In the commercial world, "American Factory" is a work that has caused quite a stir.
Set against the backdrop of the '08 U.S. financial crisis, it sheds light on how Chinese companies took over and operated failed U.S. factories, as well as the lives and working conditions of thousands of blue-collar workers.
And all this is inseparable from a key person - Cao Dewang.
As the head of the world's largest automotive glass manufacturer, and the first Chinese to win the "Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award", his presence has undoubtedly become a highlight of the film.
Cao Dewang, who is the philanthropist who donated tens of billions of yuan, is what people call "China's first benevolent", and he is also a staunch nationalist fighter.
He said: "I am Chinese, and the focus of my career must be in China. ”
What shaped his beliefs and life?
It was the hard years of the early years, including herding cattle, selling cigarettes, dumping mountain goods, and then working as a coolie ...... the construction site
These are testimonies of his tenacity.
At the beginning of his life, he didn't have many chips, but he finally won the battle of fate.
People were amazed at what he had accomplished, and curious about his story of counterattack.
At the age of 68, Cao Dewang chose to record his story and experience and published his autobiography - "Heart of Bodhi".
When you finish reading this book, you will understand a truth: the key to determining a person's wealth and poverty is not actually fate, but his thinking mode.
Just like a Bodhi tree, no matter what the environment is, as long as you take care of it with your heart, there will always be unexpected gains.
01 Turning the corner
Cao Dewang in the book has been nicknamed "Little India" since he was a child, with a dark complexion and short stature.
When he was nine years old, he was in elementary school, and his family of eight was crowded together, his father worked hard all the year round, and his mother took six children to live on a few acres of thin fields.
He gets up before dawn every day to work, but he is always drowsy during class, which makes the teacher angry.
Five years later, he was dissuaded from school and became a vagrant.
But he wasn't discouraged. Instead, he chose to sell tobacco with his father, gaining experience and developing a unique business philosophy: to make money, you have to be flexible.
When planting white fungus with the villagers, everyone was about to bald in order to reduce the price. He always complains that "grain cheapness hurts farmers".
But Cao Dewang heard that the purchase price outside the province was twice as high as here! So he patted his thigh and stopped planting, took out all his savings to collect local fungus at a low price, and directly sent it to Jiangxi to sell.
That trip not only brought back rich rewards, but also opened a new chapter in his life.
With no background and no academic qualifications, he successfully earned the first pot of gold in his life with his unique wisdom and tenacity.
I have heard the saying: "If water wants to reach a great river, you need to skillfully avoid all obstacles and keep turning."
It's the same with life, sometimes you get stuck and there's no way out.
But don't be discouraged, look at that Cao Dewang, who did not listen to the arrangement of fate after dropping out of school, but chose a new path to business.
When it comes to business, he doesn't stick to old rules and always tries his best to find new ways out. ”
When the road is blocked, try to turn around, so that the front of life will be bright and bright.
02 Altruistic thinking
Cao Dewang's fungus business is as continuous as flowing water, but it was forcibly cut off by the iron fist of ** in a misunderstanding. Hundreds of catties of fungus came to naught, leaving only deep sighs and helplessness.
The loss of money did not end his troubles, but instead plunged him deeper into debt.
Just as he was on the way alone, he was forcibly taken to the construction site for on-site labor.
Although his enthusiasm for buying and selling made him forget about his exhaustion for a while, he also accumulated debts to collective units as a result.
However, on the third day of his new life, a sudden fire swept through the construction site, and everything was instantly turned to ashes.
The lives of more than 200 people were thrown into chaos and unrest, and they called out for help from those in charge.
At this moment, Cao Dewang looked at the devastated scene and whispered to the haggard leader: "I have some experience in repairing vehicles, do you need help?"
The battalion commander pondered for a moment and decisively set up a garage for Cao Dewang.
He knew that the site could only be restarted if the trucks were back in operation.
In the days that followed, Cao Dewang spent 28 days in this makeshift hut.
Until everything returned to normal, the leaders seemed to have forgotten about him.
It wasn't until the New Year that everyone was surprised to find that Cao Dewang had stuck here.
The leader was full of guilt, but in order to make up for his mistakes, he decided to give three times the compensation.
