The next day.
Song Guanchao ca to the office and called in Director Ke and Director Yuan one after another.
Both felt displeased inside.
They thought Song Guanchao was doing it on purpose.
Just after becoming a director, he was eager to exercise his authority to the fullest.
However, they showed no sign of their displeasure on their faces and patiently listened to Song Guanchao’s instructions.
Song Guanchao assigned them a task to prepare a reasonable itinerary for Wu Qiangwei’s affairs in the coming week.
This included arranging transportation and determining which relevant departnt personnel needed to accompany.
Though tedious, it was not a difficult task.
Normally, half a day would be sufficient.
Song Guanchao told them to co back and report once they were done.
After they left, Song Guanchao called in Zhou Xingjian.
"Director Zhou, please contact the deputy directors of the Political and Legal Departnt and the Information Departnt and ask them to co over."
"Alright."
Zhou Xingjian felt a bit excited; it was a routine he was very familiar with.
Back when Song Guanchao had dealt with Yao Guangsong, he contacted him in advance.
Before long, the two deputy directors arrived.
One was surnad Li, the other Guo.
Suddenly learning that Song Guanchao wanted to see them.
The two deputy directors felt puzzled, unsure of the reason, and were a bit nervous and curious.
Song Guanchao t with them, not for anything urgent but to pass on the task previously given to Director Yuan and Director Ke.
Upon receiving the task, the two imdiately set to work.
Before lunch, they ca one after the other, handed in their docunts, and gave a brief report.
Song Guanchao glanced over the clearly listed itinerary in the docunt, slightly nodded, praised them a bit, and let them go back.
The two expected that Song Guanchao would arrange more work, yet he said nothing.
This left them feeling a little disappointed.
In the afternoon, with ten minutes to go before clock-out, Director Yuan and Director Ke knocked on Song Guanchao’s office door right on the clock.
However, no sound ca from inside.
The two exchanged glances and continued to knock, but still received no response.
"It seems like no one’s inside."
Director Ke thought for a mont and took out his phone to call Song Guanchao.
"Director Song, where are you?"
"What is it?"
"I’ve completed the tasks you assigned this morning, and ca to report to you."
"Wait a bit for ; I’ll co over when I’m done."
"When will you probably return, Director Song?"
"It might take another half hour."
"Okay."
Director Ke didn’t say much, hung up the phone, checked the ti, and said: "Let’s wait."
Ten minutes later, Director Ke said, "It’s clock-out ti; let’s go."
Director Yuan smiled, placed the docunt on the ground in front of Song Guanchao’s office door, and walked away.
Over twenty minutes later, Song Guanchao returned.
Not seeing the two, he noticed the two docunts on the ground.
He hesitated for a mont, picked up the docunts, flipped through them casually, then looked back toward the departnt.
Returning to his office, he called the two, only to be told they had clocked out.
Song Guanchao didn’t get angry or upset, simply chuckled and hung up.
The next morning, he had Zhou Xingjian notify all departnt directors and deputy directors in the City Governnt to attend a eting in the conference room at 9:30.
Afterward, he personally went to Han Lan’s office.
"Secretary-General, there’s a eting in the conference room at 9:30."
In Han Lan’s mory, there was no eting scheduled for this morning.
She asked, "What eting is this?"
Song Guanchao said, "I have discovered so colleagues in the City Governnt lack sufficient awareness and are not diligent in their work."
Then he briefly recounted the recent occurrences.
Han Lan was not surprised in the least: "That’s how they are."
Song Guanchao asked, "Hasn’t the Secretary-General ever considered rectifying this atmosphere?"
Han Lan shook her head: "I’m the Secretary-General; I can’t manage them."
Song Guanchao said, "That’s not right. The Secretary-General acts as the chief steward of the City Governnt, responsible not only for work but also for personnel managent. I’ve heard people say that you have a serious attitude towards work, but it seems you’re not very clear about the scope of your duties."
Han Lan frowned slightly: "Director Song, are you trying to provoke into action?"
Song Guanchao sighed: "I’m hoping the Secretary-General can fully leverage the authority of your position. Instead, what I see is you not being taken seriously even by a small departnt director."
"As a Secretary-General without authority, no matter how well you do your work, what use is it? When you need cooperation from subordinates, you find they won’t listen. If tasks you delegate aren’t carried out, is that not a dereliction of duty on your part?"
He tried to link authority with work to make her understand the importance of this matter.
For soone like her, it mattered more to relate this to her work to grab her attention.
Indeed, after his words, she appeared thoughtful.
After a while, Han Lan said, "I have matters to handle, and will attend the eting later."
She gave no specific response to the suggestions from Song Guanchao.
As for whether her intention changed about exerting her authority, Song Guanchao was unsure.
Before the eting began, Song Guanchao entered the conference room.
By 9:20, a group of deputy directors had arrived first.
The other directors, so arrived five minutes early, while so ca exactly on ti, like Director Yuan and Director Ke.
Han Lan also arrived on the dot.
But she was different as she managed her work down to the minute and second, seeing arriving early as wasting ti.
Once everyone was seated, Song Guanchao announced, "From today onwards, the work of the Political and Legal Departnt and the Information Departnt will be reported to by Director Li and Director Guo."
Everyone was stunned, especially Director Yuan and Director Ke, who widened their eyes, not understanding why he would suddenly say such a thing.
This was a blatant power grab.
No leader ever talked about such matters openly in etings.
The two couldn’t sit still; Director Yuan said, "Director Song, the work of the Political and Legal Departnt, you can directly communicate with ."
Director Ke added, "All matters, big or small, in the Information Departnt are summarized by . Director Li is only a deputy director and unaware of many things."
With a smile, Song Guanchao said, "I see that you two directors are quite busy, so let’s have the deputy directors help share your workload."
He picked up two pieces of docunts: "For the sa matters, I find that the two deputy directors managed to handle them faster than you."
The two twitched in anger, realizing that he had given the sa tasks to their deputies as well.
Director Yuan explained, "The departnt’s work is overwhelming. I also need ti for the tasks you assigned, Director Song."
"Oh, is your work overwhelming?"
With a mocking snort, Song Guanchao said, "I thought you had plenty of free ti. Yesterday I asked you to wait outside my office for half an hour, yet when I returned before six, you had already left. Seems your workload isn’t so heavy after all."
"Moreover."
His expression darkened a bit, tapping his fingers on the docunt: "Who instructed you to leave docunts on the floor by the office door? This schedule of Mayor Wu’s weekly activities is confidential governnt information, carelessly tossed on the ground? Did anyone else pick it up and read it while I was away?"
"Due to this irresponsible behavior of yours, we must redraft the schedule."
"If I were serious about this, I could summon the Disciplinary Committee to investigate you right now!"
"Since you treat your work with such indifference, I will decide today that you both continue as directors without reporting anything to . Director Li and Director Guo will handle all work for the two departnts."
After speaking, he looked at the other departnt heads: "Anyone else feeling overwheld with work, speak up now, and I’ll make sure you have ample free ti."
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