong to ask Mr. Zheng Zujie for the basic essentials of Wing Chun.

After two days' study of external skill boxing and the philosophy behind it, we found that the martial arts ideas of Wing Chun can be incorporated into our existing curriculum training system. We believe that these ideas will effectively help business leaders and their team members to better control their personal lives, realize their professional ideals, and improve their ability to adapt to the complex business environment.

What fascinates me most is the core theory of Wing Chun - the centerline theory. For the practitioners of Wing Chun, the centerline is the vertical line from the top of the head to the end and the ground. Wing Chun theory believes that the core energy of the whole body is gathered here, so this line is the focus of all moves. Whether attacking or defending, every movement of the trainer should be carried out around this central line. The principle of fighting is: while guarding my center line, my fist should focus on hitting the center line of the opponent. In this way, each attack of mine can produce the maximum attack effect, and each defense of mine can also unload the fierce attack of the other side.

Perhaps it is due to my career. I found that the midline theory was closely related to issues such as the leadership temperament and corporate culture pursued by business elites just after I contacted it. The central line concept that Wing Chun focuses on is similar to the core concept of the enterprise, such as a strong value drive, a strong sense of identity, and a clear sense of corporate mission. Similar to Wing Chun, the legend of "core internal drive" also spreads in the business world. Whether it is an outstanding entrepreneur, a successful business model or a world-renowned corporate brand, building an ideal around the "central line" is the only secret for all great practitioners to achieve greatness.

Central line theory and golden concentric circle rule

Simon Sinek, an ethnologist and famous speaker, talked about a simple and powerful concept - "golden concentric circles" in his popular TED speech and his representative book Start with "Why".

Senek found that "all the great and inspiring individuals and organizations in the world have amazing similarities in their ways of thinking, acting and communicating." This similarity can be visualized as a figure nested by three concentric circles with different diameters, which is called "golden concentric circle".

Senek endows these three concentric circles with symbolic meanings respectively. The smallest is also the concentric circle closest to the center of the circle, which he calls "why", that is, "purpose"; The middle concentric circle is "how", that is, the way; The outermost layer is "what", that is, "achievements".

The golden concentric circle theory holds that "purpose", "method" and "achievement" are hierarchical recursive relationships. Among them, "purpose" is at the core, "way" is the extension of "purpose", and "purpose" and "way" derive "achievement" together. Under this theoretical model, successful business leaders and business models are the inevitable products of core energy naturally derived from the inside out, which is similar to the fighting principles of Wing Chun martial artists. Similar to boxing theory, only when individuals and enterprises put "why", even their sense of life and values, at the core of their thinking concepts and specific actions, can they make more correct decisions, establish a reliable personal and business reputation, and finally achieve a strong and lasting brand effect.

Senek took Steve Jobs' Apple as an example to explain his theory in detail. He found that although Jobs also had many shortcomings, he had an unusual degree of focus and a strong sense of mission, which is why Apple has made today's achievements. Jobs broke away from convention and thought independently. He believed that technology was not only a tool, but also an extension of human thought and a concrete creativity. From the day he founded Apple to the day he left his post due to illness, all employees, customers and shareholders of Apple were impressed by his charm. The reason is simple: they believe in the ideas Jobs believes in, and they agree with the values Jobs advocates. In other words, they trust Apple and Jobs because they clearly know what the company's "centerline" is.

For individuals, this adherence to values and the sense of mission is what Jim Loehr calls "spiritual energy". The writer and business management trainer pointed out in his book, The Power of All Emotions, that a healthy and successful life cannot be separated from the watering of spiritual energy. However, it is a pity that people are often exhausted by the "important things" that constantly appear in daily life, while ignoring the important and fundamental role of spiritual energy in individual life.

"A simple but embarrassing reality is that we are all busy looking for the meaning of life (but forget that the meaning of life is not in everything but in ourselves)," said Rojo. This is very similar to the feeling of many Wing Chun practitioners, who often complain that they cannot focus on the central line because they have been busy fighting. But in fact, when you give up the center line when fighting, you will only encounter failure.

The core cause of the tragic business tragedy: the lack of "central line"

However, in my work circle and social circle in Beijing, it is very common to put the cart before the horse as described above.

Many entrepreneurs rush around in a hurry, constantly switching their business ideas. They will pursue whatever is hot; They don't care about how to create real value, they only care about what can attract investors. Many parents and children only care about how to pass the exam, but they don't know that only enthusiasm and curiosity can really help children improve their skills and acquire knowledge.

