Are You a Terrible Boss? Use the 3 Mirrors of Emperor Li Shimin to Find Out
Learnings from one of the best Chinese emperors in history
Learnings from one of the best Chinese emperors in history
Do you notice that the best founders are not always the best managers? Founders who become great CEOs are extremely rare: Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. A study in the early 2000s found that only 25% of the founders remained CEOs during the company’s IPO. In my personal experience, an outside hire replaced the founder as CEO before IPO, too.
The same phenomenon is seen in nation-building. It was often the case that the trailblazers who won countless battles to consolidate power and purge opposition could not build a peaceful and prosperous empire. Some famous examples are Mao Zedong and Winston Churchill, who were excellent “inspirational generals” but not the best “civil engineers.”
However, one Emperor has a unique mark in history, who managed to conceive one of the longest dynasties in Chinese history: Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty. His era is considered a golden age in ancient Chinese history. His reign became the exemplary model for all future emperors (not just in China, but also in other countries.)
Ray Dalio mentions that Emperor Li Shimin was one of the most extraordinary leaders who took China through the civil war, consolidated power, and built institutions and systems that worked fabulously for a long time after them- and did it at scale. He only mentions Caesar Augustus and Genghis Khan as the only other leaders who could accomplish this.
In the Book of the Old Tang, it is written that during Emperor Li Shimin’s era,
“houses no longer locked their doors (because thieves were no longer present) and travelers no longer carried food on their journeys (because it was provided at their destinations).”
An astonishing achievement in medieval times.
Although his knowledge has timeless nuggets useful in everyday life, the book summarizing his reign, The Political Program in Zhenguan Times, has not been translated into English. I aim to distill some of the learnings from this book and answer,
How to avoid losing sight of yourself with the power you gained?
How to maintain and grow a prosperous and peaceful empire?
I believe the insights are transferrable to the modern empires of our times: startups and company management. More specifically, these learnings are helpful for new managers or people dealing with difficult bosses. I know we all have experienced a demanding boss to work with.
Historical Context: The Importance of Emperor Li Shimin
I want to first introduce how great Emperor Li Shimin was for the curious history buffs. You can skip this part if you wish.
China is a vast land with multiple tribes making it extremely difficult to unite under one empire. The Qin dynasty was the first dynasty that succeeded in uniting China after the Warring States Period (500 years of fierce wars) but lasted only 15 years. Emperor Qin Shi Huang was tyrannical during his years and embarked on ambitious projects such as building the Great Wall of China and massacring those practicing Confucianism.
Similarly, the Sui dynasty (one before the Tang dynasty) lasted only 37 years. Emperor Yangdi embarked on ambitious projects that strained the economy and angered the resentful workforce employed.
So, coming into his reign, Emperor Li Shimin was terrified. He was terrified of losing his control exceptionally quickly, just like his predecessors. So he voraciously studied ancient Chinese history and the teachings of Confucius. With the principles he has learned, he built one of the greatest dynasties of our history.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of one of the longest dynasties in Japan (1600–1867), also admired the book as an essential text for governance. It remains, to this day, a highly regarded textbook as a utopian model of ideal government.
The 3 Mirrors
Which is more difficult, to create or to sustain?
Emperor Li Shimin believed that one of the reasons for the demise of Empires was the tendency to resort to corruption upon gaining power.
Once you gain power, it is easy to lose sight of yourself and easily corrupt your decision-making. Lord Acton famously mentioned that power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Similarly, Emperor Li Shimin had seen the pitfalls of power corruption with the previous emperors and decided to use three mirrors to keep himself grounded.
“When one uses a bronze mirror, one can adjust the clothes and cap. When one uses the past events as a mirror, one comprehends the rise and fall of a nation. When one uses a person as a mirror, a remonstrator, one sees one’s success and missteps.”
In short,
1) Reflect yourself in the mirror and check if you have a cheerful, bright, and attractive appearance (bronze mirror)
2) Learn history because there are the only materials to help predict future events (mirror of history)
3) Accept the harsh direct words and words of subordinates (mirror of people)
I believe the final point propelled Emperor Li Shimin to one of the greatest dynasties.
This concept was especially new in ancient Chinese times when the Emperor’s power was absolute, and if you criticized them, you were killed. There is a word called “Kangen” in Chinese, which means pointing out and giving superiors advice by pointing out their shortcomings.
Li Shimin practiced the concept of “Kangen” religiously and did not complain or get angry when people criticized him. However, to get the highest level of criticism, he appointed the immediate subordinate of the enemy that was trying to kill him. It is said that he appointed seven people to criticize him without any filter continuously. Can you imagine doing that to yourself? Seven people continuously criticizing you in fine detail?
The subordinates did not hesitate to criticize him even in the later years of his reign, and they wrote him a document of ten points that he should improve on.
The level of scrutiny was surprisingly detailed. For instance, when Emperor Li Shimin wanted to buy a new bowl for his supper, his subordinates stopped him. The rationale was when you buy a new bowl; you would like to buy a new cup. When you get a new cup, you want to purchase extravagant drinks. When you purchase extravagant drinks, your parties will be lavish. What would citizens think if you had extravagant parties? Would you want to do that to yourself?
The constant feedback loop of always keeping yourself in check, despite a substantial rise in power, is what allowed him to be an Emperor that the people of China respected.
Conclusion
When I heard about this concept, albeit simple, I thought it was applicable in management principles of modern times.
I have seen the pitfalls of power corruption during the early years of our startup. Upon gaining some form of power, people who were not used to managing before resorted to authoritative management tactics, creating toxic work environments. The main issue was that they could not take criticisms from other colleagues.
I believe 360-degree feedback loops which gain feedback from supervisors, subordinates, and colleagues aim to solve some of the short-sightedness. Still, one of the issues is that the incentives for giving feedback are not aligned. Therefore, you have to be wary that giving criticism takes effort, thought, and energy and the applicable incentives need to be placed for the feedback process to be fruitful.
If you want to be a great boss, remember to utilize the three mirrors used by Emperor Li Shimin. If you keep them in the back of your mind you may be able to avoid building toxic work environments and create sustainable, healthy companies.