Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.
Interpretation
Managing a complex organization requires careful handling and attention to detail.
This quote by Laozi suggests that governing or leading a large entity, such as a state, is akin to the delicate process of boiling a small fish; both require precision and caution. Just as overcooking a fish can ruin it, poor management or heavy-handedness in leadership can lead to failure or chaos within a large organization.
In practice
This quote can inspire a team leader to approach a project with care and thoughtfulness.
If you understand others you are smart._x000D_ If you understand yourself you are illuminated._x000D_ If you overcome others you are powerful._x000D_ If you overcome yourself you have strength._x000D_ If you know how to be satisfied you are rich._x000D_ If you can act with vigor, you have a will._x000D_ If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting._x000D_ If you die without loss, you are eternal.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.
Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.
What leaders have in common is that each really knows their strengths, has developed their strengths, and can call on the right strength at the right time.
The true minister is in his pulpit not because he has chosen that profession as an easy means of livelihood, but because he could not help it, because he has obeyed an imperious summons that will not be denied.
...Ponnammal set the example for the others by quietly doing what they did not care to do. Her spirit created a new climate in the place, and the time came when there was not one nurse who would refuse to do whatever needed to be done.
I go to the chair of government with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.
Iβd like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts. Thatβs how Iβd like to be remembered.
My grandmother was kind, but she knew what she wanted and she wasn't afraid to give a command. When, eventually, I ran my own kitchen, I realized I had a leadership model reaching back into my earliest memories.
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