Who is Ji Shilei? I've long heard of the great name but never met the person. The first time I went for an interview, I happened to catch the dinner of their project department. I was warmly asked to sit beside him. Mr. Ji's initial impression on me was that he was bright and alert, radiant, had a loud voice, treated people warmly, and exuded a hint of kindness in his dignity.

During the conversation, I gradually learned that General Manager Ji has been working at Jiangnan Management for 16 years. From the north to the south, from engineering supervision to project management and then to full-process engineering consultation, from housing construction projects to municipal engineering, his passion has remained undiminished for 16 years, and he has been diligent and persistent. He has completed more than ten projects and was once named the company's annual charging star. The project department he led was recognized as an advanced team of the company. He is a role model of active transformation and proactive change as described by the company's chairman. I feel quite pressured to interview such a celebrity. Fortunately, Mr. Ji is quite talkative. After a brief self-introduction to explain his purpose, he began to talk freely. His 16-year legendary life in Jiangnan gradually unfolded before my eyes.

From Northeast China to South China, it will still take another ten years of hard work

Having been with the company for 16 years, Ji Shilei said that he has been in charge of more than ten projects, among which there are many memorable moments. In Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, he once rode a bicycle back and forth to three project sites - the Office and Approval Building of Zhoushan Intermediate People's Court, the comprehensive building of Zhoushan Traditional Chinese Medicine Orthopedics and Traumatology United Hospital and the five-star Greentown Sheraton Resort Hotel. In Changchun, Jilin Province, Qingmei Zhu Jiu Lun Heroes, with his rigorous and pragmatic service and astonishing alcohol tolerance, successfully received the project's final payment in just half a month. I took over as the project leader of a five-star hotel in Ningbo. In less than three months, I won the recognition of the construction unit with my professional service spirit and quality. I felt that the company was more pragmatic and realistic than the previous management company in Hong Kong, thus smoothly promoting the project management business to enter a virtuous cycle of development. Winning the bid for a water project in Zhejiang Province has set a precedent for the company's municipal water business sector at one stroke...

The projects he has worked on cover a wide range of fields, including cultural and sports industries, hotels, hospitals, transportation, water affairs, etc. People say that one should excel in whatever field they do. For him, the essence of engineering consulting remains the same no matter how it changes. The key lies in summarizing the patterns through different projects, constantly accumulating experience and enhancing capabilities. Every time he undertakes a project, he gains more confidence. During his growth, Ji Shilei met many good teachers and friends, such as Li Dong and Cao Dongbing, all of whom were battle-hardened and highly capable project leaders. Every time there is an opportunity to work together or discuss, Ji Shilei always humbly seeks advice and earnestly exchanges ideas, from which he has benefited a lot. Ultimately, when serving as the project director of a certain government business center, the project was awarded the Huangshan Cup of Anhui Province. Years of accumulation finally bore fruit. After being transferred to Shenzhen to work on water projects, facing a brand-new field, General Manager Ji devoted himself wholeheartedly and successfully embarked on the second peak of his career. Now 55 years old, he lives in Shenzhen. But whenever the company needs him, he picks up his backpack and sets off at any time. An old steed, though tethered in the stable, still aspires to travel a thousand miles. But he doesn't feel old at all. His ambition is still very grand, and he is still thinking of devoting another ten years to the Jiangnan region.

Attach importance to the value of knowledge and firmly follow the path of learning and improvement

For enterprises to develop rapidly, individuals also need to improve quickly. Learning and obtaining certificates are the steps for continuous personal improvement and also the needs of the company's development. Ji Shilei had already foreseen over a decade ago that holding a highly valuable certificate could provide a huge boost to one's career. He recalled that when he and a few friends went to take the national registered supervision engineer exam together, his friends were either stable tycoons within the system or children of wealthy families. At that time, he was deeply trapped in a sense of crisis: "They don't have to worry about their future, but I have to rely on this to make a living!" A sense of crisis is the driving force for striving. As expected, that year only Ji Shilei successfully passed the exam and obtained the qualification certificate of registered supervision engineer.

After entering Jiangnan, the words of the company's general manager Li, "Only by striving to improve can one be invincible," inspired Ji Shilei to study and obtain certificates even more vigorously: First-Class Constructor, Consulting engineer, cost engineer, bidding engineer, Safety engineer... He has taken all the certificates related to his major. He said, "One certificate cannot travel the world." Each additional certificate you obtain will increase your personal value by one point. Over the past decade or so, I have been constantly learning and have taken professional qualification exams more than twice a year. I have basically passed all the exams I could. Nowadays, although he is approaching the age of sixty, he still persists in taking self-funded online courses without the slightest slackness.