In addition, he personally intervened to help solve the problem and successfully helped him get back the detained fungus.
Seeing such a scene, he couldn't help but want to write such a sentence in the book: Helping others has always been my original intention, and now it seems that I have benefited the most!
Kazuo Inamori once said that living life with altruism can improve one's sense of accomplishment and happiness.
The right way to do things will eventually feed back to you, which is beneficial to everyone.
However, the attitude of striving to be the first in everything and calculating everywhere may overdraw the good fortune.
A better option is to help others when they are in trouble and build a good relationship with the world.
Whether it's to make money or behave in the world, you must follow the rules of karma.
Understanding and accepting this can help you set yourself on a healthier and more rewarding path in life.
03Focus on thinking
When the construction of the construction site came to an end, Cao Dewang was floated to Shandou Farm like a fallen leaf to take on the role of salesman. However, there is a greater ambition in his heart.
As his contacts and experience grew, he decided to return to his hometown and start a township business that produced glass.
Little did he know at the time that this would be his life's work.
It was a long and fulfilling journey from humble water meter glass to a brave venture into automotive glass.
In the early days of the business, he was as busy as a never-ending spinning top, and he didn't even have time to get sick.
At that time, he was like a stone that had been sharpened, forging ahead in the river of life, bearing all kinds of pressures and challenges.
When he finally saw the day when the company began to make a profit, someone secretly stumbled and falsely accused him**.
In the face of such a dilemma, he did not give up, but chose to face it bravely and persevere to the end.
However, when they went abroad, they encountered the problem of not adapting to the soil and water, and they were losing money for several years in a row.
At that time, the Chinese people scolded him as a "profiteer" and said that he was mercenary.
But instead of being defeated, he strengthened his beliefs and moved on.
In the United States, he was taken to court for dumping.
It was 2001, and many companies were forced to abandon overseas markets because of the lawsuit.
But Cao Dewang decided that he would fight to the end. It was a long three-year litigation battle, and the process was full of hardships and hardships.
In the end, the scales tipped in favor of Cao Dewang, and he and Fuyao Company won.
His tenacity and perseverance have earned him respect and praise.
He has proven his worth with his actions, winning recognition not only at home but also abroad.
This is Cao Dewang, an entrepreneur who has always adhered to his original intention and moved forward bravely.
On the stage of "Let's Talk", an audience member asked suspiciously: "Mr. Cao, why haven't you extended your business tentacles to other fields?" ”
He smiled faintly and replied, "Everyone knows that I am extremely dull, and I have only focused on making a piece of glass all my life." ”
He has worked extensively in the fields of renovation, real estate, petrol stations and high-tech to seek breakthroughs. However, all this is just a process of his temptation and pursuit of new knowledge.
He is constantly reminding himself that everyone's energy is limited and that finding their place is crucial.
He knows diversification is a good option, but he prefers to stay focused rather than expand.
No matter how difficult it was, he was determined to do a good job in the glass factory.
In the book "Heart of Bodhi", Cao Dewang gives us a vivid example.
He said that the sun's light was hot, but it had little power when dispersed.
However, if you use a magnifying glass to gather sunlight, it can instantly burn through clothing and even cause even more damage.
This is just like being a human being, only with "focused thinking" can you condense all your energy and do things to the extreme.
Choosing one thing in life and doing it consistently is the way to success.
List of high-quality authors
04 Bottom-line thinking
When I read a chapter of this book, I was deeply moved.
Two of these things stuck with me for a long time.
The first was in 2000, when Cao Dewang learned that an employee, Bai Dinggui, was suffering from advanced liver cancer, and he did whatever it took to do it. It cost 200,000 before and after.
At first, Bai Dinggui's father was grateful to him and called him a "living bodhisattva", but after Bai Dinggui's death, he seemed to be a different person, not only was he not grateful, but he also brought a group of relatives to **, shouting for Fuyao to compensate.
He made a request for his youngest son to take over Bai Dinggui's position and become a regular employee of Fuyao.
Cao Dewang instantly became angry after hearing this, and suddenly got up and shouted: Take the person in front of you and leave here!
