We had already seen with the character 赢 win and 企 company how Chinese characters could be used in company training. I took out the notes from a seminar on managing a company in 2017 in Shenzhen. The first speaker had opened the ball with the character 管理, guǎnlǐ, manage, administer, manager. He had broken down the character to describe the qualities and actions of the manager.
Noble, flexible and robust bamboo
The first character 管 on the top includes the key 竹 zhú, the bamboo. Bamboo represents all the qualities a manager should have: It is noble and does not bend; it knows how to be flexible and strong, humble, and controlled.
The roof, the vision
Under the bamboo, the roof can be reminiscent of the bamboo fence; it delimits the area of intervention of the framework, defines the rules on which it is based and the system to be respected. It can also evoke a hat and the vision that a leader must-have.
Two connected mouths
The lower part has two mouths. Communication is vital in a team. Each must listen to the other’s word. The vertical line connecting the two mouths indicates that the manager must manage to create unity between the different opinions of the employees. Everyone may have a different idea, but you have to go in the same direction in the end.
Polish 理
理, the second character had in antiquity to polish the jade. The proverbe玉不琢，不成器, the jade must be worked to be useful, comes to explain this notion. In other words, the manager must focus on learning and help the team to progress towards the excellence of jade, which without work will remain in its raw state.
The King 王
王+ 里. On the left is the character of the king 王 wáng, who leads his team in a specific perimeter. The character on the right 里 lǐ means inside. The king gives a working boundary and measures and policies to be implemented inside.
管 means to lead, manage, and tube, 理 to manage, put in order, and reason.
Articles on the characters :
Ying, win, 赢.
Qi, business, 企.
27 June 2020