Jin Hexagram 64 Hexagrams Line 3: One goes fast alone, a team goes far — the final rise hinges on people’s hearts

Have you ever noticed this?

There’s a type of person in the workplace

who isn’t the strongest in individual ability,

and isn’t the sharpest mind either,

yet they get promoted faster than anyone else.

What gives them the edge, you wonder?

They don’t work as many hours as you,

they don’t have as much skill as you,

so why do they get promoted first?

If you observe closely, you’ll find

one thing these people have in common:

everyone around them is willing to follow their lead.

When they speak, people listen;

when they take the first step, everyone follows.

They’re not fighting alone—

they’re moving forward with a whole team behind them.

This is exactly the lesson of the third line (Six in the Third Place) of the Jin (Progress) Hexagram in the I Ching (Book of Changes).

The third line of the Jin Hexagram sits at the top of the lower trigram,

meaning you’ve already risen to the head of a small team.

What does it take to get there?

The Line Text (Yao Ci) says just four characters:

众允，悔亡 (Zhong Yun, Hui Wang: Trusted by the multitude, remorse disappears).

“Trusted by the Multitude”: The Secret to Getting Ahead

Six in the Third Place is the third line of the Jin Hexagram,

a Yin Line (broken - -) in a yang position,

and the top line of the lower Kun (The Receptive) trigram.

The Line Text reads: 「众允，悔亡。」

“Zhong” means the multitude, everyone;

“Yun” means conviction, recognition.

When everyone is convinced of you,

what is there to regret?

These four simple characters

are something many people never figure out their whole lives.

You think getting ahead is all about personal ability?

It might be, at the very beginning.

You do great work on your own,

your boss notices, and you get a promotion.

That’s the stage of the First Line and Second Line—

it’s all about individual skill.

But when you reach the stage of Six in the Third Place,

you’re no longer fighting solo.

You have to lead a few people, manage a small team.

At this point, relying only on personal ability isn’t enough.

No matter how capable you are,

how much work can one person do alone?

You need everyone on your team to want to work hard

so your team can deliver results.

“Trusted by the multitude”

means everyone respects you,

recognizes you, and is willing to follow you.

When you say go east, no one goes west;

when you say charge forward, no one holds back.

With a group like that behind you,

what can’t you accomplish?

Many people can’t move up

not because they lack ability,

but because no one respects them.

They’re great at their technical work,

but terrible with people—

they can’t get along with anyone,

and no one wants to work for them.

People like that

can at most be a technical expert,

never a manager,

and they’ll never climb higher.

Put simply,

once you reach a certain level of advancement,

it’s no longer about how capable you are—

it’s about how many people want you to succeed.

Why Remorse Disappears When the Multitude Trusts You

What does “remorse disappears” mean?

It means no regret, no disappointment.

Everything that needed to be done is done,

everything that should have succeeded has succeeded,

and there’s nothing to regret.

Why does being trusted by the multitude make remorse disappear?

Because when it comes to moving up,

climbing alone is the easiest way to end up full of regret.

You finally claw your way to the top,

look back,

and there’s no one behind you—

only people waiting for you to fall.

Wouldn’t you panic?

Wouldn’t you regret it?

But if the whole team below you

respects you and supports you,

the situation is completely different.

When you get promoted,

everyone is happy,

because your success

is good for all of them.

The people you lead get raises along with you,

your team members get to learn and grow with you—

who wouldn’t want the best for you?

At that point, your advancement

isn’t just about you anymore—

it’s about the whole group.

Everyone will push you forward,

and you won’t be able to stop even if you want to.

Look at the truly great leaders out there—

when they get promoted,

everyone below them is thrilled for them.

Because people know

working for them gives them something to look forward to.

This kind of advancement is the most stable,

because your foundation isn’t just yourself—

it’s an entire team.

Wen Laoshi often says,

the more people you help succeed,

the higher you’ll climb.

It sounds simple,

but it’s truly the fundamental logic of getting ahead.

