At the Mercy of Ants - Part 2

Keep the team well in hand

Run with the horses and get trampled. It's impossible to get anywhere. Mount the chariot and take the reigns. The horses settle under the yoke. Bole trained them, Wangliang harnessed them, an enlightened master called for them. He did none of the work of training or tackling, but drove them a thousand miles, admired by every expert charioteer.

The way of the prince does nothing but gets results, makes decisions but doesn't play favourites. When he does something, they humour him, and when he does favours, they flatter him. By humouring him, they might catch him, and by flattering him, he can be lured.

A prince who makes decisions to please others can't run a country, so the prince who makes good decisions is unmoved by their charms, and praising him is pointless. A spirit-inspired prince is the one thing nobody can control.

That his inmost desires don't escape means he tames them. That external threats don't interfere means he blocks them. With inner resilience and outer resolve, how could anything he does be unhealthy? By setting boundaries and taking responsibility, how could anything he does be unsuccessful?

So he doesn't command them, doesn't force them, but something motivates them, something makes them. He doesn't doubt their competence, doesn't do the work for them. He respects rank and expects results, orders the government to run itself. He leads the way in ignorance, takes control by taking advice.

And just like that, his team is well in hand.