Master of meetings
Anyone who has worked at a Chinese company knows about - and dreads - the work meeting. Meetings are generally interminable affairs that operate outside of the normal laws of the universe: time passes slower in a meeting than in the outside world and by some bizarre paradox a lot gets said without anything actually getting said.
The meeting provides a chance for the boss to shine. It is therefore the duty of any boss worth their salt to prolong the meeting by spouting as many platitudes and generalizations as possible.
The boss understands that every meeting is an "important meeting" (重要会议 zhòngyào huìyì). The boss is expected to make pompous pronouncements in every meeting and talk up its importance, even if it is only three people standing around a water cooler.
This is a vital meeting of most great significance.
Zhè cì huìyì hěn zhòngyào, yìyì tèbié zhòngdà.
这次会议很重要，意义特别重大。
Doctorate in desk jockey
Of course, any organization is only as good as its employees. The boss needs to be able to talk to their subordinates, and this is generally done not by relating to or sympathizing with them, but by asserting superior status. The boss needs to remember that everything they say is worth paying attention to, worth studying. The employees need to remember who they should be listening to.
You should pay close attention to what your superior says, making sure you have a firm understanding.
Duì lǐngdǎo de zhòngyào jiǎnghuà, yào rènzhēn xuéxí, shēnkè lǐnghuì.
对领导的重要讲话，要认真学 习，深刻领会。
Sometimes the boss can wield power by threatening to fire somebody.
If you don't work hard on your job today, tomorrow you'll be working hard looking for a job!
Jīntiān gōngzuò bù nǔlì, wǒ jiào nǐ míngtiān nǔlì zhǎo gōngzuò!
今天工作不努力，我叫你明天努 力找工作!
Professor of plaudits
Every boss needs to offer encouragement to their employees. This is done not by offering promises of pay rises or promotions, but by telling them to get on with honest work.
You need to strengthen the implementation of solid, practical work.
Nǐ yào zhēn zhuā shí gàn, jiāqiáng luòshí
你要真抓实干，加强落实。
Do good, honest hard work.
Nǔlì gōngzuò, tàshí zuòrén.
努力工作，踏实做人。
Everyone must rise to the occasion, do more real work and indulge in less idle chatter, forge ahead and strive to create fresh progress.
Dàjiā yào zhènfèn jīngshén, duō gàn shíshì, shǎo shuō kōnghuà, kāituò jìnqǔ, nǔlì kāichuàng gōngzuò de xīn júmiàn.
大家要振奋精神，多干实事，少说空话，开拓进取，努力开创工作的新局面。
The real secret to talking like a boss is one that actually permeates all areas of modern Chinese culture. If you say something enough times, it simply becomes true. Don't be limited by the inconvenient boundaries of truth; in short, do not be afraid to talk a little bigger.
Courtesy of The World of Chinese,
www.theworldofchinese.com
The World of Chinese
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