Hanfei did not rule out the importance of individual or dyadic levels
of leadership, as he proposed sophisticated manipulation tactics in
enhancing one’s power bases and dealing with dyadic relations. These
individual- and dyadic-level tactics serve to supplement and enhance
the effectiveness of legal institutions.
Although both Confucianists and Legalists upheld active leadership,
while differing in their focus, Daoists advocated non-action at the
individual, dyadic, and institutional levels. At the individual level,
leaders served as models of non-action, which meant viewing them-
selves as an integral part of the universe, accepting larger forces at
work, following the natural course of things, and cooperating with the
natural rhythms of life. At the interpersonal level, it meant loving
fellow human beings, and being cooperative and altruistic in dealing with
others. At the institutional level, non-action meant non-interference,
allowing self-rule and autonomy of the subunits and individual
members of the organization. Of the three levels of non-action, Daoism
focused on the individual level of the leader as much as Confucianism
didon self-cultivation;but instead of viewingthesage-ruler as themodel
of virtue, Daoism viewed the sage-ruler as the model of non-action.
Modern Chinese leadership theories and practices
Paternalism, socialism, and capitalism
The last few chapters of this book present major theories of leadership
and management that are very much alive in the thoughts and actions of
contemporary Chinese managers. Paternalistic leadership (Chapter 6)
is a theoretical model originating from research on owners of overseas
Chinese family businesses and has also been found to be part of the
leadership behavior of Chinese managers in mainland China. Much of
paternalism isrootedprimarily in Confucianism interms ofthe emphasis
on respect for hierarchy, benevolence, and the rule of morality. Paternal-
ism is a good illustration at the behavioral level of how the familial
model of the father–son relationship is extended to superior–subordinate
relationships in the modern workplace.
While the paternalistic philosophy is an exemplar of classic Confu-
cianism, the socialist ideology as represented by Mao and Deng appears
to be anti-Confucian. First, a proclaimed mission of the Chinese revolu-
tion led by the Communist Party was to eliminate inequality, namely, the
Introduction 13