Hexagram Bi 95: Why Some People Are Surrounded by Talents While You Can’t Find Reliable Ones

Have you ever noticed a really interesting phenomenon?

Some leaders are surrounded by capable people—someone manages business operations for them, someone handles HR, someone takes care of stakeholder relations, and everyone is reliable. It seems like they barely have to do anything, and the team runs smoothly on its own.

Other leaders, though, are surrounded by total dead weight—people who are useless at every task but top-tier at shifting blame. These leaders are always putting out fires, always complaining that they have no good staff on hand. They drive one batch of people away only to get another batch just as bad, and in the end, they still end up with no one capable.

Do you think this is just bad luck? That they’re fated to never cross paths with talented people?

Nope.

Talent doesn’t fall out of the sky—it’s attracted. The kind of leader you are determines the kind of people you’ll draw to you.

The fifth line of the Hexagram of Holding Together (Bi) in the I Ching speaks directly to this. It reads: "显比，王用三驱，失前禽，邑人不诫，吉。" (Xiǎn bǐ, wáng yòng sān qū, shī qián qín, yì rén bù jiè, jí — Manifested solidarity: the king uses a three-sided drive, lets the game ahead escape, the townsfolk feel no need for caution. Good fortune.)

Manifested Solidarity — True Leadership Rests on Openness and Integrity

The Nine in the Fifth Place (Nine-Five) is the ruling line of the Hexagram of Holding Together. It is a Yang Line in a yang position, and it sits in the central position, making it the core of the entire hexagram.

What does "manifested solidarity" mean? "Manifested" means open, clear, nothing hidden up your sleeve. "Solidarity" means closeness, unity. Put together, it means connecting with others openly and honestly, no underhanded tricks, no manipulative tactics.

This sounds simple, but it’s hard to put into practice.

How many leaders act like your best buddy to your face, but stab you in the back behind closed doors? They say "speak freely, everyone" in meetings, but if you actually tell the truth, they’ll hold it against you forever. They swear they "trust the people they hire," but the next minute they’re asking your coworker to keep tabs on you.

This kind of "secret solidarity" might work in the short term, but it’s guaranteed to cause problems long-term. No one’s an idiot—if you play dirty, people will pick up on it sooner or later. Once they do, they’ll either leave, or start playing dirty right back at you.

Wen Laoshi often says: Small wins come from cleverness; big wins come from integrity. You can win for a while with tricks and calculations, but you can only win for a lifetime with openness and honesty.

Why is Nine-Five the ruling line of the Hexagram of Holding Together? Because this hexagram is about "uniting people," and the highest form of unity isn’t manipulating people into staying—it’s having people genuinely want to follow you. How do you get that? Through "manifestation"—when you’re open and aboveboard, people feel safe; when you’re upright and honest, people want to be around you.

The King’s Three-Sided Drive — The Highest Level of Management Is Leaving People an Out

The next part is even more powerful: "the king uses a three-sided drive, lets the game ahead escape, the townsfolk feel no need for caution. Good fortune."

What’s "the king’s three-sided drive"? How did ancient kings hunt? They didn’t surround the game on all four sides—they only closed off three sides, leaving one gap open. Why? To give the prey a chance to escape.

The ones that choose to stay are yours; the ones that want to leave, you let go. You don’t hunt them to extinction, you don’t push people to the brink.

What does "lets the game ahead escape" mean? It means if prey runs out through the open side, you don’t chase it. It’s already heading for the escape route, so you let it go. If you chase down even the ones that are already running, that’s not hunting—that’s total annihilation.

When you apply this to management, the lesson is incredibly profound.

A truly good leader doesn’t grip people so tight they can’t breathe—they give people the right to choose. If you want to work with me, you’re welcome; if you don’t, I won’t stand in your way. We part on good terms, and we both go our own way.

Some people don’t get this. When an employee resigns, they beg them to stay—raises, promotions, empty promises, every trick in the book. When they finally can’t keep them, they turn nasty: withhold pay, badmouth them, even sabotage their next move.

What’s the point? Their heart’s already gone. What good does it do to keep their body but not their commitment? And when you pull stunts like that, the rest of your staff sees it—oh, so that’s what happens to people who leave. Then who would dare work for you wholeheartedly? Everyone starts lining up their own exit plan.

What does "the townsfolk feel no need for caution" mean? It means ordinary people don’t feel like they have anything to fear. Because the ruler is open and aboveboard, reasonable, and doesn’t push people to ruin. So everyone feels secure, no need to watch their back.

Think about your own team: do people feel "no need for caution"—no need to be on guard, no fear, just focused on doing their work? Or is everyone living on edge—scared of saying the wrong thing, scared of messing up, scared of getting fired out of the blue?

The first kind of team has real cohesion; the second kind only has surface-level obedience.

Why You Don’t Have Talented People Around You

Going back to the question at the start—why do some leaders have all the talent around them, while others are stuck with dead weight?

Because talented people get to choose their leaders too. You think you’re picking your employees? Your employees are picking you right back.

If you’re open and honest, people will want to work with you; if you’re petty and small-minded, people will avoid you. If you leave people an out, they’ll dare to charge forward; if you leave no room for mercy, people will keep a backup plan for themselves.

I know a business owner whose company is small, only a few dozen people, but every single one of them is a top performer. Someone asked him once, how did you hire so many amazing people? He said: "I didn’t hire them—they all came to me on their own."

What does that mean? He has one defining trait: he’s totally upfront.

He’s honest with everyone about how much money the company makes. What’s owed to people gets paid out, what’s promised gets delivered—he never hides anything. When an employee wants to leave, he never makes it hard on them, he even writes them letters of recommendation. Sometimes employees leave, work other places, realize his company is still the best, and come back—and he welcomes them with open arms.

Who wouldn’t want to work for a leader like that?

On the flip side, some bosses are always making empty promises, always calculating, always watching their employees like they’re going to slack off. What happens? The good ones all leave, and the ones that stay are just phoning it in. Then they sigh and go, "Why can’t I ever find any talented people?"

You scared all the talented people away, that’s why.

Three Reminders from Nine-Five of the Hexagram of Holding Together

After all that, what exactly is this Nine-Five line trying to tell us?

First, lead yourself before you lead others. If you want a certain kind of team, you have to become that kind of person first. If you’re open and honest, your team will be straightforward; if you’re petty and calculating, your team will all have their own hidden agendas. People follow the example set from above—that’s just how it works.

Second, keeping someone’s loyalty is better than just keeping their job title. If an employee wants to leave, don’t force them to stay. You can keep their body, but you can’t keep their heart. It’s better to part on good terms—you never know when your paths might cross again. When you treat people who leave well, the people who stay see that, and they feel more secure—because they know even if they leave someday, they won’t be treated badly.

Third, don’t try to have everything. "The king uses a three-sided drive"—surround three sides, leave one open. What’s meant to be yours won’t run away; what isn’t meant to be yours can’t be kept. If you try to grab everything, you’ll end up with nothing. Leaving a path for others is leaving a path for yourself.

When we get to Nine-Five in the Hexagram of Holding Together, we’ve basically reached the heart of it. This hexagram is about "mutual closeness"—how people connect, how they unite. But real unity isn’t about gripping people so tight they can’t leave—it’s about people willingly gathering around you.

What makes that happen? "Manifested solidarity"—openness and integrity.

When your heart is open and honest, talented people will naturally come to you. It’s like the sage kings hunting: they only close off three sides, leaving one escape route. Let what’s meant to leave go, and what’s meant to stay will stay on its own.