After Xiong Yinzhang (Bear Silver Smith) entered the Wuhan market from Xiangyang in 2006, it grew in just six years from a local silver jewelry shop into a renowned brand company with four branch companies and over 300 chain stores. Such rapid expansion is unparalleled in China's silver jewelry industry. So, what is the management secret of Xiong Fuzhang, a man of humble origins? Perhaps we can glimpse the company's management philosophy through Sun Junhui, marketing director of the Xiong Yinzhang branch in Xiangyang, Hubei—the very place where the company originated.
Sun Junhui is a young, petite woman. After Xiong Fuzhang, the company's leader, led the main team to open up new markets, Sun remained in Xiangyang to serve as marketing director of the Xiangyang branch. From the very beginning, Xiong Fuzhang told her: "The business in Xiangyang is now in your hands—you go ahead and manage it boldly!"
With no general manager at the branch, Sun, as marketing director, was responsible for both sales operations and employee management. How could she integrate improved sales performance with daily staff management? Inspired by Xiong Fuzhang’s approach of fully empowering her, Sun developed a key principle: "Let subordinates take charge when issues arise; make employees feel like they are the masters of the company."
"Making employees the masters" means giving sales staff at each store the highest level of respect and autonomy, enabling them to become on-site decision-makers. They are encouraged to use their own judgment and wisdom to make decisions during the sales process. Sun herself, meanwhile, stays in the background, overseeing employee supervision, performance evaluations, and the implementation of plans and policies. Under this management system, every frontline salesperson feels deeply trusted and respected by the company, which naturally brings out their full potential. As a result, every salesperson under Sun’s leadership acts like an owner of the company, possessing a sense of ownership that includes both rights and responsibilities.
Sun Junhui’s management philosophy has earned full approval from CEO Xiong Fuzhang. Today, Xiong applies this same "making employees the masters" approach to middle managers across the country. These managers, like Sun’s sales staff, each have the authority to operate independently, allowing them to flexibly adapt strategies based on their local market conditions. This is precisely how Xiong Yinzhang managed to expand its chain stores nationwide in just a few short years.
Xiong Fuzhang empowers every one of his managers to become an independent "boss," and these managers, in turn, apply his method creatively, ensuring that every employee under them also feels like an "owner." By lowering their own status, managers appear humble, but in reality, they are practicing "governing through non-action" (wu wei)—a concept akin to Linghu Chong’s "Solitary Sword" technique in Jin Yong’s novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, where "no move" triumphs over all moves. This embodies profound wisdom in management.