Sometimes you have to flip the board

[Sometimes you have to flip the board]

Ten years ago, I left a large law firm that I had been attending for 15 years and opened a small law firm. Lawyers working for large law firms worry a lot about when they should become independent. It's good to work stably in a large office, but you have a desire to work more freely under your name. Especially around '40, these desires become more intense. This is because it is a time when the desire for a life led by 'my name' and 'my' is growing.

I was also somewhat scared, but I was full of good tension and became independent with spirit. I became the so-called 'president' who hired junior lawyers and Songmu employees and was responsible for their livelihoods.

Being in a large organization, I have watched many types of seniors, so I had a leader image of what I should do if I become independent later. I thought I would be a great leader because I read a lot of oriental classics and self-help books and lectured. Sincerely. However, my dream of becoming a 'cool leader' around 40 soon came face to face with harsh reality.

The life of a president started with a rich dream was not easy. No, it was much more difficult than I thought. Everything was difficult, but people were especially difficult.
When I saw the junior lawyer leaving for another office on the grounds that he wanted to stay with me for the rest of his life, I felt a sense of frustration and betrayal at the thought that all the future visions and grand plans we had together had gone up in smoke. It was like a friendship like a mirage.

While it is important for employees to work hard at the company, he provided various support and mentored them, emphasizing that they should study in their spare time for their own development. However, there was an incident that caused confusion by expressing dissatisfaction with the company for trivial matters and spreading the work to other employees. I was disgusted and disappointed as to where my sincerity had gone. The only thing that came back was cold cynicism, even though I gave him good deeds.

How frustrated I was with my poor leadership, which even this small organization could not bring in harmony. I was asked to give a lecture on leadership from another company that I did not know about this situation, but I refused all of them because I was so embarrassed that I wanted to hide away whether I was really qualified to give a lecture on that topic. I couldn't accept it on my own. Everything I said and did outside felt like hypocrisy. The time to blame myself was quite long. This frustration as a leader around 40 raises deep skepticism about the existence of 'I' itself, beyond simple failure.

I was in a position to go long with the person who once joined my organization. It was also because I believed that it was the essence of leadership.

Then one day, I suddenly thought, 'Maybe some of the members, not me, are the cause of the organization's poor harmony.' This was a problem like 'Gordius' knot'. A bold decision was needed to solve the complicated knot, as if cutting it with a knife at once.

If I try like this, but the organization's atmosphere continues to be bad, shouldn't I not just blame myself for the leader's responsibility and think about it from a different direction? I thought I should look at our organization as a whole again.

After in-depth interviews with individual employees, I learned that several employees who were harmful to the organization were creating a negative atmosphere. They were hiding inside the organization like 'Troy's Horse' to lower the organization's morale.
Contrary to my original position, I took the time to have personal interviews with the staff in question and recommended resignation because I thought I could not observe the continued adverse effects. This was a painful decision. However, the leader of '40' must make a decision for the entire organization, even if it sometimes seems heartless.
Fortunately, I was able to organize without any major problems.

Then a surprising thing happened. After the employees left and the organization was reorganized, the atmosphere changed drastically and rolled so well that it could not be compared to the past. Conditions were created for me to show my image as a great leader. I was excited to go to the company. It was as if the dark clouds were cleared and the clear sky was revealed.

◇◆

If electronic devices, including computers, continue to fail, the last way to use it is to reset, or turn the switch on and off. This often works normally again.

Why? This is because when an error has already occurred, there are debris in the memory of the device. When there is debris, it is difficult to catch the error because the debris continues to have a negative effect. The best way to get rid of it fundamentally is to reset. This is in line with the proposition of "Panta Rhee," as mentioned by philosopher Hercules. Stained water is bound to rot, and only flowing water can sustain life. The same goes for organizations. Stalled organizations are bound to get sick and must constantly create new flows through "resets."

I've seen the piano tuning on TV before. It was amazing to see them bounce 220 strings one by one and match the sound. It is said that when tuning, not only tightening the stretched strings but also loosening the excessively tightened strings.

No matter how skillful you are when you play the piano, you will not be able to perform properly. This is why world-class pianists travel with orchestrators to perform. Even after practicing a lot, if you don't get a satisfactory sound, you should check whether the piano has been tuned properly. It is like the leadership of '43. The leader is the coordinator of an organization's instrument, sometimes tightening the strings, sometimes loosening the strings, and producing the best harmony.

There is a similar saying in the Analects.

The 繪 after 素, or painting, means that the foundation must be cleaned first rather than the preparation of paint. A pretty picture will come out only when you continue to paint on a dirty background