Why do senior executives of large companies love to practice Wing Chun?

A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to go to Fuzhou with former and current human resources executives from Alibaba, Baidu, LeTV, and Home Delivery to learn the basics of Wing Chun from Mr. Zheng Zujie.

After two days of studying Waigong boxing and studying the philosophical concepts contained in the boxing, we found that the martial arts ideas of Wing Chun can be incorporated into our existing course training system. We believe that these ideas will effectively help business leaders and their team members better control their personal lives, realize their professional ideals, and improve their necessary adaptability in the face of complex business environments.

What fascinates me the most is the central line theory of Wing Chun. For Wing Chun practitioners, the center line is the mid-perpendicular line from Baihui on the top of the human body to the tail and the ground. Wing Chun theory believes that the core energy of the human body is concentrated here, so this line is the focus of all moves. Regardless of offense or defense, every action of the practitioner must revolve around this center line. The principle of martial arts is: while protecting my center line, my punching power should be concentrated on hitting the opponent's center line. In this way, each of my attacks can create the maximum attack effect, and each of my defenses can also unload the opponent's fierce offensive.

Perhaps due to my career, when I first came into contact with the midline theory, I discovered that it is closely related to issues such as leadership temperament and corporate culture pursued by business elites. The centerline concept emphasized by Wing Chun is similar to the core concepts of enterprises, such as strong driving force of values, strong sense of identity, and clear sense of corporate mission. Similar to Wing Chun, there is also a legend of "core drive" circulating in the business world. Whether it is an outstanding entrepreneur, a successful business model or a globally renowned corporate brand, building ideals around the "center line" is the only secret recipe for all great practitioners to achieve greatness.

Centerline Theory and Golden Concentric Circle Rule

Ethnologist and well-known speaker Simon Sinek talked about a concise and powerful concept - "golden concentric circles" in his popular TED talk and his masterpiece "Start with Why".

Sinek discovered that "all the world's great and inspiring individuals and organizations have striking similarities in the way they think, behave, and communicate." This similarity can be vividly compared to a graphic made up of three concentric circles of different diameters nested inside each other. This is the "golden concentric circle."

Sinek gave each of the three concentric circles a symbolic meaning. He called the smallest concentric circle closest to the center "why", which is "purpose"; the middle concentric circle is "how", which is method; and the outermost concentric circle is "what", which is "result".

The golden concentric circle theory believes that "purpose", "method" and "results" are hierarchically recursive. Among them, "purpose" occupies a core position, "method" is the extension of "purpose", and "purpose" and "method" jointly derive "results". Under this theoretical model, successful business leaders and business models are the inevitable product of the natural evolution of core energy from the inside out, which is similar to the martial arts principles of Wing Chun martial artists. Similar to boxing, only when individuals and companies put "why", that is, a sense of mission and values, at the core of their thinking and specific actions, can they make more correct decisions, establish reliable personal and business reputation, and ultimately achieve a strong and lasting brand effect.

Sinek elaborated on his theory, using Steve Jobs' Apple as an example. He found that although Jobs also had many shortcomings, he had unusual focus and a strong sense of mission, and it was precisely because of this that Apple achieved what it does today. Jobs broke conventions and thought independently. He believed that technology was not just a tool, but an extension of human thought and embodied creativity. From the day he founded Apple until he resigned due to illness, Apple's employees, customers, and shareholders were all impressed by its charm. The reason is simple: they believe in the ideas that Jobs believed in, and they agree with the values ​​that Jobs advocated. In other words, they trusted Apple and Jobs because they knew exactly what the company's "center line" was.

For individuals, this adherence to values and sense of mission is what Jim Loehr calls "spiritual energy." In his book, The Power of Total Engagement, the author and business management trainer points out that a healthy and successful life is inseparable from the watering of spiritual energy. Unfortunately, people tend to be overwhelmed by the “important things” that constantly appear in their daily lives, but ignore the important and fundamental role of spiritual energy in individual life.

"A simple but embarrassing reality is that we are all busy looking for the meaning of life, (but forgetting that the meaning of life is not in things but in ourselves)," Rojo said. This is very similar to the feeling of many Wing Chun practitioners, who often complain that they cannot focus on the center line because they are always busy fighting. But in fact, when you give up the center line when fighting, all you will encounter is failure.

The core reason for the tragic business tragedy: the lack of "center line"

But in my work and social circles in Beijing, situations like the one described above are very common.

Many entrepreneurs rush around in a hurry, constantly switching their business propositions, and they pursue whatever is hot; they don't care about how to create real value, they only care about what can attract investors. Many parents and children only care about how to pass the exam, but they do not know that only enthusiasm and curiosity can truly allow children to improve their skills and acquire knowledge.

