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CaSE aPPLICatION 3 CHAPTER 12 • Leadership and Trust 409
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Leading Without Intervention

hih Wing-Ching is a self-made billionaire in Hong time secondary school education for grassroots were not
Kong’s booming capitalist arena, where so many people widespread in those days. He did not just focus on textbook
Shave lifted themselves out of poverty. theories but also shared his critical thinking and creative
Shih started the Centaline Property Agency with a friend thoughts.
in 1978 and built it into the one of the largest real estate Shih told his children that people should rely on no one but
brokers in Hong Kong and China. themselves. He said, “Glory comes
To date, Centaline has over 30,000 Practicing LEADERSHIP only from self-accomplishment.
employees working in 30 cities on Reliance on family deprives one of
the Mainland. WISDOM from ancient the opportunities of hard-work and
Shih adopts a freewheeling ap- China self-discovery, leading to an unful-
proach to business and parenting. filled life.” 80
He follows Chinese sage Laozi’s Shih’s case is also a good ex-
philosophy of managing without intervention, allowing his ample of how a good leader should be able to make appropri-
employees to develop and work on their own ideas. Centaline ate use of internal and external resources available to achieve
is an innovative company, and they were a pioneer to offer the final goals.
consumers property information via the internet and electronic His liberal approach in parenting is in conflict with the
maps. The company allows its brokers to specialize in specific discipline espoused by his wife, a teacher. “I contradict her all
segments. This is similar to Google, 3M and other innovative the time regarding our children's upbringing. She thinks that
companies in the west in that it allows the staff to work on their children need to study before exams. I think that it’s OK, or
own projects. In the end, staff members are very motivated even better, to study after exams. Those who study after exams
and work happily with increased levels of creativity and a high will be smarter.” 81
sense of responsibility. Shih practices what he preaches. He Shih demonstrates that leadership is not about one time
manages his businesses and his family this way, which allows success. Strong and good leadership is a process of continuous
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them to grow naturally under a self-organized mode. Shih’s review, control and fine tuning.
model innovates by rewarding employees at his two compa-
nies, right down to the lowest organizational level. Discussion Questions
“My management style at Centaline is like that of ancient
emperors in China, who divided the empire into duchies and let 12-23 After reading this case, how would you best describe Shih’s
leadership style?
the dukes rule the roost,” he says. “I call it a jungle-style devel- 12-24 What should be done by top level managers in order to carry
opment model, where each tree is independent. This contrasts out management without interference?
with the big tree-style development model. The trunk support- 12-25 Do you think Shih’s management or leadership style can be
ing the tree will buckle as the tree gets bigger and heavier.” 79 applied to other industries? Explain using examples.
Shih didn’t go to university. He began teaching at a night 12-26 Shih stated that glory only comes from self-accomplishment.
school run by leftists which was common at that time as day Explain whether you agree or disagree with Shih.