Difference between boss and employee

I read this from a Facebook sharing today. I translated the Chinese posting and share it here. It is educative and inspiring.

Mr T.M. Kuo is the founder of Foxconn, the largest contract manufacturer which makes every iPhone and iPad that we use. He is recognized as one of the wealthiest Chinese entrepreneurs in the world. In the Q&A session of a recent meeting with his staff, one of the design engineers within his company asked him,“Why is it always me who exhausted the effort, but only you can become the richest guy?”

Mr Kuo replied,”I can see that there are at least three major differences between you and me.”

“Firstly, thirty years ago, I invested every single penny that I owned to start Foxcon. If I failed, I would have lost every thing. You only joined Foxcon after you sent tens of resumes and ended up recruited.You can leave any time you want. But I can’t. There are hundreds of thousands of staff like you who bet their career in the company and I must be accountable for them. Employee and entrepreneur; this is our first difference.”

“Secondly, I started off my business by entering into the connectors market. Eventually I identified and selected the partnership with Apple as an opportunity and fought for it. You were selected to your current position based on your experience and qualification. Our second difference is : selected or be selected”.

“Thirdly, my mind and thinking revolves around the clock for one objective: how to make profit. Every of my decisions affects the wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of employees’ families as well as the benefits of millions of shareholders who invest on Foxcon. You only need to care about when you can leave your work position on time everyday to take care of your family. The difference is: the weight and magnitude of our responsibilities.”

To conclude, our first step is imperative for success. Every decision we make on our way affects us. The difference between us and the bosses are they’ve done something we wouldn’t or wouldn’t dare to do.But they succeeded eventually.