He has maintained the company as private and his management style has been extremely . He made this persuasively clear by literally saying that it is necessary To cut off your feet to wear the shoe (xue zue shi lu). Ren Zhengfei has lead Huawei to become a global brand making the top global 100 by 2017 (Huawei 2017). At Huawei, we often talk about the term of "Van Fleet Load", which was invented by a general of the US army. Sales of our consumer business increased by more than 70% in the first quarter of the year. We earned a bit of money this way. The simpler and clearer, the better; organizational members at all levels suffer from information overload, so leaders need to be selective about what messages to send. You're seen as a visionary very much here in China in the technology world. This is thanks to Trump. This practice differed from the ones used by Western companies, which had advanced technologies and equipment, but ignored their services sector. They need to recognize what aspects of the status quo need to be challenged and they need the discipline to avoid wasting time rebelling in ways that are not strategic and wont move the organization forward. Strategies are implemented not by CEOs and other top executives but by the many people who choose on a daily basis whether to take actions that support or undermine what top management wants to achieve. Cuts and bruises toughen her up, and even since ancient times, heroes were born of hardship. Arjun Kharpal: But you created the world's largest telecom company. As a result, we set our prices at a relatively low level, which made it hard for Western companies to compete with us. Do you think she's a hostage in this broader US-China trade battle? If you'd like to share this PDF, you can purchase copyright permissions by increasing the quantity. This revolution was also referred to as the bloodless revolution because the victory of William of Orange was achieved without bloodshed. But unfortuetely he fails to, achieve military rank, due to which he was not allowed to join communist party of China for, continuing his career in Military field as, Ren Zhengfei family belongs to social background and, Ren Zhengfei was accountable for many, technological achievements. Essential in his idea to compete, however, is that it should be done with respect for its opponents. I couldn't really get what the market economy was about, so I ended up making a mistake while working for a state-owned company which got me let go. Living in such extremely harsh conditions and working on such a highly modernized project was really a good experience for me. Take machine translation as an example. 5. Due to his technical skills, He was appointed as a delegate from, PLA for attending the National Science Conference in 1978 (, ).It was a golden opportunity for Rein to lean and gain knowledge, about the field. We are not that important in the bilateral relations between the two countries. Arjun Kharpal: But what was the personal effect of her arrest on you as a father? The university had charged him with increasing revenue and strengthening relationships with the business community while maintaining RSMs high level of academic research. He does not only consider this kind of power to be an important personal characteristic but sees it as an essential part of the Huawei culture. Indeed, as the Chinese say: Every generation produces its own great character (Jiang shan dai you ren cai chu) and each exerts impact for hundreds of years (Ge ling feng sao shu bai nian). Academics were reluctant to engage with executives. Last but not least, Ren zhengfei has experiences of serving the army. During the day, we were building a highly modernized factory. Leadership Style Assignment : Ren Zhengfei. Mr. Ren: I am not a government official, so I don't know what the governments have talked about. That approach may not be an option at the top. And he initiated an annual conference whose panels combined executives and faculty members. Of course, we can still be concerned about this, but we believe we will have the ability to harness AI and create benefit. In fact, the company only seems to be growing stronger. Nevertheless, as the market evolved and employee characteristics shifted, the shortcomings of Ren's management model grew ever apparent. Arjun Kharpal: Do you feel that your military-style speeches empower the employees here? We live in a very connected world. Our network equipment sales dropped 1.5% last year, but enjoyed a 15% increase in Q1 of this year. Jobs then dropped the device into an aquarium, and bubbles floated up. Precisely speaking, the core of his leadership strategy is the purpose-driven ambition. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to enter the network equipment industry. Ren joined Peoples Liberation Army with the aim of making synthetic fiber. Get your Culture in Good Shape, Not Lost in Translation: Making the Data Make Sense. This is a challenging competency and a powerful one. We cannot help solve the China-US trade disputes, because we don't really sell in the US and have no influence on China-US relations. Many scientists also proposed that genetic technology should be gradually integrated with electronic technology to create "new people". We can give you a copy if you want. That creates a kind of balance. Mr. Ren: I often talk about staying focused. Huawei, in contrast, decided to provide these services to their customers. Huawei was not mentioned in any of the negotiation meeting minutes published by the US and China. This helps the US greatly improve their national reserve. He is continuously focused on the future and hardly ever ruminates about the past. As a result, I read a lot of books on law and learned that the market was about two things: the product and the customer. Ren is an active supporter of Communist Party of China. This is because technology is lifeless and can be widely applied. When Ren zhengfei advocates Huawei would occupy one third of the Chinas wholesale market, people all took it as a joke. It's now just a scientific fantasy, and wouldn't necessarily ever happen. