KC | Chapter 71

KA held a kickoff meeting at the beginning of every month. On the morning of September 1, 2023, everyone gathered in Lanhai.

After morning exercise, KA came to its exclusive conference room. Lin Yiran stood at the front podium setting up the projector, his figure as straight and elegant as always, his face stern and deep. What he wore today was not the usual black and white, but gray and white. Black and white were more standard, while gray and white felt a little more fashionable. Just changing the color of his suit pants made his whole temperament feel different.

Maybe it was because the Lin Yiran in clothes and the Lin Yiran without clothes were so different that Chen Xi felt the man in front of him was moving him, yet also a little unfamiliar.

Lin Yiran had too many sides, and his speed of changing faces was comparable to a Beijing opera performer changing masks. Chen Xi had seen his white-faced refined scoundrel, his blue-faced old lecher, his green-faced idiot… Looking at his serious expression today, it felt like he was about to play the black face.

The projector cast a bright red PPT cover, with several big characters written in Chinese calligraphy running script: KA September Kickoff Meeting

KA never did formalistic work, so such a grand kickoff meeting was the first of its kind. Everyone sat in their seats, exchanging looks. The KA veterans only needed one glance to reach a consensus: there was definitely a major event today!

There really was something big today, and Lin Yiran really was going to play the black face.

Seeing that the boss’s expression was not good, Zhang Yuanji quietly asked Chen Xi for “spoilers”: “Is it good news or bad news?”

Chen Xi shook his head to indicate that he did not know either.

Last night, the two of them chatted ten sentences, and eight of them were panting. The late-night slot was all content with colors, who would talk about work in the middle of the night?

Chen Xi finished and went to sleep. The energetic beast was not satisfied, and stayed up late making PPT.

In Beishi or Jicheng, there were several KAs like Meng Liang to support the team in achieving performance, while in Yucheng, there was only one Lin Yiran.

The standard line for perfectionism was very high. Lin Yiran could force himself to complete planning according to the set goals, but he could not rigidly demand it from employees. He thought that if he could not sign deals himself, he was a fool, but employees thought it was perfectly normal not to sign deals. Everyone had different standards for work.

What Zhang Guangming said was right, I really am not good at management, but that does not mean I cannot do it.

You cannot rigidly demand thinking, but you can take necessary measures.

–

“Everyone stand up.” Lin Yiran gave the order, and KA stood up in unison.

“The first greeting of the morning is for everyone, fellow Lanhai KA, good morning!” Lin Yiran’s voice was not as penetrating as Wang Shuang’s, but it was very intimidating.

“Good, very good, extremely good!” KA clapped with crackling applause, although they did not understand, they were very cooperative.

Performance was king in KA, and Lin Yiran had absolute authority in KA.

Lin Yiran lowered his palm in a gesture inviting them to sit, and after KA took their seats, he smiled and said, “If there is no spirit at the start of the month and I do not shout a few slogans, I would think you all had not woken up yet.”

Seeing him smile, everyone felt that what would happen later would not be anything bad, and the hanging worry finally eased.

It was said that he was playing the black face, but everything had to have a gradual process. It was like a rubber band, slowly stretching made it longer, but if it was stretched too fast, it might just snap.

After laying the groundwork for the atmosphere, Lin Yiran let his smile fade and got to the point.

“The KA September kickoff meeting is divided into two parts in total, the first part is awards.” Lin Yiran turned the PPT page. All the names of the KAs in attendance were on the PPT. Half of the names were highlighted in red and bolded. Above these names, there was a bright 1000 yuan written there, red background with black text, very eye-catching.

“There were a total of 10 KAs whose repayments exceeded 5W last month. The bonus is 1000 yuan each. Next, please invite the colleagues whose names are called to come up and receive their awards.” Lin Yiran’s management style was simply rough and concise. Although he did not advocate formalism, the sense of ceremony that should be there had to be there. Without comparison, where would the gap come from?

Chen Xi, Li Hua, Ma Longfei, Zhang Yuanji and others all went to the front and stood in a row. Lin Yiran held a stack of pink Mao notes in his hand, counting and handing them out on the spot, 10 bills per person.

For KA, nothing was more exciting than getting money. Lin Yiran deliberately built momentum by handing out cash, and deliberately dragged out the awards segment. First, it was to enhance the sense of honor for the employees who won, and second, it was to create pressure for the KAs who did not receive awards. The average monthly repayment for KA was the passing line at 5W. Last month, 50% of the employees fell behind, causing performance to stagnate. Lin Yiran had never criticized the employees, he just thought of ways to make the contrast more obvious.

“Last month, the highest repayment was Chen Xi, with a total repayment of 13W, and he won the Zao Wang City incentive. Brother Yang’s repayment was 12W, and Xue Ying’s repayment was 11W, which was a slight pity.” Lin Yiran summarized last month’s repayments. Wang Shuang suggested letting the winning employees take a photo with the leaders, as material for her Moments promotion.

The winning employees fanned out the cash in their hands and held it in front of their chests. Lin Yiran stood on the right side of the line, next to Chen Xi. It was their second group photo, with the bright 1000 yuan behind them.

The photo froze in place. Everyone was smiling, and Wang Shuang sent the photo to the company WeChat. Most of the winning employees would probably post on Moments like Wang Shuang in a while.

