Sun Tzu says: “A general who accepts my advice should be employed for he is certain to gain victory. A general who rejects my advice will meet defeat, and should be dismissed. Once my beneficial advice is understood and followed, it will lay the foundation for the knowledge of war. Whenever any extraordinary problem arises, the knowledge gained will help to solve it. But this solid foundation should allow flexibility for one’s advantage.”
Sun Tzu could confidently say these words because he had been tested and proven. His lifetime of victories gives him the credibility. He isn’t like those pretentious smart alecks who trumpet loudly without any real achievement.
Although Sun Tzu advocated dismissing those who rejected advices, it is vital to separate good and bad advices and the credibility of the advisors. Even when good advice is rejected, dismissal should still be a last resort. In my life, I had
dismissed only two managers, one of whom had an MBA. As I take no pleasure in breaking anyone’s “rice bowl”, I tried counseling and coaching. I only fired them after they repeatedly spurned my efforts. For me, the power to dismiss an
employee is not to be exercised carelessly.
However, many people will flaunt their powers to dismiss without due consideration. In March 2025, many American government employees felt aggrieved over their dismissals. After US President Donald Trump appointed Elon Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency, at least 62,000 people lost their jobs.
As a turnaround manager at Magnum Corporation Berhad in 1987 to computerize its gaming business for boosting revenues to rescue its ailing parent company, Multi-Purpose Holdings Berhad, I was careful with retrenchment. I convinced the National Union of Commercial Workers to work with me to persuade many Magnum manual workers to switch to jobs created by the computerization. They would be re-trained. Those who refused were laid off and paid according to the Collective Agreement terms.
As it turns out, bosses are usually the ones who spurn good advice. After watching President Trump blundering in the last two months, and finding Musk, the world’s richest man, getting a new title as the world’s most hated, I wonder who advised them. Or have they been closing their ears to good advices?
When Steve Wozniak tried to tell his boss at Hewlett-Packard on three separate occasions about the Apple computer that he and Steve Jobs had developed, he was taken to task for not having any formal qualification to think he could be a computer
designer. That was all his boss could see and find fault with. As a result, Hewlett-Packard ended up with an impressive challenger which later overtook it.
Many people had heard how Henry Ford II fired Lee Iacocca as President of Ford Motors. Lee went to Chrysler where he became a legend as he turned the small company into a big headache for Ford Motors.
Although Sun Tzu laid out certain principles, he still called for flexibility in their applications. Respect and uphold good traditions but make changes when necessary.
As a maverick, I had caused a few conservative bosses to itch in their desire to fire me. The closest I ever got fired was during the five months in 1994 when I worked as Chief Operating Officer for Emporium Holdings in Singapore. After most of my advices and proposals fell on deaf ears, I told the Group Managing Director that it would be better to part amicably. As I said to him: “What for you hired mesince you won’t even listen to my advice?”
This is the plaintive silent cry of many capable managers whose advice tend to be ignored. Bosses should honestly ask themselves whether their ears are shut to good advice. If yes, be prepared to lose their best brains who will cross over to their competitors to strategize against them. I doubt this advice will be heard.