Classic Wealth Stories - (I)

Author: Wealth Story Column Group / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The leader was very displeased upon hearing this, "You're threatening me," even slamming the table in anger. Chen Miaolin was very clear in his mind what the transfer of Xiaoshan Hotel to the government tax bureau meant—it meant reverting to the old path of a government guesthouse. It was like moving from an externally managed hotel back to an internally focused government guesthouse. Chen Miaolin was certain this wouldn’t work out. He told the leader he wanted to resign, but inwardly, he was very reluctant to leave. Seeing that this direct approach wasn’t working, he started thinking of other ways. A few days later, a long article appeared in a Hangzhou newspaper, starting with the topic of tourist hotels along the Sanjiang Lianghu (the Qiantang River, the Fuchun River, and the Xin'an River; the Lianghu refers to the Qiandao Lake and West Lake). The article argued that none of the guesthouses or tourist hotels in this area had been successfully managed, except for Xiaoshan Hotel. Why? Because Xiaoshan Hotel had a good mechanism and received strong support from the government, which was heavily praised in the article. However, many other hotels had failed because they were based on the outdated guesthouse system. If the hotel industry didn’t adopt a self-operating model, it would be a dead end. The next day, this article appeared on the desks of high-ranking city leaders. While the city leaders were pleased to read it, they hadn’t fully processed its implications when several bank presidents jointly wrote a letter to the city leaders, opposing the government’s plan to take back the management rights of Xiaoshan Hotel. They explicitly stated that if the government insisted on the transfer, it must return the money the banks had invested. The city leaders were baffled—how could so many problems arise just as they were about to reclaim the management rights? It turned out that everything had been meticulously planned by Chen Miaolin: the article was the idea he provided to the newspaper; the newspaper was delivered to the standing committee meeting by his sister, who was working in the secretariat of the city party committee office at the time, with the article entirely highlighted in red, one copy for each member; and the bank presidents were personally approached by him, who told them that if the hotel’s management changed, he couldn’t guarantee that all the loans they had extended would be repaid. Truly, as the ancients had Zhuge Liang’s clever strategies to conquer the world, so too did Chen Miaolin’s three moves conquer the situation. By the time the city leaders realized what was happening, it was already too late, and they had no choice but to let him continue. This battle to defend his job opportunity was won, but it also left him shaken. From this incident, he drew a lesson: if you really want to do something, you must do it to the best of your ability, so well that no one can replace you! More importantly, only what belongs to you truly gives you the right to speak! P21