They were all coworkers who saw each other more often than they saw their own families. The ones who got money would post on Moments, and the ones who did not would definitely be holding back a burst of energy. Although Lin Yiran was brave and good at fighting, two fists could not beat an ambush from ten sides. Relying on himself alone, he could not complete Yucheng KA’s performance, so he had to mobilize the enthusiasm of all KAs and sprint with all his strength in the final month of the quarter.

Lin Yiran invited the winning employees back to their seats and made a symbolic survey: “Why do I feel like everyone is still wanting more? How about we do another incentive event this month?”

“I agree!” Zhang Yuanji was the first to raise his hand and express his position, and then everyone else followed suit.

“Okay, later I will discuss the incentive strategy with Director Wang, and we will sync it at Monday’s morning meeting.” Lin Yiran already had a strategy in mind, but after all, this was a job that involved collecting money, and it would affect employee favorability. This matter still had to be something Wang Shuang took the blame for.

–

If the first item of the meeting was half joy and half worry, then the second item was everyone being put on the rack.

“Next is the second item of the kickoff meeting, let us look at our own positions.” Lin Yiran turned the PPT page, still the simple and rough arrangement of names.

Chen Xi felt that Lin Yiran’s sense of style and his PPT style were complete opposites. In daily life, he dressed himself up bright and polished, but his PPTs were made horribly. The color scheme was red and black, red and white, red and yellow, with big characters slapped up one after another. It was like the notices posted when ancient emperors issued imperial proclamations, so tacky that it had formed a school of its own. This style was absolutely a clear stream in KA, a typical straight-man aesthetic. If Lanhai did not have planners, he absolutely would not be able to sign deals.

Although the PPT was not good-looking and did not have much of a logical chain, nothing was more intimidating than having your own name on the screen.

That was exactly what Lin Yiran wanted, direct, eye-catching, and unforgettable. He wanted to drive this meeting into KA’s heads and keep pressure on them at all times.

What appeared before their eyes was the gross profit ranking list for the three provinces of Lanhai KA. The names of Yucheng KA employees were all highlighted in red, very conspicuously located in the latter half of the ranking, almost entirely at the bottom.

“You look down on small business signings, and business people look down on you for not signing deals.” Lin Yiran turned the PPT page again. This page was the mixed single-generation ranking of Yucheng business and KA, and KA was still at the bottom compared with business.

“KA customers have a slow repayment cycle, and you do not sign as many deals as business, I can understand that. But your key customers’ repayment amounts are not even as much as business’s, and I do not understand that.” The last PPT page was the mixed repayment ranking of Yucheng business and KA, with KA at the bottom for three consecutive lines.

KA performance evaluations were usually based on three dimensions: gross profit, consumption, and repayment. The overall level of Yucheng KA was not as miserable as Lin Yiran showed it to be.

Although the performance gross profit gap was large, fortunately Lin Yiran and Li Hua’s consumption accounts were still stable, and Lin Yiran’s repayment amount was relatively high, so if consumption and per capita repayment were used to evaluate the two data points, Yucheng KA was first across all systems.

Lin Yiran rarely screened data across multiple dimensions like Wang Shuang. He only intercepted the data he wanted and showed everyone the worst-performing parts of KA.

Yucheng KA was Lin Yiran’s blood and sweat, the team he poured everything into creating. In order to let them live more comfortably, Lin Yiran had always been shielding everyone from the wind and rain.

But now the sea was stormy and raging, and Lin Yiran could not continue relying on his own strength to sail out smoothly. When the tide receded, the ones swimming naked would be very embarrassed.

–

With his aggressive management style, Lin Yiran put everyone except himself on the ranking list, just so they could find their own position. Lin Yiran was used to control, control over his figure, control over clients, control over employees, so when Chen Xi broke away from control and wanted to resign, he would use every means to interfere.

Lin Yiran’s control methods were different for different people: for himself, it had to be carried out; for clients, he flattered and oiled them while coercing and tempting them; for employees, he appealed to emotion and reason.

“The average age of KA is 33, and more than 80% of the people here have families, mortgages, some also have car loans, need to raise children, and support their parents. I think most people do sales for the money. So today, everyone should figure out how much money they need to make in a month in order to spend it.

Lin Yiran paused here and did not continue. Everyone knew their own family situation. KA was not business, there was no need for brainwashing. Talking about career planning was too empty, it was better to bring something practical.

Management had to have limits. Lin Yiran would not just watch KA work, but he also could not let go of the tiller and drift with the current, letting this ship sink.

“We all have different standards for quality of life. Some people want to drive luxury cars and live in mansions, some people want to move toward a comfortable life, and some people want as long as they have enough money to spend and can stay alive, that is enough. I think everyone has their own aspirations, and no matter which kind of life you choose, being happy is enough.”

“But is it really enough for us to just be happy ourselves?”

“Our job is KA. We face performance assessments, and the company will strictly enforce the assessment standards. Those who cannot complete them will be eliminated. According to the current progress of everyone here, if we push forward flatly, next month there will be half as many people left in this room. By then, will you still be able to be happy?”

Yucheng KA was Lin Yiran’s team, his blood and sweat. How could chopping out intestines and spraying blood, carving bones to heal injuries, not hurt?

Only after pain is fully felt can there be reflection.

The helmsman of KA had to force everyone to grow.