Beijing Brief Conference -The Next Ten Years
I remember watching Usain Bolt stride home in the 100m sprint at the Beijing Olympics. The anticipation before the gun blast, the edge of seat audience, the athlete in his stride and the effortless finish. It all looked so easy. I got the same impression watching Wang give a tough speech today. When we arrived at the Beijing Brief, The Next Ten Years, a conference organized by ZDL Publishing I was apprehensive. Entering at the back of the conference room we were confronted with fifty C-suite predominantly US executives and thought leaders listening to an inspiring speech on how companies should equip themselves to excel in China in the next decade. The best piece of advice I heard from the first speaker, Dwight Nordstrom, Chairman of Pacific Resources was “Send your ‘A’ team to China – not your problem child or the guy about to retire”. He predicted incredible growth and advised companies to send the most motivated workers to China to capitalize on it. If Wang felt nervous before his ‘race’ he did not show it but I felt he had a difficult act to follow. From the starting line he showed the room the meaning of the word “A team” in China.
His topic was “the development of the religious and secular NGO sector in China in the next ten years”. His advice was succinct. NGO’s should operate as social enterprises and focus on education and health. The priority of the Government is going to be the economy, stability, Tibetan Buddhism and Xinjiang Muslims. NGO’s will only raise the Government’s ire if they interfere with policy or act as something other than a company. He warned that even if you are as “Big as Bill” e.g. Bill Clinton or Gates, and followed the law 200% you could still experience setbacks. His advice was to ‘lead by example’. Help people where they need it most, communicate continually with the Government and don’t always rely on purely legal remedies to issues. In short he said “be as flexible as a serpent but as peaceful as a pigeon.” Wang crossed the finishing line with characteristic individual flair. Like Bolt, he made it look easy because the last twenty years of training had been so hard.
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