Guo Zunhua: Build trust with performance

From Hong Kong to the United States that year, it was a failure for Guo Zunhua, who graduated from high school. Although he came from an ordinary family, he could not get into the university in Hong Kong because of his poor grades, so he had to go to the United States to study. After working as a waiter and digging in his spare time, he finally got a job as a junior engineer when he was a junior. At this time, he already knew how to cherish and how to learn.

After returning to China from the United States, for professional manager Guo Zunhua, it was one success after another. He has also done many jobs, from Alcatel to Nortel, from 3COM to EMC, from Fujitsu to now Symantec. He has risen through the ranks, starting as a product engineer to today's senior vice president of Asia Pacific and Japan at Symantec.

Chase enthusiasm

Liu Lan: Why did you switch from technical work to business work?

Guo Zunhua: When I was in my third year of college, it was very rare to find a job opportunity as a junior engineer. After graduation, the company told you to stay and give you a full-time job, as well as being able to study an MBA and apply for a green card for me, so I will stay Get down to work.

I worked as an engineer for about 4 1/2 years and then turned into a product manager. I was doing an MBA at the time and wanted to be able to work on the front lines of business, not engineering.

Liu Lan: Your ideal is not to be an engineer? Isn't your passion doing R&D work?

Guo Zunhua: No, my passion is how to push the company forward, not just to study a certain part when someone asks you to study it. I wish I could say that a certain part should be studied instead of people saying it.

Liu Lan: When did your interest in business arise?

Guo Zunhua: At that time, I always felt that it was more fun to run in the front, and I was more interested, and I could promote some new products. When I first joined the company, I wrote a report, suggesting that the company develop a certain technology that can be directly matched with one of our existing products.

At that time, my boss's boss (the chairman) read this report and said it was very well written. He should write down the size of the market, who the competitors are, and how to position it.

No one asked me to write it, so I wrote it. He said I was going to France in two weeks for a meeting with Alcatel, and I hope you can follow. I was around 26 years old, happy, and hadn't been to France yet. I have a lot of fun with the direction that this new idea can drive the entire company.

Liu Lan: Then you were transferred to be a product manager, right?

Guo Zunhua: I was not called a product manager at that time, they called me Product Planner, and I called my product manager myself (laughs).

Good at learning

Liu Lan: You changed from an engineer to a product manager, through which channels did you learn your management skills and knowledge?

Guo Zunhua: First of all, failure is the mother of success. But I don't think it's enough, because you have to fail a lot.

The second is to observe others. Which superior leader do you think is better than you? You need to see how he handles things, how he speaks, what meetings he holds, and what tone, methods, and means he uses to solve problems. It's critical to observe how some of the people you admire handle things.

The third is self-observation and self-examination. Many times after a meeting, I will think about what I should do next time, how to speak when I have similar questions, how to control my emotions, and how to boost the morale of the team. When you make some judgments and deal with things by yourself, you will feel hope that you can come back. This renewed awareness will motivate you to continuously improve, which is very important.

The fourth is to read books. When I was in my 20s, I always read some inspirational books, how to adjust my emotions and mentality, and how to be a successful person. Later, I like to read more professional books, such as project management, marketing, and strategy. Later, I read books on how to be a CEO and leadership. Read some strategy books later. I've been so busy lately that I read a little novel for dessert.

Liu Lan: Can you give an example of learning from failure?

Guo Zunhua: When I was a product manager, I had the role of coordinator. One day my boss was away and asked me to push the meeting, there were different products, different stages, some to drive R&D, some to drive production, some to drive quality control, and some to drive new product ideas. I have collected a lot of information to prepare a report.

But one of the leaders of the company said to me: We really don't need you for this meeting, you're sitting here just taking notes, you're not pushing anything, it's a waste of time for us. They left, and I was really, really sad at the time. Later, my boss came over and asked why he was still sitting in the conference room? The man didn't cry easily, he was so sad and disappointed with himself.

Afterwards, before I entered each meeting, I had to know what the results I needed were. I didn't waste other people's time or my own time. I wanted to create value. Not as a coordinator, but to push. That lesson taught me a lot. To this day I still remember something my boss said to me, he said he was still young and things like that. At that time I made up my mind that I would be the facilitator, not the note-taker.

Manage upwards

Liu Lan: You just said that observing others is also a way to learn. A very important one is to observe your own boss and superiors, and learn how to lead and manage from there. It is easier to learn when you meet a good leader. I don't know if you have encountered a worse boss, what should you do at this time?

