Page 150 - SELECTED WORKS OF ZHOU ENLAI Volume I

HOW TO BE A GOOD LEADER

April 22, 1943

I. The definition of a leader
Any cadre may at some time have to take up the work of leader-
ship, and very likely he is already doing such work. Therefore, the
work of leadership concerns leading cadres at all levels, whether the
lower, middle or upper.
Among the staff members at Hongyan and Zengjiayan 185 there is
only a difference in the kind of work each does, but no distinction
is drawn between the leaders and the led, still less between cadres and
non-cadres. Although some comrades working at Hongyan and Zengjia-
yan and in the office of the New China Daily are not directly shoulder-
ing the responsibilities of leadership, they are in fact leaders.
II. The stand a leader should take
A leading cadre must proceed from the standpoint of the Party
in everything he does. But this is only a general statement. More
specifically, a leading cadre should have the following qualities:
1. A firm Marxist-Leninist world outlook and a revolutionary out-
look on life;
2. Devotion to principle;
3. Faith in the strength of the people;
4. Dedication to study;
5. A tenacious fighting spirit; and
6. A high sense of discipline.
III. The leaders and the leading organizations
1. Collective leadership and leadership of each level by the next
higher level — unified leadership, centralization and democracy (dis-
cussion and division of labour).

The outline of a talk to cadres of the Southern Bureau of the Central Committee
of the Chinese Communist Party, originally entitled “Outline of a Talk on Leader-
ship and Review of Work”.
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