Otherwise I will have to consider a legal way to resolve the issue.
The old man was stunned when he saw it, he always thought that he was the bodhisattva who was compassionate and responsive, but he didn't expect his methods to be so angry!
In the end, the family left Fuyao crying, getting nothing and receiving no compensation.
The second story takes place after July.
That year, one of the company's employees unfortunately contracted leukemia.
Although there was a lesson from the past, Cao Dewang did not change his degree because of this, but did his best to raise funds for this employee, and finally spent nearly 800,000 yuan to snatch him back from the hands of death.
Some people wondered, "Cao Dewang, does he have principles?" ”
He said: "To be a person and do things, you must have a bottom line, do something, and don't do something."
This is the basic guideline.
The heart of compassion cannot see death without salvation, it is a kind of 'doing something.'
At the same time, it is also necessary to adhere to the principle, not to be kidnapped by morality, and to refuse non-trivial requests, which is 'not to do something'. ”
The bottom line is that it is the foundation of being a human being and the center of life.
With bottom-line thinking, we can not be disturbed by the outside world and keep our original intention unchanged. ”
05 Think big
Cao Dewang mentions an interesting experience in the book.
In 1987, due to the needs of his work, he led a team to Finland for an investigation.
For people of that era, it was undoubtedly a rare opportunity to be able to go abroad at public expense.
Some people will seize this opportunity to save a handful and bring back an electrical appliance or something for their family.
So how do you save it?
That is to cheekily rub the food of overseas Chinese, or honestly eat instant noodles in the hotel.
But Mr. Cao firmly forbids such behavior, stressing that expenses must be centrally managed.
In his opinion, after going abroad, you should eat normally, enjoy life, and even generously invite local overseas Chinese to dine together.
Some people were dissatisfied with this, but Cao Dewang said firmly: "We go out to represent China, don't embarrass the motherland!" ”
Cao Dewang once said in the afterword of "Heart of Bodhi": "I firmly believe in three ideas - the country is strong because of you, the society is progressive because of your contributions, and the people are richer because of your existence.
This is not an empty slogan, but a conclusion that I have reached over the years. ”
He is a business tycoon and a pioneer in philanthropy.
Along the way, he devoted much of his energy to philanthropy.
From the initial donation of tables and chairs to township primary schools, to the later sponsorship of villagers to hold sports meetings, and then to the establishment of a huge Heren Charity Association, he has become a generation of "China's first charity".
Cao Dewang's success is not accidental, but he sees the problem very far-reaching and does things very comprehensively.
This is what a person with a big picture should look like.
The enterprise is like a towering mountain.
Employees see a mountain of income**, and they expect to be paid on time.
The supervisor has his sights set on the summit of the mountain, eager to improve the department's performance and lead the team to greater heights.
And the boss has a big vision, he focuses on the overall value of the mountain, and profit is only part of it.
Successful entrepreneurs are more like the ones who look for treasure.
In their pursuit of profits, they also look up at their surroundings, looking beyond the boundaries of the enterprise and looking into the wider world in search of more valuable possibilities.
So the real big picture is a kind of thinking, a way of thinking that can not only appreciate the solid place under your feet, but also look into the distance and broaden your horizons.
In a lively charity gala, entrepreneurs gathered around Cao Dewang to hear about his legendary life.
They were so fascinated that they even suggested that Cao Dewang write an autobiography so that everyone could know his wonderful story.
Cao Dewang was moved by everyone's enthusiasm, so he also started the idea of writing a book.
Not long after, he invited a few writer friends, and the original plan was for him to dictate someone else's ghostwriting, and a book would be published.
But unfortunately, no matter how others polish it, he can't look down on it.
In the end, he chose to write it himself.
In the process of writing "Heart Like Bodhi", Cao Dewang suddenly realized that under the precipitation of the years, the past is like a clear picture scroll in front of him.
He has a path in his heart, one end is barren childhood memories, and the other points to the boundless future.
This path is the path he pursues and explores.
This book is not only a book, but also a portrayal of the life of a successful person.
May you and I gain deep insight from the Heart of Bodhi, learn the way of thinking of a wise man, and then confidently embark on our own path in life.
Author: Jennifer.