Building Organizations That Endure: Leadership Lessons from The Six Secret Teachings

六韬与组织领导力：建设能够永续发展的组织

By Dr. Jian Zhang

Building Organizations, Not Just Winning Battles

Among China’s ancient classics, The Art of War is perhaps the best known around the

world. Yet another remarkable work, The Six Secret Teachings (六韜), traditionally

attributed to Jiang Ziya（姜子牙), offers a broader vision of leadership. While The Art

of War focuses on achieving victory, The Six Secret Teachings explores how leaders

build organizations, cultivate talent, establish governance, and create institutions that

endure.

If The Art of War teaches us how to win, The Six Secret Teachings teaches us how to

build.

This distinction is especially relevant today. Whether leading a healthcare system, a

corporation, a university, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency, success is

no longer measured solely by short-term performance. Great leadership is measured by

the ability to build organizations that continue to create value long after the leader has

stepped away.

Leadership Begins with Trust

Jiang Ziya understood that lasting organizations are built on trust rather than authority.

He argued that the strength of a nation begins with the confidence of its people. The

same principle applies to modern organizations. Employees who trust their leaders

become engaged. Patients who trust their healthcare providers are more likely to seek

care and follow medical guidance. Communities that trust their institutions become

partners rather than observers.

During my years as CEO of Chinese Hospital, I witnessed the power of trust during the

COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical expertise, operational excellence, and strategic planning

were all essential. Yet our greatest advantage was the trust we had built with the

Chinese American community over many decades. That trust enabled rapid public

health education, testing, vaccination, and community collaboration when they were

needed most.

Leadership begins not with authority, but with credibility.

Great Leaders Develop More Leaders

One of the enduring themes throughout The Six Secret Teachings is the importance of

identifying, developing, and empowering talented people.

Organizations should never depend on a single extraordinary leader. Sustainable

organizations create leadership capacity throughout every level of the institution.

Looking back on my own career, I do not define success only by hospitals expanded,

programs created, or financial results achieved. I find my greatest satisfaction in seeing

former colleagues become successful executives, physicians become organizational

leaders, and emerging professionals continue serving their communities with confidence

and purpose.

Leadership is not about becoming indispensable.

Leadership is about making others successful.

Institutions Matter More Than Individuals

History remembers great leaders, but history is sustained by great institutions.

Jiang Ziya recognized that individuals eventually retire, move on, or pass away.

Organizations that rely entirely on one person rarely endure. Those that establish sound

governance, strong organizational culture, clear accountability, and leadership

continuity are far more likely to thrive across generations.

This lesson has become increasingly meaningful to me as I transitioned from CEO to

board advisor, executive coach, professor, and founder of leadership development

initiatives. One of a leader’s greatest responsibilities is preparing the organization for a

future that no longer depends upon that leader.

Leadership creates momentum.

Institutions preserve it.

Organizational Capacity Is the Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Many people think of strategy as competition.

The Six Secret Teachings offers a deeper perspective.

The greatest strategic advantage is not defeating competitors—it is building

organizational capacity.

That capacity is created through capable people, effective governance, healthy culture,

disciplined execution, continuous learning, and a shared mission. These qualities

cannot be developed during a crisis. They must be cultivated every day.

Crises simply reveal whether an organization has prepared well.

The strongest organizations are not those that avoid challenges, but those that continue

learning, adapting, and growing through them.

A Timeless Lesson for Modern Leaders

More than two thousand years after it was written, The Six Secret Teachings continues

to offer profound guidance for leaders around the world.

Its greatest lesson is remarkably simple.

Leadership is not measured by how much success we personally achieve.

Leadership is measured by whether the organization continues to flourish after we

leave.

For today’s CEOs, board directors, healthcare executives, educators, entrepreneurs,

and community leaders, the most important question is not: “What did I accomplish?”

Instead, we should ask: “What organization did I leave behind?”

Great leaders do more than achieve success.

They build organizations that continue creating opportunities, developing leaders,

serving communities, and improving lives for generations to come.

~~~

六韬与组织领导力：建设能够永续发展的组织

建设组织，而不仅仅是赢得胜利

在中国古代经典中，《孙子兵法》以战略思想闻名世界，而《六韬》则展现了更加完整的

领导智慧。相传由姜子牙所著，《六韬》不仅讨论如何取得胜利，更深入探讨如何建立组

织、培养人才、完善治理，并建设能够长久发展的制度。

如果说《孙子兵法》回答的是“如何取胜”，那么《六韬》回答的则是“如何建设”。

今天，无论是医院、企业、大学、非营利机构还是政府部门，领导者面对的挑战早已不仅

是完成一个项目或赢得一次竞争，而是建设一个能够持续创造价值、不断培养人才、不断

适应变化的组织。

领导始于信任

姜子牙认为，真正持久的组织不是建立在权力之上，而是建立在信任之上。

国家的力量来自人民的信任；组织的力量来自员工、客户、患者以及社区的信任。

担任中国医院CEO期间，我对此有着深刻的体会。新冠疫情期间，我们拥有专业的医疗

团队、快速的决策机制和完善的运营体系，但真正帮助我们保护华埠社区的，是百年来建

立起来的社区信任。正因为居民愿意相信医院、相信医生、相信公共卫生信息，我们才能

迅速推动检测、疫苗接种和社区合作。

领导真正的起点，不是权力，而是公信力。

伟大的领导者培养更多领导者

《六韬》始终强调识才、育才、用才的重要性。

组织不能依赖某一位英雄，而应建立持续培养领导人才的体系。

回顾自己的职业生涯，我最大的满足感并不仅来自组织的发展或项目的成功，而是看到许

多年轻领导者不断成长，承担起更大的责任，继续服务患者、组织和社区。

领导不是让别人依赖自己。

领导是帮助别人不断成长。

制度比个人更加重要

历史记住伟大的领导者，但真正延续历史的是伟大的制度。

姜子牙深知，没有任何一位领导者能够永远带领组织前进。真正能够持续发展的组织，依

靠的是完善的治理体系、健康的组织文化、明确的责任机制以及持续的人才培养。

这也是我退休后更加关注董事会治理、领导力发展和继任规划的重要原因。

领导者创造方向。

制度延续未来。

组织能力才是真正的竞争优势

许多人认为战略就是竞争。

《六韬》告诉我们，更重要的是建设竞争能力。

真正的组织能力来自优秀的人才、有效的治理、健康的文化、卓越的执行以及持续学习的

能力。

这些能力不会在危机来临时突然出现，而是在日复一日的管理实践中不断积累。

危机只是检验组织是否已经准备好。

真正优秀的组织，不是没有挑战，而是在挑战中不断学习、不断成长、不断创新。

给今天领导者的启示

两千多年后的今天，《六韬》依然给予现代领导者深刻的启发。

它告诉我们：领导力真正的价值，不是自己创造了多少成功，而是组织是否能够在自己离

开之后继续成长。

对于今天的CEO、董事、医院管理者、教育工作者、企业家和社区领袖而言，我们更应

该思考的问题不是：我完成了什么？”

而是：“我留下了一个怎样的组织？”

真正伟大的领导者，不只是创造今天的成功。

他们建设的是能够持续培养人才、持续服务社会、持续创造价值，并影响未来世代的组织