Photo: Hu Jinghan

 
Ours is an age of the Internet and big data. Overwhelmed by the immense amount of information which come in the form of rapidly emerging and highly fragmented updates, we are doomed to be overthrown by the tide of times, if we excel only in a single aspect. To succeed, we must rely on team work to tap our strengths to the fullest, to pool resources and intellect, and to carry out innovation in line with the characteristics of the times. However, a successful team can't do it without a good leader. As the proud owner of the future world, young people should dare to be leaders. What can we do to become extraordinary leaders? To my understanding, ambitious youths today need to develop four key leadership skills: team building, talent selection, decision-making and innovation. 

For a good leader, the ability to build strong teams is essential. Leadership is about getting people to believe in you and turn opposition and resistance into approval and support. Consider what Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said, "Leadership is about getting his people, from where they are, to take them where they haven't been.” To improve team-building capabilities, we must gain the trust of our team members. To this end, leaders should give their members full respect and care, even at the expense of some personal interests. As Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera, pointed out, "Self-interest leads to survival; altruism leads to longevity.” Inamori has always considered the interests of others in his career. As a result, he built vigorous teams, and thus transformed Kyocera into one of the world's top 500 enterprises.

To be a good leader, he must have an eye for selecting the right talents. The purpose of teamwork is to pool ideas and combine strengths from all everyone around. A good leader should know the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on the team and be able to delegate according to their characteristics. In this way, team members under good leadership can derive satisfaction from the work that suits them, feel much less stressed, and rest assured that their leaders trust in their abilities. This maximizes work efficiency and enthusiasm of team members, and thus reaps tremendous benefits for a team. Steve Jobs, though well- known for his attention to detail, was equally adept at delegating. Jobs sought, nurtured and trusted a capable team member like Tim Cook. Even in the event of Jobs’ death, Mr. Cook was able to keep the Apple company running smoothly. On August 2, 2018, The Apple company became the first US tech company to hit the trillion-dollar mark.

To be a good leader, we need to be able to make wise decisions. Decisions are like signposts at crossroads, lighthouses in the fog, or luminous stars of the inky sky. To be successful, the decision must be right. A good leader should be able to judge the situation and make the most reasonable and correct decisions. This requires leaders to be forward-looking and able to anticipate what is coming. It also requires leaders to have the ability to make decisions quickly and seize opportunities to make decisions resolutely. Of course, leaders can't always make the right decisions. When a decision goes wrong, the leader should not be discouraged or blame others. Instead, the leader should take responsibility and learn from the failure to improve the accuracy of the decision in the future. 

To be a good leader, we must dare to be innovating. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, China copied the socialist system of the Soviet Union, but this was not suitable for China's national conditions, resulting in no significant improvement in national economy. Mao Zedong, the leading founder of China, supported by other prominent CPC leaders, created a socialist system with Chinese characteristics in line with China's national conditions and the theorey of Marxist Socialism. If it had not been for the bold innovations of its leaders, and if China had continued to copy the entire Soviet socialist system, China would never have achieved what it does today. In an era of rapid development, a good leader should have the courage to innovate and create a team promptly responsive to the trends of the times. Only in this way, can the team maintain creativity, keep pace with the times, and stay fresh on the cutting edge of technology

Every time I encourage someone to be a leader, he retorts, “I just want to be a team member.” There's nothing wrong with that, but the world is a harsh place for young people. Everyone else is already running. Even if you are moving at a constant speed, you are still falling behind day by day. Therefore, not everyone wants to be a leader, but everyone should learn to be a leader. In today’s world, I think all young people should learn to gather people together, hunt for talents, make correct decisions and dare to innovate to make our world and country a better place for our future.