Rivers and Seas Are Kings of the Valleys
The Text
江海所以能为百谷王者，以其善下之，故能为百谷王。是以圣人欲上民，必以言下之；欲先民，必以身后之。是以圣人处上而民不重，处前而民不害。是以天下乐推而不厌。以其不争，故天下莫能与之争。
Rivers and seas can be king of the hundred valleys because they lie below — thus they can be their king. So the wise, to be above the people, speak to them from below; to lead the people, stand behind them. The sage above and the people do not feel the weight; ahead and the people do not find it harmful. The world pushes him forward gladly and never tires of him — he does not contend, and so nothing under heaven contends with him.
Reading it
The chapter’s leadership physics are hydraulic: elevation is granted to what descends. Weightlessness and harmlessness are the two tests of authority — people neither feel the burden nor fear the blade — and both come from the same descent.
本章的领导力物理是水力的：高度被授予下行者。无重与无害是权威的两项测试——人们既不觉得负担，也不怕那把刀——而两者来自同一次下行。
Lead one thing this week from behind instead of in front. Check whether anyone noticed the difference in position.
这周从后面而不是前面领导一件事。回头看看是否有人察觉位置变了。