The process of becoming stronger is the process of continuously improving one’s judgment.

The judgment referred to here is not the “project evaluation ability” often mentioned by business developers, but rather a broader concept.

—The more precise your judgment, the clearer your personal roadmap becomes. This enables you to adapt quickly to complex environments, seize opportunities, and achieve maximum results with minimal effort.

The 2008 “performance-based incentive” deal that brought HP to Chongqing has been hailed by many investment promoters as an industry legend.

However, while many blindly admire “performance-based investment attraction,” few delve deeper to ask: Why did Huang Qifan, then mayor of Chongqing, so strongly advocate for establishing a laptop computer industrial cluster?

The global financial crisis that erupted in 2008 dealt a severe blow to nearly every industry, yet Huang Qifan keenly observed that laptop sales had bucked the trend, growing by 30%.

It was precisely this strong judgment that allowed him to uncover a major development opportunity amidst the sluggish global economic environment.

The series of asset and debt restructurings he had previously spearheaded had revitalized dozens of state-owned conglomerates, and Chongqing’s industrial investment had surged tenfold over six years—this is what gave him the confidence to negotiate with HP.

When masters face off, they never rely on brute force, but on judgment.

So how exactly should business developers cultivate themselves to continuously improve their judgment and grow stronger?

Internally: Build Self-Awareness

Only by establishing a comprehensive self-awareness can one think independently.

For the average person, simply being able to clearly articulate what they “want” and what they “don’t want” is sufficient.

But for business development professionals, this is far from enough.

Why?

Because investment promotion bears the heavy responsibility of driving regional economic development. Amid severe challenges in both internal and external economic environments, investment promoters must become the backbone of the industry, devising every possible means to mitigate the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and stabilize corporate investment expectations.

The word “giving up” does not exist in an investment promotion professional’s vocabulary.

The Chinese economy has always grown amidst storms and flourished through adversity. Faced with multiple challenges, we must never lose confidence or hesitate and retreat; instead, we must remain steadfast and forge ahead against the current.

Therefore, as investment promotion professionals build their self-awareness, they must ground themselves in this principle to ensure they do not lose their way.

Internal Advancement: Undertake Self-Deconstruction

Do you know anyone who is particularly hard on themselves?

To get what they want, they’ll stop at nothing. They don’t care about the consequences for themselves, nor do they care whether others agree, stand in their way, or have any opinions.

The reason they are so powerful is their extreme sense of “self.”

Such people are formidable, but they are not invincible—they can still be defeated. All it takes is shattering their “self.”

Truly powerful people can deconstruct their “self” to a great extent—they see through their own “self-consciousness,” shatter it, and cast it aside.

In doing so, they shed their identity, their pretensions, and the shackles of the notion of “how I ought to be.”

For example, in recent years, there has been a steady rise in the number of people born in the 1980s and 1990s serving as county party secretaries and county magistrates, and an increasing number of women are stepping onto the historical stage to take on leadership roles at the local level.

Some might comment on them:

“It’s no small feat to become a top leader at such a young age.”

“A true trailblazer!”

For those who have completed their self-deconstruction, such remarks neither offend them nor are they perceived as praise.

Because they have already deconstructed “gender” and “age,” seeing them merely as symbolic attributes. Serving as a local leader is the result of continuous learning and experience gained over time. By persevering, one can develop even greater judgment in the future, but this has nothing to do with “who I appear to be.”

This deconstruction stems from self-reflection, evolves through the expansion of one’s perspective, and encompasses an ultimate contemplation of “meaning.”

Externally: Foundational Knowledge and Logical Ability

If the first two points constitute the underlying architecture, then the third point is the core software of the operating system.

Without a comprehensive foundation of knowledge and logical thinking skills, one would be working purely on intuition, which would undoubtedly be very difficult.

This requires us to continuously learn and accumulate knowledge.

For investment promotion professionals, learning should not be limited to specialized knowledge of industries and sectors or the key considerations for corporate site selection; in a chaotic and complex environment, it is necessary to further broaden one’s horizons.

Here are a few examples:

We must keep track of trends among leading enterprises while also paying attention to the momentum of small and medium-sized enterprises.

For instance, when you see news that “the new wealthiest individuals in six provinces all come from the new energy sector,” you realize that the global energy transition is ushering in a new wave of wealth creation. Of course, many investment promotion professionals have noticed this and are focusing on investment opportunities in the new energy sector. However, if you simultaneously monitor the growth momentum of SMEs along the industrial chain and identify which niche areas are still facing bottlenecks, you’ll have the opportunity to stay one step ahead and uncover possibilities that others have yet to discover.

In China, becoming a key player in various national strategies is a necessary condition for consolidating one’s position and advancing further. Only by carefully studying the latest national policies and proactively integrating into national strategies can one have the opportunity to achieve greater breakthroughs.

However, China has become deeply integrated into the global system—particularly the U.S. dollar system—through the process of globalization and cannot remain unaffected by global developments.

While analyzing policies in light of domestic conditions, we must also incorporate an understanding of the international geopolitical landscape to grasp policies from a holistic perspective and identify opportunities to secure a strategic position.

We must be aware of the current global economic growth model and also trace the historical trajectory of economic transformation.

The General Secretary has said that history is the best textbook and the best sobering agent.

Looking back at history is not to seek solace, nor to make excuses for difficulties and problems, but to draw lessons, grasp underlying patterns, and strengthen the courage and resolve to move forward.

Although this may seem unrelated to daily work at first glance, through daily accumulation, you can gradually build your own framework of thinking and hone your judgment.

Advancing Externally: Building Your Own Framework of Thought

Advancing one’s foundational knowledge structure means developing sound learning methods that allow for the continuous iteration of one’s knowledge system and framework, ensuring one is not left behind or rendered obsolete.

As for advancing logical thinking skills, the key lies in building your own framework of thought.

At the end of the movie *The Wolf of Wall Street*, Leonardo DiCaprio, during a sales training session, poses a question to his students:

He received this response:

Earlier in the film, when faced with the same question, a master salesman handled it this way:

Perhaps this isn’t the main focus of the film, but it does reveal the importance of a personal thought system.

A novice salesperson focuses solely on describing the product itself, while a master can see beyond the surface and solve problems by analyzing the underlying supply-and-demand dynamics.

In investment promotion work, we are bombarded with a massive amount of information every day. Without a personal framework for thinking, one risks losing the ability to make sound judgments, becoming unable to analyze problems independently, and ending up merely parroting others’ views.

Developing such a framework requires long-term, rigorous training in both the method and depth of one’s thinking; otherwise, even the most insightful views from experts and scholars will be of no use.

If the goal is that mountain in the distance,

An ordinary person, upon setting a goal, will immediately set off—walking or running—until they are exhausted and gasping for breath. Someone with a little more experience will estimate the distance and time required, and prepare climbing gear, food, and water.

A smart person will first research the route and ask passersby: Can cars reach the base of the mountain? Where is the nearest station? Is there a cable car up the mountain?

But those with their own system of thinking will certainly clarify first:

Why must I climb that mountain? Is it to watch the sunrise, gather medicinal herbs, or film a show? Are there other ways to achieve this goal—or even achieve it better?

The starting point determines the outcome.

And what determines how you set out is your self-awareness and self-concept, your sensitivity to information, your foundational knowledge and logical thinking skills, and the way you approach problems.

Ultimately, it all comes down to judgment.

To become stronger and stronger, you must seek out the most information-rich and essential sources, absorb their essence, and hone your judgment.

Cultivate yourself; cultivate your thinking.