As someone who has been through it all, Mr. Ji is well aware of the importance of self-discipline. Therefore, he also attaches great importance to the degree of commitment of the employees in his project department to learning. The owner of the project for the comprehensive elimination of black and odorous water bodies in Guangming District has very high requirements for the employees. Hu, an engineer from the design supervision department, said, "We need to review the design drawings. How can we do without some skills?" So, a 60-year-old grandma like me still has to keep on learning. I have to take four large notebooks with such a thick notebook. Otherwise, I won't even pass the owner's test." In General Manager Ji's project department, the learning atmosphere is very strong. Everyone has the attitude of "I want to learn". He often shares a sentence with his employees: "The more and richer your knowledge is, the more you can distill it into that little bit when you apply it." Even if it's just one percent, it can still surpass the opponent. Learning this ability may not show any difference in a short period of time, but enriching professional knowledge through learning does indeed make project managers more experienced and confident.

Light captures the black dragon, and the industry strives to be the leader

After arriving in Shenzhen, Ji Shilei was in charge of the project for the comprehensive elimination of black and odorous water bodies in Guangming District. This is a highly challenging project with great management difficulty The project is distributed over an area of 106 square kilometers. More than 200 black and odorous water body treatment sites have started construction simultaneously. It is necessary to complete multiple engineering projects such as tributary water system treatment, small and micro water body treatment, culvert and small river branch treatment, initial rainwater storage and regulation, improvement of main and branch pipe networks, source rectification, non-point source pollution treatment, and ecological water replenishment. Moreover, for such a complex task, there are no mature relevant governance precedents to draw upon, which is truly nerving. But Ji Shilei, leading his project team, with the spirit of "not seeking a way out for oneself, but only finding a way out for water management" of Guangming Water Management, overcame all obstacles and rose to the challenge. After unremitting efforts, all 99 small and micro black and odorous water bodies in the project area have been completely eliminated and the project was the first in the city to complete the acceptance and cancellation. One year ahead of schedule, the first-level tributaries have reached the Class V surface water standard, and the river water quality has reached the best level in 20 years. Southern Weekend and Shenzhen Evening News have successively reported on the governance achievements of this project.

Ji Shilei said, "The moment we got this project, it meant that we had gained the owner's recognition." The successful completion of the tasks entrusted by the owner means that the company has achieved a breakthrough from nothing to something in the module of water project engineering consultation. This is the most glorious moment I feel. When the owner's leader led the team to inspect the project, he highly praised and commended the work of the project department. I feel extremely proud to be able to contribute a little to establishing a good brand image for Jiangnan Management in the Shenzhen market. I am also very grateful to the company for giving me such a challenge opportunity and development platform. In 2019, the company made significant breakthroughs in the water conservancy field and upgraded its enterprise qualifications. This achievement was attributed to the efforts of the project department for the comprehensive elimination of black and odorous water bodies in Guangming District.

Solve problems for the property owners and shelter the team from the wind and rain

In his words, Ji Shilei's relationship with the project owner is very harmonious. But in my eyes, being able to put oneself in the other person's shoes and take the initiative to solve their problems is a relationship of trust that goes even further than harmony.

Last November, the property owner participated in the online evaluation of the Shenzhen Grassroots Service Work Innovation Award. When Nanshan District and Longhua District received around 20,000 to 30,000 votes, Guangming District only had over a thousand votes. The property owner frankly stated that the pressure to surpass was immense. Ji Shilei immediately mobilized all project departments and construction units to participate in the evaluation and voting, and publicized the innovative highlights of the grassroots service work in Guangming District in his wechat Moments, hometown circles and classmates' circles to increase attention. In the end, Guangming District received over 40,000 votes, ranking first in Shenzhen. The efforts of General Manager Ji have been witnessed and remembered by the owner, which has further enhanced the trust in General Manager Ji and the project team.

Ji Shilei's project department pursues a combination of a rigorous and pragmatic working style and a lively and relaxed living atmosphere. For the employees of the project department, he requires them to abide by the company's rules and regulations during working hours and work diligently and conscientiously. Outside of work, everyone is like brothers and sisters, as close as a family. Mr. Ji is not only a good leader but also a good parent. He said, "When children encounter difficulties, it should be the parents who go out to shield them from the wind and rain. Don't push the children out." "Let's share the honors together and don't be afraid when problems arise. I'll take the blame." "

Not long ago, a few individuals from a certain department of the owner went to the owner's leader to complain because they had inaccurate information. They said that no one from the design supervision department of the project department was working in the command post, which delayed the progress of the drawing review. Ji Shilei immediately launched a thorough investigation until the early hours of the morning and finally got to the bottom of the matter, thus maintaining the reputation of his team in a reasonable and measured manner. He said, "When faced with unreasonable accusations from outsiders, one should have the courage to stand up at critical moments. This way, one can gain more respect from the other party." The team members also expressed that with General Manager Ji around, they felt very secure.

Epilogue

Ji Shilei has been diligent in his studies and strict with himself for over a decade. After half a lifetime of military service, the project is my home. With a high sense of dedication to his job and a positive sense of ownership, he has been constantly writing brilliant new chapters in his career, leading the team to overcome one difficulty after another in his career, and making one contribution after another to the development of Jiangnan Management.