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. Action strategy is about making things happen. The US and Canadian legal systems are open, transparent, just, and fair. Some people asked me what the world would be like in 20 or 30 years. I was naive and took it for granted that I could earn money playing with this huge industry. Leading Huawei: Seven Leadership Lessons of Ren Zhengfei. Early life. For example, although his inspirational leadership style pushes forward the company and guides it through transformational phases, he is always quick to add that he may not be that good in bringing people together as many would like to believe. We will comply with European cyber security standards and the GDPR. Lets look at each, drawing on examples from our own experience and that of well-known successful leaders. Arjun Kharpal: So would you say the US is scared of Huawei? Then a large number of our employees would resign, but I cannot leave. For example, in the desert and rural areas in China, rats were a plague for the telecom connections to customers. Drawing on this experience, we developed our own 40-line switch for rural markets that could support 40 users. In 2019, soon after Metro Bank revealed an accounting error involving the misclassification of more than $1 billion in loans, Hill resigned. Particularly the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21, His ability to critically reflect on past successes and at the same time to identify the future challenges in the next decade makes Zhengfei an impactful business leader in the eyes of many Chinese. That requires two skills. But I still had to find a job to feed my family. In China, leadership has traditionally been grounded in a hierarchical top-down management system. Mr. Ren: When I was a kid, I didn't have many hobbies mainly because my family was poor. Right now, the support of the Chinese government may not necessarily help our sales, but when the US government criticizes us, it tells the world how great Huawei is. Mr. Ren: They are more than welcome to come visit us in Shenzhen. What do you make of his views? Most of us also didn't understand that move. For example, In the UK, Huawei has put much effort into convincing the British government and general public that they and their procedures can be trusted, by (a) Setting up the Cyber Security Evaluation Centre in Banbury to ensure the quality of their equipment, and (b) Cooperating with the GCHQ, the UKs signals-intelligence agency, to ensure that the networking equipment and software is reliable and secure. For example, In the UK, Huawei has put much effort into convincing the British government and general public that they and their procedures can be trusted, by (a) Setting up the Cyber Security Evaluation Centre in Banbury to ensure the quality of their equipment, and (b) Cooperating with the GCHQ, the UKs signals-intelligence agency, to ensure that the, The European Business Review uses cookies to improve site functionality, provide you with a better browsing experience, and to enable our partners to advertise to you. We will rush towards and focus all of our efforts on this technology. First, embrace bureaucracy rather than rail against it. During China's Cultural Revolution, I designed a small instrument using my math skills, and actually received recognition from the government for this device. Ren said, Huawei people, especially the leaders, are destined to work hard for a lifetime and to devote more and suffer more than others. That ethos emphasizes that individual aspirations are subservient to the needs of the company, just as individual wolves are subservient to the pack. Huawei, one of the biggest company focusing on making communication tools like cellphones, is famous all over the world. However, Ren zhengfei and Huawei made it in the end. Do people know what type of leader you are and what to expect when they interact with you? The criticism was scathing, including from McKinsey and other top consulting firms. After learning from the West for almost 20 years, Huawei has established an increasingly standardized and institutional decision-making system. We have reflected on this a lot. He is the founder as well as founder of, Huawei Technologies Co.Ltd. During World War II, there was a famous Il-2 aircraft that kept flying after being riddled with bullets from both other planes and anti-air defenses. We invest heavily in our focus area. After all these upheavals, she has changed her mind and doesn't want to leave. The story goes that Zhengfei was so moved by the work done in those labs that he cried. As society moved forward, AI was made possible. To give you a simple example. Our employees are used to the way I speak. The best illustration of how rewards are shared is the fact that Zhengfei only holds 1.4% of the companys total share capital whereas 82,471 employees hold the rest of the shares (stated in Huaweis 2014 Annual report, as of December 31, 2014). One of the consistent qualities that have been attributed to Ren Zhengfei is his ability to inspire others. For more information, visit www.cnbc.com. Steve Jobs and Tim Cook have managed to turn Apple to an iconic brand. High-OQ leaders send messages that reinforce the strategy and minimize other messaging. Is this a battle for you? February 9, 2021. The US has highly developed technology, but it also has a shortage in labor. And there is concern that some of these large technology companies just have too much power. You dont want to be like John DeLorean, who battled nearly everything on his way up in and then out of General Motors. Is that something you would welcome? Decisions were taken much slower than in the first more chaotic years of the company and fear existed that the bravery and courage underlying the companys striving for innovation would disappear. As