“He spent 1 billion yuan to buy Tang Jun, a man with a fake diploma. Who is he? Chen Fashu. When you look at him, he looks like a peasant. He has sat next to me many times without saying a word, and he dresses ordinarily. His education level is fourth grade.” He Zhenlin analyzed, “The real key to success is not knowledge, but character. It is character that determines destiny.”

Wrong industry, all effort wasted

He Zhenlin believes that insight into business is first reflected in insight into strategy. Sany is what it is today mainly because it chose an industry that developed at high speed together with the Republic. “It is just like a fly landing on a thoroughbred horse: that fly also becomes a thoroughbred.” He Zhenlin believes that Sany's development mainly conformed to the demands of the times and chose the right industry.

The most important thing in strategy is the choice of industry. “If the industry is wrong, everything is wasted.” This was said by the genius strategist Michael Porter. “If you choose a profitable industry, it is hard not to make money.” He Zhenlin analyzed business insight: “In our best year we earned 11.5 billion yuan. What kind of concept is that? Haier is so famous and reached 110 billion yuan, but earned only 1.5 billion yuan. Sany did only 80 billion yuan, but earned 11.5 billion yuan. Of course, if you choose an unprofitable industry, making money is even harder.”

Running an enterprise requires strategic vision. When talking about strategy, besides the most important point—choosing the right industry—one must also talk about “timing.” Lei Jun of Xiaomi said: to make money, first choose the fattest industry, and second choose the typhoon mouth. “This also confirms my view. In business, if you are too far ahead, you become a martyr; if you lag behind, you miss the opportunity; only being just right makes you a pioneer.” He Zhenlin said with emotion, “If this were done in Paris, Washington, or New York, such results might not be possible, because their urbanization is basically complete. China is different. This is also the most important point in Sany's success and the key reason Sany did better than Yuanda.”

Character determines destiny

He who gains talent gains the world. The more knowledge-based the era and the later the stage of industrialization, the more important the role of talent becomes.

He Zhenlin's talent evaluation is supported by eight theories. He believes that people have eight major intelligences. It is said that “knowledge changes destiny,” and there is some truth to that. However, academic study involves only two major intelligences—logical intelligence and linguistic intelligence. For truly successful people, what determines their destiny is not these two, but elite intelligence, namely interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence.

“Speaking of education, what kind of person is Li Ka-shing? He had fourth-grade education. And China's most legendary figure spent 1 billion yuan to buy Tang Jun, a man with a fake diploma. Who is he? Chen Fashu. When you look at him, he looks like a peasant. He has sat next to me many times without saying a word, and he dresses ordinarily. His education level is fourth grade.” He Zhenlin analyzed, “The real key to success is not knowledge, but character. It is character that determines destiny.”

When Liang Wengen was in school, he failed several subjects. Yet the class monitor, Youth League secretary, and others in the class all ended up working under him. Why? Because he had the perseverance and determination of “biting firmly on the green mountain and never letting go, no matter which way the wind blows.” “He dug only one well his whole life, working in the engineering machinery industry and constantly digging deeper, so he succeeded. That is perseverance.” He Zhenlin said, “Liang Wengen could acquire the world's number one brand, a German company. Who else could do that? No one. And what did that rely on? It relied on the bold, stubborn character of Hunan people.”

At Sany, three “number one talents” gathered: “number one in strategy” Xiang Wenbo, “number one in management” Tang Xiuguo, and “number one in technology” Yi Xiaogang. Together with Liang Wengen himself, they formed a talent team with complementary strengths and supported the entire Sany talent edifice. This is also very unique among all Chinese enterprises. It further demonstrates Liang Wengen's distinctive approach to using people.

Character determines destiny. Even among entrepreneurs, different characters may lead to different states of life. “Who is the most tired in business? Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree, who wants to be involved in everything, big or small. Who is the most relaxed? Real estate tycoon Wang Shi, who when the mood strikes climbs the Himalayas for a while and then goes to Harvard for a study tour.” He Zhenlin believes that even for successful people, character determining destiny still applies.

In response to the “art of capital warfare” that people eagerly discuss today, he presented his original “talent strategy.” “The art of capital warfare turns stagnant capital into circulating currency. That is indeed brilliant, but once you have capital, how do you operate it? How do you make capital work? It still depends on talent! Therefore, the art of capital warfare must ultimately rise to the level of ‘talent strategy.’” He Zhenlin emphasized.