Chapter 5570: What are your orders?

Zhao Desan drank his tea while casually picking up the newspaper to read. He waited in the reception room of the Environmental Protection Bureau for a full half-hour, burning with impatience, before a staff member finally came to tell him that Director Zhao had arrived.

Zhao Desan stood up, put on a stern face, and pushed open the door to Director Zhao's office. Seeing that it was the head of the District Committee, Director Zhao immediately greeted him with a face full of smiles: "Secretary Zhao, you've come. Please, sit, please sit."

Zhao Desan sat on the sofa with a displeased look. Director Zhao hurriedly arranged for someone to serve tea and took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes to offer Zhao Desan one, lighting it with a lighter. Seeing that Zhao Desan's expression was not very good, he stood timidly to the side, wondering what business the young District Committee Secretary had coming to the Environmental Protection Bureau so early in the morning.

Zhao Desan took a puff of the cigarette, glanced at Director Zhao, and said, "Director Zhao, you really need to correct your work style. How long has it been since work started? I've been waiting for you in the reception room for over half an hour. If everyone were like you, would we still be able to get any work done?"

Director Zhao immediately explained with a fawning smile, "Secretary Zhao, well... there was a traffic jam on the road this morning, so... so I arrived a little late."

"Traffic is no excuse. If you know there's a traffic jam at this time every day, why don't you just leave ten minutes earlier?" Zhao Desan said, glancing at him with a stern face. "This work style of yours won't do!"

"Yes, yes, I will leave earlier in the future and will definitely arrive at the office on time," Director Zhao said, nodding timidly.

Seeing that his attitude toward admitting his mistake was quite good, the stern look Zhao Desan had been wearing softened slightly. He was well-versed in the art of a leader criticizing subordinates; for an official, mastering the art of criticism was essential. Criticism is unavoidable in the daily work of the officialdom; it is both an important incentive and an effective communication signal, playing a significant role in a leader's practice. However, it is also a leadership tool that many leaders often find unavoidable yet deeply hesitant to use. It must be recognized that this tool is not just a means to an end in a functional sense, but to a greater extent, an art that strikes at the heart. The reason criticism is an art is that it does not yield a certain result simply by meeting certain established conditions, but depends more on subtle, even ineffable intuition and realization, especially regarding the choice of the subject, timing, occasion, and method of the criticism. As the saying goes, "The subtlety of application lies in the heart." The clever use of the art of criticism can make a leader's work twice as effective with half the effort.

For those in the officialdom, criticism is one of the basic skills of leadership. Having spent so many years in the officialdom, Zhao Desan had finally gained control of the Chanba District. As the top leader, he naturally understood the necessity and importance of criticism. As a leader, daily work is, frankly, just criticism and praise. Not everyone is willing to do the work of praise, and the work of criticism is inevitably awkward, yet it cannot be avoided. Therefore, experience in criticism is very necessary. A leader who does not understand the meaning and role of criticism and only blindly tolerates subordinates will undoubtedly have a pile of problems in their work. A leader cannot always be a "good guy"; sometimes, necessary criticism must be carried out to strengthen discipline. If this is not done, the same mistakes will happen again. Appropriately using criticism to correct subordinates' mistakes is a leader's duty. From the perspective of management functions, those who dare not criticize subordinates are not qualified to be leaders. From the perspective of personal ability, a leader must have the confidence and courage to criticize subordinates, and the ability to discover and correct their mistakes and make them improve. Only with such qualities can one complete work with high efficiency and quality, and ensure that work goals are reached. But criticism is also a very difficult leadership art; it is like performing surgery—a slight mistake can hurt people.

Knowing when to offer what kind of criticism so as not to make the subordinate lose face is very important. Especially, one must know how to shift attitudes. Seeing that Director Zhao's attitude was very humble, Zhao Desan stopped pursuing the matter. After all, arriving late and leaving early was a normal phenomenon for leaders with some status in the officialdom. Being too harsh in criticizing Director Zhao for this would instead make him harbor resentment. Besides, the Environmental Protection Bureau was about to come down for an inspection, which was exactly when he needed Director Zhao to be effective.

Thus, Zhao Desan softened his attitude and pointed to the sofa: "Old Zhao, don't just stand there, sit."

Seeing that Zhao Desan's attitude had improved, Director Zhao hurriedly sat on the chair opposite him with a smile and asked, "Secretary Zhao, what orders do you have for coming here so early today?"

"Old Zhao, it's like this. This morning I received a call from a leader at the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau. Starting tomorrow, the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau will conduct a two-day environmental inspection of the chemical and energy enterprises in our district. Recently, I've had a small health issue and just told the city leaders that I'd like to rest for a few days. This work, you—"

*Far East Empire 5200*

"—is the Environmental Protection Bureau's duty, so you, Director Zhao, will be fully responsible." Zhao Desan stated his purpose directly.