There is a beautiful princess. She is beautiful, adorable, and gentle to all around her. Others view her as noble & perfect, and always appears with great looks. She is also smart & clever.
However, she is corrupted from within. When she gives, she is not giving out of heart, but in pursuit of fame, honor, and gains. She pursues names. Her priority is based on fame, power, and own gains. Just like Cinderella’s sisters.
Her corruption & malformed heart is not revealed when things please her or done in her favor, but as soon as something goes against her will, while being tested, she is possessed by anger & leading forms of misdeeds.
Such is what I call… the Princess Psychology or the Princess Mindset.
There is an increasing number of people in China with a mind imbued with Princess Psychology… particularly in the Fortune 500′s.
Many foreign companies or managers believed that they can manage China just like how they manage westerners or they simply believed that people will be responsible for what they do and up to the job.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case in China… even in Fortune 100 companies. If in an office, the boss doesn’t sit there, a few things may happen:
- Another Chinese manager will try to take over and be in control of the entire office
- You can’t expect the team to perform well… they may still be able to do basic things, but sometimes even the basics cannot be done
- You find your employees in game rooms more often than on their seats
- Increase in political conflicts & personal fights in the team
Having been in China for over 5 years as foreigners and been in many multinational companies… I have not seen an office in China that can work or perform well when the manager doesn’t sit in China office. Do you witness the same?
Functional organizations are known to put people of particular specialization into a team, and it is known to project managers that they have little to no power over the resources of a particular function.
In China, it is quite common to find functional managers who delude themselves of having absolute power over something. And in a functional org setting, it is not hard to find Chinese managers either:
- Abusing his/her power
- Corrupting/taking bribes from vendors
- Making really harsh rules for the team
- Do not treat fellow team members as people
- Do not work well with peers
Not everyone is a team player, particularly in China. With China’s one-child policy for most people, many children do not know how to “share” since little. When they grow up, their ego is often bigger than others’ as well. Selfishness and thinking of only own welfare are widely seen.
Having such kind as a functional manager in the org is a disaster. Do you spot one in your org?
