4 July: American Dream Alive & Well... In China

On Fourth of July, Americans can rightly take immense pride in their American Dream – how, with ambition and hard work, everyone has the chance to make it. Yet, when it comes to inspiring the business world, what Westerners don’t realize is that it’s now the Chinese CEOs who have the biggest, longest-term dreams, and who are driven by the greatest individual and social good.

Over the past four years of writing ‘Dream To Last’, I’ve been the first Westerner to gain privileged direct access to over 200 of China’s biggest and most influential CEOs. The experience has been profound but also startling, as I have grown to appreciate just how different they are from their US and European counterparts.

Maybe I am getting a bit cynical, but with a few notable exceptions, hundreds of my conversations with Western CEOs have gone as follows. They will tell me how they are running a leading company that will deliver on their focus for shareholder value, and then talk about some incremental revenue and profit growth figures. All delivered in a responsible-sounding, passionless and rather scripted tone.

But as I meet the Chinese CEOs, I’m just lifted by the boldness of their audacity and unexpected passion and drive. The conversation always begins with the dream, which is typically characterized by three elements:

(1) They dream of global impact and outrageous wealth creation

Shufu Li, of Chinese carmaker Geely, told me with passion: “My dream is to see Geely vehicles driven all over the world; I want to see all cars go out from China rather than be imported into it.” With the acquisition of Volvo in 2010, he is making bold steps towards making that dream a reality.

The scale of their ambition is unprecedented. As Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce site Alibaba and a cult business figure in China said: “Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way.”

Chinese CEOs’ dreams are expressed in the billions, and increasingly in the trillions. False optimism? Not really – these dreams are rooted in the Chinese economic miracle that occurred in the three decades since it opened up again to the world. In this time, companies like Liu Chuanzhi’s Lenovo have amassed large fortunes, becoming the no. 2 global PC maker and a respected global company.

(2) They dream in centuries and decades

In contrast to Western CEOs, who are focused on quarters and the financial year-end, Chinese CEOs focus in on their ‘North Star’, which will guide them and their companies decades and centuries ahead.

My friend Huang Nubo, chairman of Zhongkun Group, made a stir back in 2011, when he tried to buy 300 square kilometers of land in Iceland in order to build a resort. “My final dream is to build a 100-year company,” he told me, “this means my company is still running even after I pass away.”

He is echoed by Lui Ruiqi, chairman of Heng Yuan Xiang Group, who says: “For me, a person’s life is not measured by the numbered of years they are alive, but by how long history remembers them. My mindset is to build a 100-year company.”

Why such an expansive focus on legacy? It’s a result of the fact that China had historically never been that stable – its CEOs often came from extreme poverty, forever warned by parents who lost their livelihoods in the Cultural Revolution that nothing is forever.

(3) They dream of the social rather than individual good

In the past, the accusation was that Chinese CEOs were obsessed with individual enrichment and low-hanging fruit. Kaifu Lee, Founder of Innovation Works, defends them: “For global leaders I say don’t look down on Chinese CEOs as money focused and not visionary strategists, they are the result of China’s past.” He believes that there is a big shift taking place. While Chinese CEOs are not perfect, and there is no denying that are still big issues to do with corruption and IP infringements in China, Kaifu balances this: “they have done great things for the world; they have helped reduce costs and create healthy competition.”

The reality is that many Chinese CEOs have now earned enough money for themselves and their family and are increasingly driven by bigger and more noble aims, such as to how to give something back to their country, society or the next generation. One of the catalysts for this shift is the China Entrepreneur Club (CEC). Founded by the visionary Lui Donghua, there is no western precedent. The CEC’s stated aim is that it is “dedicated to promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship alongside the sustainable development of the economy and society.” The best way to visualize it is as a group of Chinese CEOs, equivalent in size to the Fortune 50, who are friends, travel the world together and try to foster a collaborative spirit.

The new regime dares to dream

Up until now, the Chinese CEOs have ahead of their political masters in the currency of dreams. That has all changed, however, with the new “Chinese Dream” of incoming president Xi Jinping, which he says will be the guiding philosophy for his leadership. In his first speech as president in March 2013, he said: “All Chinese people deserve equal opportunities to enjoy a prosperous life, see their dreams come true and benefit together from the country’s development.”