Guo Zunhua: I am relatively lucky, and my bosses are not bad. Difficulty getting along is often a matter of mentality.

I have a concept for some young colleagues: you have to make your immediate boss happy. Let him know that his orders can be implemented, and you should also be able to think in his place and give him some good advice. I think the relationship between people is: if you help him, he may not help you right away. Over time, when he knows that you are sincere, he will take the initiative to help you.

Liu Lan: What if you think the boss is wrong?

Guo Zunhua: Of course I would tell him that he was wrong. But not in front of many people. I'd say to him, have you ever considered thinking about this thing from that side, rather than just telling him he's wrong. Just because someone is right doesn't mean you have the right to say they're wrong. If you think others are wrong, it may be because you don't have enough background information, and this situation should be handled with care.

Liu Lan: You have been the CEO of a region since you started working at EMC, the highest local manager, and at the same time you have to maintain a good relationship with the headquarters. I know that sometimes it is not easy to let the headquarters understand the situation in China and make the right decisions. Whether at EMC or at Symantec, how do you maintain a good communication with headquarters?

Guo Zunhua: First of all, this kind of communication is very active, don't let people ask you, you should give some information to your boss. Sometimes it is very proactive to give information to your boss, or a colleague who needs to know this information. This is the first point, must be active.

Second, the work we do in the region is mainly to achieve performance, which is very critical to the trust the company gives you. Companies can't know everything about what's going wrong in China, they can only know to a certain extent. It is better to establish an environment of mutual trust than to communicate with the company. They trust you, and you say that this environment is like this. Of course, the premise of improving confidence is to be very positive and have performance to consolidate your suggestions.

Also be very transparent about your thinking during meetings, so that he feels like you don't have anything to hide. When we do things, we do things openly and have nothing to hide. We are very transparent. This kind of mutual trust is very important. The boss is so busy, how can there be time to understand so many details of you. This mutual respect, mutual understanding and very transparent process is a necessary condition to be responsible for the work of a region.

Liu Lan: From EMC to Fujitsu, to Veritas, to Symantec, it is necessary to have good communication with the headquarters. Are the principles you just mentioned the same across all four companies, or do you need different workarounds?

Guo Zunhua: All will be flexible. It's more difficult at Fujitsu because I don't speak Japanese, which is a big problem. Therefore, language is a very important condition in the working environment of foreign companies.

To let your boss know what's going on, be proactive and don't wait until he asks you about it. The most important thing is to take the company's interests as the starting point, how to do a good job in performance and do what you should do, not to please your boss. Appealing to your boss is the last resort, the worst starting point.

Your starting point must be how to face market opportunities, how to allocate limited resources to cover these opportunities, and how to communicate the company's real advantages, product advantages, and product value to customers very clearly, so as to gain customer confidence The trust of our company will continue to do well in performance.

Doing better than last quarter, better than last year, that's the real starting point. If you do that, plus your boss knows exactly what you're doing, it's enough.

Leading down

Liu Lan: You have been in charge of China and Asia in several companies, and you are often airborne from outside. How do you get the people below to recognize you as their leader and to follow you?

Guo Zunhua: First of all, you must observe very objectively, express your views on this matter, your views on the future, your views on the market, your views on your own product positioning, and your own independent opinions.

Second, your starting point is for the company, not the individual. I often feel that my colleagues are supportive and listen to my ideas, not because they report directly to me, or because I am their boss and I can control his salary, but because they know what to do It is for the direction and general interests of the company, and I do things very impartially and transparently.

Working in a foreign company, it is impossible for everyone to report to you. Some different departments have matrices. But I think in a China region, Asia Pacific region or Japan region, we are a team. The most important thing is that I made the starting point of the company very clear. They follow me, not because I am their boss, but because they agree with my views, opinions, and my starting point.

I never said: You must gain your trust in the short term. As long as I really put my heart on doing the right thing, be sincere and truthful, and have independent opinions on things, people are willing to follow you.

It never occurred to me that I was a paratrooper, so I had to do something. I wonder what I would do if I were the owner of the company. If I can clearly articulate Before and After, and what we are pursuing, I am usually lucky enough to have them work together.

Liu Lan: Many CEOs in Greater China or China often don't work for that long. Such cases often occur. After a year or two of poor performance, or there are contradictions in various aspects, they step down. What you said is true, but it still sounds abstract?

