Chapter 57 The Ninth Second Technique: Remember not to offend your face when speaking

To speak is to put forward one's own views and opinions to the boss.Offensive means to offend the dignity of the superior.There is often such a situation in life: in the company, some people seem to be very talented, but they love to give advice (suggestion) to the boss in person, or contradict the boss because the boss’s opinion disagrees with you, even though your opinion is correct, The boss was still very disgusted, and as a result, he was never reused. Why is this? Because every leader has his own majesty and self-esteem, and will do everything possible to maintain his authority so that it will not be violated.However, raising opinions face to face or contradicting the boss will damage the dignity of the boss and reduce the prestige of the boss.Even the ancient ministers should pay attention to this point when admonishing the emperor, and they should not offend Longyan casually.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, when Guan Zhong, the prime minister of Qi State, was reviewing the state budget expenditures, he found that the expenses for guests were as high as two-thirds, and other expenses only accounted for one-third. He thought it was too superfluous.He wanted to correct this unhealthy trend, so he went to see Duke Huan of Qi immediately, and said in front of all the ministers: Your Majesty, we must reduce the expenses for entertaining guests as soon as possible, we can't continue to be so extravagant! Duke Huan was unhappy when he heard this, and said: Why do you also say such things?We treat our guests grandly, and they will promote us when they return home; if we neglect them, they will speak ill of us, how can we save this money?Don't you know that the most important thing for a monarch is reputation?

Guan Zhong stopped arguing, and quickly obeyed, saying: yes!yes!Lord Shengming. Of course, Duke Huan's anger gradually disappeared. Just imagine, if Guan Zhong didn't give in in time, and then fought hard with reason, so that Duke Huan could not step down in front of the ministers, what kind of situation would it be like?Guan Zhong's cleverness is that he no longer offends his face and strives to continue, so as not to damage Duke Huan's dignity, but slowly influences Duke Huan in his later work to solve the problem step by step. Here's an example of a bad end to bad words:

In the spring of 484 BC, King Fuchai of Wu received reinforcements from Goujian, King of Yue, and recruited soldiers from nine counties to attack Qi State on a large scale.Wu Zixu remonstrated with Fuchai and said: The more I am here, the trouble of my confidant is also; Ruoqi, especially scabies.Now Wang recruits an army of 100,000 troops to travel thousands of miles to fight against scabies and leprosy. He forgets that the great poison is in his heart, and his ministers are afraid that Qi will not win, and the more disasters will be serious. Fu Chai was displeased and scolded: Soldiers who are alone for a period of time, why did the old thief say ominous words and obstruct the plan, what crime should he deserve?

Fu Chai was furious and wanted to kill Wu Zixu. At that time, Bo Pi secretly played, saying: This old minister of the former king cannot be punished. Therefore, Fu Chai took Bo Pi as his deputy commander, and personally led the army to conquer Qi. The Qi army was defeated, and the king of Wu returned in triumph.All the officials went out of the city to congratulate and praise King Wu's achievements, but Wu Zixu remained silent. When Fu Chai saw this, he became angry again, and hurriedly humiliated Wu Zixu, saying: The son admonishes the widows not to attack Qi, but now he returns victorious, and the son alone has no merit, would he rather not be ashamed?

Wu Zixu glared at each other and sighed: The kingdom of heaven is about to perish. First, we meet with small joys, and then we receive great worries.Victory in Qi is nothing more than a small joy, and the minister is afraid of great worries! Fucha was furious and said: It's been a long time since I haven't seen Xiangguo, and my ears are quite clean, so I'm nagging again today? A few days later, Goujian, king of Yue, led a group of ministers to the state of Wu to court, and they bribed all of them to become ministers of the state of Wu.Fu Chai hosted a banquet on the rooftop, and the king of Yue sat in Fu Chai's servant.Fucha said happily:

I have heard that the king never forgets his meritorious ministers, and the father never forgets his powerful sons.Today, Bo Pi has made great achievements in governing the army for the widow, and I will reward him as a high minister; the king of Yue has been filial to the widow, and has always been tireless. All the ministers flattered and flattered: This is also the matter of the overlord. At this time, Wei Wu Zixu knelt on the ground, burst into tears, and said: Raising chaos and traitors will destroy the state of Wu, temples will be ruins, and thorns will grow in the palace. Fu Chai was furious and shouted:

The old thief is so deceitful, he is a monster of Wu, and he wants to dominate and overthrow our country.I'm going to retreat now, and I'll see you later. Wu Zixu did not back down, but still said: If the old minister is not loyal or trustworthy, he cannot be the minister of the former king.For example, when the dragon meets Jie, and when Bigan meets Zhou, even if the minister sees him punished, the king will also be destroyed.The minister and Wang Yongxing will never see each other again! When Fu Chai heard this, he became even more furious. He immediately gave Wu Zixu a sword and made Wu Zixu commit suicide.

Wu Zixu held his sword in his hand, stood in the courtyard, looked up to the sky and shouted: What a difference!If you don't listen to me today, you will give me death instead. Tomorrow, the soldiers and horses of the Yue Kingdom will arrive, and they will come to excavate your land. After all, he killed himself. It can be seen from this story that Wu Zixu was not disloyal to Fu Chai, his remonstrance was not unreasonable, and he worked hard to seek hegemony for Fu Chai.However, he disregarded the timing and made offensive remarks regardless of the target, and ended up in a tragic end.

It can be seen from this that if a subordinate wants to make a suggestion to the boss, if he wants to make the boss accept it without losing his status, he must choose the occasion and the right time, and he must not proceed with a serious and stubborn attitude.Keep calm and never get emotional.When your advice is not accepted by your boss, you have to take a step back and wait until you understand the other party's psychology and intentions before you speak, so as to avoid causing disaster.