State newspaper China Daily emphasized the collective angle, adding, “It is a dream of the entire nation as well as of every individual, and it cannot be realized without the arduous efforts of all Chinese people.” It is fantastic to hear that so-called ‘dream walls’ are appearing in schools and universities, where students are encouraged to write down their own dreams. It is fair to caution, however, that if this next generation of Chinese youth are ever to leapfrog their American cousins in innovation, they will have to work much harder to exercise their muscles of free thinking.

Assessing the potential for the “Chinese Dream”, Peggy Liu, founder of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE) notes: “Success in the ‘American Dream used to just mean a house, a family of four, and two cars, but now it’s escalated to conspicuous consumption as epitomized by Kim Kardashian. China simply cannot follow that path – or the planet will be stripped bare of natural resources to make all that the Chinese consumers want to consume.” She argues that the creation of a sustainable Chinese Dream that breaks the historic link between income growth and rising resource consumption could be a part of a new identity, one that could resonate around the world.

The Chinese Dream is partly a political slogan about “national rejuvenation” and restoring China’s place in the world. For Westerners however, there could be something to take from the emphasis on collective endeavor, rather than just the individual responsibility which is so central to the American Dream. There is something about the sense of doing something bigger that creates another level of passion, energy and belief.

Realizing the dream in both East and West

The perception of the Chinese is that they copy us rather than learn from us, and that we don’t have much to learn from them. The reality is that we need the best of both Eastern and Western approaches to business, but that can only happen if there’s to be a much greater understanding of China and Chinese leaders.

Chinese CEOs’ real struggle is making their dreams a reality. Execution is their biggest challenge –many of them struggle to trust their team, they are burning themselves out, and are so exhausted that they haven’t mastered yet how to run an organization.

Xi Jinping himself acknowledges that “to realise the Chinese road” requires more than just the Chinese spirit, rather opening up to “the spirit of the time with reform and innovation as the core”. Yet, in seeking solutions, the Chinese shouldn’t blindly adopt the failing traditional Western professional management systems.

Rising above those traditional profit-driven corporate machines, I see three categories of Western innovators that can help inspire them. There are the product guys like Google and historically Apple, customer innovators like Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and a new breed of cause innovators, led by Wholefoods’ John Mackey and his promising ethos of ‘conscious capitalism’ (as opposed to ‘crony capitalism’).

My dream for the global company of the future demands a blended approach: a company powered by Chinese dreams, Western innovation, Chinese hard work and pragmatism. It will win through conscious Western-style wealth creation, in an entrepreneurial system where everyone gives their best and pulls together.

Kaifu Lee of China’s Innovation Works perhaps puts it best:
“In the future, there will be a combination of Western and Eastern types of leadership, and I think a different generation of leaders, with new ideas, will grow up to be leading the next step of glory.”

A new American Dream

From a little island that sits between China and the US, I wish all Americans a glorious Independence Day. However, with the Chinese CEOs on your tail, the Fourth of July is the perfect moment to stand back and reimagine an even bolder, braver and more collective American dream, to again inspire the world.

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By Steve Tappin

Chief Executive, Xinfu, Host BBC CEO Guru & Founder, World Of CEOs

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Management expert Steve Tappin is the host of the BBC CEO Guru. The program features in-depth, on-the-record interviews with some of the world’s top chief executives, including General Electric’s Jeff Immelt, Lenovo’s Liu Chuanzhi, WPP’s Martin Sorrell, China Vanke’s Wang Shi, Wholefoods’ Walter Robb and Unilever’s Paul Polman.

Steve is the author of ‘The Secrets Of CEOs’, which interviews 200 CEOs on business life and leadership. His latest book, ‘Dream to Last’, was published in Mandarin in December 2012, by Beijing University Press, and will be released in English later this year. Steve is the founder of global CEO confidants Xinfu, which is based in London and Beijing. In this capacity, he works with the CEOs of high-growth and Fortune 500 companies, to help them achieve long-term success. Steve also recently launched ‘World Of CEOs’, a new venture that helps people to learn about, engage with and become better CEOs.

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