a matter of fact, one of the strengths that people usually refer to when talking about Huaweis founder is that he is always thinking about the kind of company he wants Huawei to be in the next 10 years. Zhengfei made this very clear when he said: I do not know anything about technology, but I can bring people together to work for the collective. He is praised for his desire to hire better people in the areas he is weak in, with the ultimate goal to improve the quality of Huawei products and services. Executives may want to develop these OQ competencies on the way up the ladder and theyll certainly need them if they are to succeed at the most senior levels. Again, he ties this in part back to their ownership structure:. Gradually, we have become a leader in this narrow, focused area. Arjun Kharpal: Have you tried to reach out to the president to speak to him about it? The major form of analog control was a proportional-integral-derivative control. I would be afraid that they would pull out suddenly and stop doing business with us. Even if AI poses other threats, we can manage them with laws and rules. For example, in the early years of Huawei (Phase 1), he regularly told stories to employees that he believed that in 20 years Huawei would have 1/3 of the market share in the world, despite the fact that at that time Huawei only employed about 200 employees. This does mean though that many translators and stock analysts and the like will lose their jobs. A Division of NBCUniversal. We just focus on a single point. Later, that company stopped working with us. Sheryl Sandberg is well-known for combining social skills and intelligence in a way that allowed her to break up the boys club at Facebook. It commemorates the long-ago day when CEO Zhang Ruimin pulled 76 refrigerators off the production line. We only focus on edge computing. After we were discharged, we were assigned to different places across China. Required fields are marked *. She will be a hero if she makes it back to us. In fact, the recent and growing success of Huawei in Europe can also be attributed partly in addition to their service-oriented focus (see again the point of purpose-driven ambition) to their philosophy of explicitly incorporating a strategy to develop cooperative relationships with competitors in the market. I think currently AI has greatly improved productivity. Second, thanks to the Western management approaches we brought in, our operational costs were also kept low. And also, some countries have also said that Huawei could be a risk because it could work for the Chinese government and carry out espionage on behalf of Beijing. Arjun Kharpal: Do you have a succession plan in place when you eventually do retire? For example, Huawei equipment broke down frequently, so Huawei technical engineers went to customer equipment rooms to repair the equipment at night when the equipment was not being used. Nothing we've achieved would give us the right to neglect any laws or overlook the technologies of any country. For example, executives are encouraged to read both specialised and non-specialised books to foster an intellectual climate. We are supportive of this. In 1994, Huawei is still a company that has been working for no more than seven years. (This is where EQ can support OQ. ) I would like to express my own opinions instead of as a Huawei representative. Arjun Kharpal: Mr. Ren, you talk a lot about the distance between Huawei and the Chinese government. In the early years Huawei had the tradition to regularly invite scholars from the East and the West to talk about the histories of their countries. So you said she doesn't want to leave anymore. Ren Zhengfei now serves as a deputy chairman of the board of directors. President Trump hasn't shared his thoughts with me. Before moving to UK, he was a Professor of Management at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. If the US opens its telecom industry and its operators say they are going to purchase tens of billions of dollars in equipment from us, I wouldn't believe it and wouldn't be willing to make billions of investments. Mr. Ren: I don't know. One key OQ competency is sending messages that reinforce the strategy. In the Qingdao headquarters of the Chinese company Haier stands a display case containing a sledgehammer. This approach transformed Huawei into a company of strivers and fueled rapid business growth. When he talks about his skills and qualities he always emphasises that he is not the most knowledgeable. As a leader he was used to delivering a vision and as a mentor he was guiding his employees towards their goal. At that time, China was just beginning with its reform and open-up policy, and was paying more attention to technology, talent, and knowledge. According to him, Huawei should be focused on building a company where peoples minds are the main asset and resource to rely on. Arjun Kharpal: Mr. Ren, you said you haven't spoken to Mr. Trump, but what do you think of his leadership style and his tactics? Tanks can cross a swamp, but needles can pierce hard things through. A common theme in everything that Ren Zhengfei as a leader undertakes is the ability to reflect, think and act. Combining storage and computing will enable devices to run faster. To stay one step ahead of your competition, sign up today to our exclusive newsletters to receive exciting insights and vital know-how that you can apply today to drastically accelerate your performance. We did not know that these small things were designed to connect the whole city or even the whole world. One defining feature of the Huawei culture is that it is able to bring together opposing forces and tendencies. If so, what did she say to you? People will be afraid of getting trapped there. This will change the architecture proposed by John Von Neumann. At the time, the market economy was beginning to take shape in China, at least in coastal cities. 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