Guo Zunhua: The most important thing is performance. Use figures to explain the problem. The more your company grows, the more confidence your employees will have in you. The direction is one thing, but also depends on the actual results.

There are many leadership styles, some are authoritarian, some are democratic, some are close to the people, all leadership styles work, and some will work especially well at different times. But the main thing is to achieve performance, so your vision must be on performance. I'm also more fortunate, and my performance has always been better.

Liu Lan: There is a causal cycle here. If everyone is willing to follow you, the performance may be better, and if the performance is good, everyone is more willing to follow you. People are not willing to follow you at first, and they do not recognize your authority and leadership, which may lead to poor performance. In turn, people will not recognize your leadership.

Guo Zunhua: Yes, people are scattered, and the team is not easy to lead (laughs).

Liu Lan: What do you think is the most important element of leadership? You have also read books on leadership, but I think you must have some experience of your own after working for so many years.

Guo Zunhua: I think you have the ability to think independently. You are not a copycat. Some ideas are often very abstract. It is very important for leaders to turn abstract ideas and directions into an implementable part and to be able to communicate.

The second is taking responsibility for your own results.

The third aspect is that you have to challenge the current state. There are some areas for innovation and improvement, or simplifying the workflow and making you more productive.

Fourth is people-oriented, rather than simply oriented by the company's system and system.

And there is trust. As a team leader, people must trust you because of your personality and because you have personal integrity.

Get out of the crisis

Liu Lan: You just said that building trust is very important, not only to build the trust of employees, but also the trust of shareholders and customers. This kind of trust is often acquired over a long period of time, but sometimes it can be destroyed if it is not handled properly.

The Norton manslaughter incident at Symantec last time had something to do with the public's trust, and there should be something about the morale of the staff. Does this question put a certain test on your leadership? How did you handle this?

Guo Zunhua: The incident was really serious at the time, and I learned a lot from here. Of course, the whole thing is that we didn't handle it well enough and made mistakes.

The idea at that time was to solve the user's problem first, and the first focus was how to solve their problem, very proactive. The second is that there are so many customers, how to follow up? Not only using all the sales, pre-sales, and after-sales colleagues, but also how to activate partners, very proactively let customers know the situation, and how to avoid the situation. Really affected, how to restore the system. The third is to talk to the United States at the same time, how to prevent such a thing from happening again in the future.

I learned a lesson because we were so focused on problem solving at the time that we didn't communicate well with the media. We felt that by getting things done first, solving the customer's problem first, there were certain areas of response that could have been done faster. But at the same time, I also understand that sometimes the media only conduct interviews on a certain issue, and they do not share our more positive news in other places, so that everyone can understand the situation more comprehensively.

Liu Lan: It's not news that the plane arrives on time, it's news that it's late.

Guo Zunhua: I think we should take the initiative to communicate with the media, not just take the customer as the starting point. We may be too customer-centric.

Liu Lan: External negative public opinion will also have a negative impact on employee morale, isn't it?

Guo Zunhua: More or less will be affected. There's always been two meetings a week with all the staff, and they know the process very well, and they know our thinking very well. We have also apologized, and we have also expressed our sincerity in specific plans to some affected customers. We have explained everything that needs to be said. Later, we focused on solving the problem and reducing the probability of these problems occurring in the future. There may be no company that can avoid this kind of manslaughter, but how your mechanism can reduce this risk.

Share Suggestions

Liu Lan: In less than 30 years, you have gone from a product engineer to a product manager, to a marketing manager, and from a CEO in China to a CEO in Asia Pacific. I think for a lot of people, you must be a model of success.

Guo Zunhua: I dare not say that I am successful.

Liu Lan: If there are some young people in the current company, they have just come to be product engineers or product managers. They said: Mr. Guo, we will be as successful as you in the future, can you talk about some points that we need to pay attention to?

Guo Zunhua: First of all, love your work, don't complain too much. The output of your work must exceed your boss's expectations at all times. And have a team spirit, don't mind sharing your credit with others, and be willing to help others. Frankly speaking, no matter how capable you are, you have to rely on a team. If you want people to convince you, your integrity, self-discipline, cultivation, and life are very important.

In other words, first of all, you must do well in your major. The second is to have team spirit, don't claim all the credit as my own, and don't ask for too much credit. The third is how to be a person, how to help others, how to be an honest person, and how to continuously improve one's own quality and ability.

Guo Zunhua often tells young colleagues: You must make your immediate boss happy.