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The Sun Tzu 7 Secrets to Win in Any Situation

From Sun Tzu's "Art of War" book:
1.  Seek Victory From the Situation
A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation.  He knows when the situation is favourable to him and avoids war when it is dangerous to him. 

2.  Deceive Your Enemy
All warfare is based on deception.  Even though you're competent, you have to appear as incompetent.  When able to attack, we must seem unable, when using our forces, we must seem inactive.  When we are near, we must make the enemy believe that we are far; when far away, we must appear near.  In short, appear weak when strong, and appear strong when weak.  

Hence those skilled in war will bring the enemy to the battlefield and not be brought there by the enemy.  Supreme excellence lies in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.  Hence the ultimate winner is one that wins without fighting.  Or put in another way, the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

3. Be Invisible and Soundless
In war, you need to be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness.  

4. Knowledge of Yourself is Paramount
If you know the enemy and yourself, your victory will not be doubt.  If you're ignorant of both yourself and your enemy, you are certain to be in peril. 

5. Make Your Men Willing 
If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things.  To motivate your men to fight, you need to treat them with benevolence, justice and righteousness.  

6.  Take the Whole and Not Part
In the practical art of war, the best thing is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy your enemy's country is most unwise, for you're taking over a useless country.   

7.  Be Fast
Speed is the essence of war.  To speed up things, you need to take advantage of your enemy's unpreparedness, travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions. 

At the end of the day, you need to believe in yourself if you want to win.   Now you too can apply the 2,500 years of wisdom from Sun Tzu's Art of War in your Sales, Leadership and Human Resource Management.  At Asia Trainers, we took the essence of Sun Tzu's wisdom and apply them in your daily work and life.  The next Sun Tzu Art of War for Sales is on 20 June 2014 Friday 9 am to 1 pm.  Click here for details.  Related articles:
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