Many managers like to put on a busy appearance in front of others, and then keep asking for rewards. But what they should have done was to improve themselves, pay for the team and really care about the production status of their own enterprises.

Historically, it is not uncommon to see cases of huge business tragedies caused by deviation from their own "central line". Enron, a former energy giant, is one of them. Enron does not care about its core value as an energy enterprise. They blindly transform and expand into unfamiliar fields; However, when there are problems in the transformation and the losses become more serious, Enron chooses to cover up the problems by making false accounts. They use the method of market valuation to account, and record the expected profits into the company's financial statements, resulting in a growing gap between the book figure and the actual cash income.

On the one hand, the company's share price soared, but on the other hand, the company's internal conditions were incurable; Finally, when the foam bursts, the company can only go bankrupt. The bankruptcy case in 2001 became one of the 11 bankruptcy cases in history. The company's executives were jailed, and Andersen, one of the five accounting firms at that time, was also split.

Similarly, many entrepreneurs, such as Travis Karanick, have given up the "central line" and brought troubles to enterprises. As the founder of Uber, Kalanik's arrogance, arrogance and lack of integrity have brought a series of public relations crises to the company. To make matters worse, Kalanik's personal principles also poisoned Uber's own corporate culture.

Uber now makes its own drivers complain, and Uber itself falls behind in the competition with its peers. No wonder last month the company made the decision to dismiss Karanick as CEO.

In China, I think LeEco is the most typical enterprise that deviates from its "central line". The blind expansion policy made the company forget the first rule of its rise that year: to export value to customers (it is necessary to explain here that I am a former employee of LeEco).

"The Center Line of Humility": the cornerstone to dignity and achievement

On the positive side, it is not so difficult to find individuals and enterprises that have made achievements relying on a clear "centerline". Simon Sinack mentioned Apple, but I am not interested in Apple, Google and other enterprises that always claim to "change the world".

This is not because I lack idealism, but because I am more realistic. The reality is that most enterprises do not intend to "change the world", nor are they advocating a wrong "centerline", they are just doing their own thing. Therefore, for them, it is not Google or Apple that can play an exemplary role, but individuals and enterprises that can always maintain a modest attitude and focus.

From 2015 to 2016, I taught in DHL Sinotrans Group. I was attracted by the rigorous and dedicated enterprise temperament that was advocated there. Soon, I found the secret of their success: they take "employer's choice" as their enterprise value. They uphold a fair and just attitude and rely on world-class logistics supply system to provide customers with stable and high-quality services, so that the latter can rest assured that they are regarded as "reliable choices" and shareholders can be satisfied that they are regarded as "investment choices".

They don't have the same dazzling posture as many technology enterprises today. They just stick to their enterprise value and do what they are best at all the time. Now, relying on years of hard work, they have achieved fruitful results: they are the largest international express company in China. Last year, they just celebrated their 30th birthday, which is absolutely a proud achievement for Sino foreign joint ventures operating in China.

From a human perspective, Warren Buffett is the best spokesman for "modest and outstanding". Although he is worth more than 60 billion dollars, most of the time Buffett does not work in the New York Tower, but in the ordinary office building in Omaha. His current residence is still the comfortable and ordinary five bedroom house he bought for his family 49 years ago. The current valuation of the house is about 600000 dollars, which is only 0.001% of Buffett's value.

He does not use speculation, financial gimmicks or public relations to make money; His accumulated wealth comes from the return of investment enterprises. He will use a rigorous calculation method to measure which enterprises are worth buying, and then use a reasonable valuation for continuous investment. Once the investment is completed, he never cares about the operation of the company. What he does is just watch the company get better and better on the right track, and then harvest the additional wealth brought by the company's appreciation.

Although he does not always talk about "making the world a better place" like the great figures in Silicon Valley, he has been devoting his wealth to charity for many years. Although many people questioned his "low-key" way of doing things, Buffett did not care. He doesn't care about all kinds of judgments from the outside world, because he has a steelyard, a "centerline" and a "scorecard of the inner world" in his heart.

"It is very simple to judge whether a person's actions are correct. It depends on whether his' score 'is recorded on the' internal world scorecard 'or the' external world scorecard '." This is Buffett's famous saying, "If your internal world is calmed and satisfied, then you must be doing the right thing."

Many people envy Buffett's wealth and covet the high standard products launched by Apple products, but they do not know that their success comes from deep concentration and firm sense of mission. In other words, the achievements of the business elites and the success of the business model actually come from the practitioners' adherence to the "central line" in their hearts.