War is Expensive: People Management with Sun Tzu

* Next Sun Tzu Art of War for Leadership is on 17 March 2015 Tuesday 9 am to 1 pm.  Details at here

Sun Tzu is the one that truly understands war. He said that because war is expensive, we must avoid war at all cost. That's why he advocates Strategy and not Force. 

The highest strategy is to win without fighting. What does this means in People Management and Human Resource Management?  (How to Be a Better Manager is here)

1. Salary
Instead of paying top salaries, we attract talents to join us by giving them attractive incentives, fast career growth, solid training and love and care.

2. Self Management
Because management is expensive, we empower people so that they can do more and be responsible for their own results. In this way there is no need for a manager or supervisor as each staff runs as though he is running his own business.

3. KPIs
Sun Tzu is all about planning your strategies and adapting them to the situation. So is KPIs - Key Performance Indicators. We use only 3 measures for each position, and there are changed regularly to reflect the priorities on hand. For example, if getting new business is the concern now, we focus on service quality so as to get more referrals

4. Communication
Communication is not about public speaking, talking well and having a good voice. True communication is the response you get, and many a times silence could be the best form of communication. The ultimate in communication is about connection, whereby people are not just convinced but also connected to you. It is beyond impressive or elegance.

5. People Management
This is the most mis-understood concept. People Management is never about managing people but managing time, resources and energy. You manage people's energy by inspiring and motivating them to greater heights and make people better than themselves. So my readers, the following course is important to you because you can get much higher performance in your team if you’re able to lead and manage them effectively.

By Andy Ng of Asia Trainers. The next Sun Tzu Art of War for Leadership is on 17 March 2015 Tuesday 9 am to 1 pm.  Details of our other courses are at here. Related articles:

• Be a real manager by breaking glass
• Deception as taught by Sun Tzu
• Leadership by example is worthless
• The 36 Stratagems to solve Singapore's labor shortage problem
• Win without fighting: the top 20 ways