Many managers like to appear busy in front of others, and then constantly ask for credit and rewards. But in fact, what they should do is to improve themselves, contribute to the team and really care about the production status of their own company.

Historically, it is not uncommon for companies to deviate from their "center line" and ultimately lead to huge business tragedies. The former energy giant, Enron of the United States, is one of them. Enron did not care about its core value as an energy company. They transformed blindly and expanded crazily into unfamiliar areas. When problems arose in the transformation and losses became more severe, Enron chose to cover up the problem with false accounts. They use mark-to-market accounting methods to include expected profits in company financial statements, resulting in a growing gap between book numbers and actual cash receipts.

On the one hand, the company's stock price is soaring, but on the other hand, the company is seriously ill internally; eventually, when the bubble bursts, the company can only go bankrupt. The 2001 bankruptcy case became one of the 11 largest bankruptcies in history. The company's executives were jailed, and Arthur Andersen, one of the top five accounting firms at the time, was torn apart.

Similarly, there are many entrepreneurs who have given up on the "center line" and caused trouble for their companies, such as Travis Kalanick. As the founder of Uber, Kalanick's arrogance, arrogance and lack of integrity have brought a series of public relations crises to the company. Worse, Kalanick’s personal principles poisoned Uber’s own corporate culture.

Now Uber has its own drivers complaining, and Uber itself is falling behind in competition with its peers. No wonder the company made the decision to oust Kalanick as CEO last month.

In China, I think the typical company that deviates from its "center line" is LeTV. The blind expansion policy caused the company to forget the first principle when it emerged: exporting value to customers (it is necessary to explain here, I am a former employee of LeTV).

"Humility Center Line": The cornerstone of dignity and achievement

On the bright side, it’s not that hard to find individuals and companies that thrive on a clear “center line.” Simon Sinek mentioned Apple, but I am not very interested in Apple, Google and other companies that always claim to "change the world".

This is not because I lack idealism, but simply because I am more realistic. The reality is that most companies do not intend to "change the world", and they do not advocate a wrong "center line" with great fanfare. They are just doing their own thing. Therefore, for them, the role models that can serve as role models are not companies like Google and Apple, but individuals and companies that can always maintain a humble attitude and focused spirit.

From 2015 to 2016, I taught classes at DHL-Sinotrans. I was attracted by the rigorous, focused corporate ethos practiced there. Soon, I discovered the secret of their success: they regard "employer of choice" as their corporate value, they uphold a fair and just attitude, and rely on a world-class logistics supply system to provide customers with stable and high-quality services, so that the latter can safely regard them as a "reliable choice" and shareholders can be satisfied with them as an "investment choice."

They don't have a dazzling appearance like many technology companies today. They just stick to their corporate values almost stubbornly and consistently insist on doing what they do best. And now, relying on years of hard work, they have achieved fruitful results: they are the largest international express company in China. Last year, they just celebrated their 30th birthday, which is definitely an impressive achievement for a Sino-foreign joint venture operating in China.

From a human perspective, the best spokesperson for "humble and outstanding" is Warren Buffett. Although he is worth more than 60 billion US dollars, most of the time, Buffett is not working in the New York Tower, but in the ordinary office building in Omaha. His current residence is still the comfortable and ordinary five-bedroom house he purchased for his family 49 years ago. The house is now valued at about $600,000, which is only equivalent to 0.001% of Buffett's net worth.

He doesn't make money through speculation, financial gimmicks or public relations; the wealth he accumulates comes from the returns he reaps from investing in his businesses. He will use rigorous calculation methods to measure which companies are worth buying, and then use reasonable valuations to make continuous investments. Once the investment is completed, he will never interfere with the company's operations. All he does is watch the company get better and better on the right track, and then reap the additional wealth brought by the company's appreciation.

Although he does not always talk about "making the world a better place" like the big shots in Silicon Valley, he has been investing his wealth in philanthropy for many years. Although many people question his "low-key" way of doing things, Buffett is not impressed. He doesn't care about all kinds of judgments from the outside world, because he has a scale, a "center line" and a "score card of the inner world" in his heart.

"It is actually very simple to judge whether what a person does is correct or not, it depends on whether the 'score' he obtains is recorded on the 'point card of the inner world' or the 'point card of the external world.'" This is Buffett's famous saying, "If your inner world is calm and satisfied because of this, then you must be doing the right thing."

Many people envy Buffett's wealth and covet the high-profile products launched by Apple, but they don't know that their success comes from their deep focus and firm sense of mission. In other words, the achievements of business elites and the success of business models actually come from the adherents to the "center line" deep in the hearts of practitioners.