If you only care about climbing up yourself,

the higher you go, the more isolated you’ll be;

if you focus on lifting everyone up with you,

the farther you go, the steadier your path will be.

Winning People Over Takes Heart, Not Power

Many people think

to earn everyone’s respect,

you need power and authority,

you have to be tough,

even harsh, to make people fear you.

But think about it—

is fearing you the same as respecting you?

People who fear you

will behave themselves when you’re around,

but slack off the second you’re gone;

people who respect you

will work just as hard whether you’re there or not.

Power only makes people fear you;

only winning their hearts makes them respect you.

How do you win people’s hearts?

It’s as hard or as easy as you make it.

It boils down to three things.

First, you have to actually be good at what you do.

If you’re not capable yourself,

and all you do is talk a big game,

who’s going to respect you?

You need real skill,

you need to be able to lead the team through the work,

and actually deliver results.

Ability is the foundation—

without it,

everything else is just empty talk.

Second, you have to look out for your team.

You can’t jump in to take all the good opportunities yourself

and push all the blame onto your subordinates when things go wrong.

When the team succeeds,

the credit belongs to everyone;

when problems come up,

you take responsibility first.

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

Many people get it backwards—

they think once you’re a leader,

you get to enjoy the perks first and suffer the hardships last.

What happens then?

No one says it out loud,

but no one respects you deep down.

When things get tough,

no one will have your back.

Third, you need to have vision and generosity.

Don’t steal credit from your subordinates,

don’t fight over petty benefits with your peers,

don’t nitpick over every little thing.

When you’re in the position of Six in the Third Place,

you need to look upward,

not fixate on the tiny things right at your feet.

The more generous you are,

the more people will want to follow you;

the stingier you are,

the farther people will stay from you.

Put simply,

everyone has a heart.

If you genuinely care about people’s well-being,

they’ll genuinely respect you.

If you play mind games with people,

they’ll play mind games right back.

No one is stupid.

Three Things to Focus on at the Six in the Third Place Stage

The stage of Six in the Third Place in the Jin Hexagram

is the turning point from “doing the work yourself”

to “leading a team to do the work.”

What matters most at this stage

isn’t how much work you do yourself,

but how many people you can motivate.

First: Do your own job well.

This is the foundation of all foundations.

If you can’t even do your own work well,

what right do you have to lead others?

Hone your own professional skills

until they’re rock solid,

so people can see you really know your stuff—

that’s when your words will carry weight.

Many new managers jump right in

trying to control people and assert their authority,

but they don’t even know the business well themselves,

and everything they say is off base.

Who’s going to listen to that?

First prove you’re capable,

then earn people’s respect.

Second: Learn to lift others up.

Back when you worked alone,

you only had to be responsible for yourself.

Now that you lead a team,

you’re responsible for every single person on it.

When they grow, that’s your success;

when they fall behind, that’s your responsibility.

Don’t treat your subordinates like tools,

like they only exist to do work for you.

Treat them like partners,

genuinely want the best for them,

and genuinely help them grow.

The more people you help succeed,

the more solid your foundation will be.

Third: Don’t steal credit from the people below you.

Six in the Third Place is at the top of the lower trigram—

you’re already a small team leader.

The easiest mistake to make at this point

is taking credit for your team’s work.

When things go well,

you claim all the success for yourself;

when things go wrong,

you push all the blame down the line.

People like that

might look good in the short term,

but over time, no one will want to work for them.

Eventually they’ll be left all alone with no team to lead—

how are they supposed to climb any higher?

Remember this:

the stronger your team members are,

the stronger you are.

Your subordinates’ achievements

are your achievements.

Final Thoughts

The Six in the Third Place line of the Jin Hexagram

is especially fitting for anyone

who’s just become a small team leader

and is starting to manage a group for the first time.

The third line of the Jin Hexagram tells you this:

at this stage of advancement,

it’s no longer about individual ability—

it’s about winning people’s hearts.

众允，悔亡。

When everyone trusts and respects you,

you’ll have nothing to regret.

One person walks fast;

a group walks far.

If you want to go fast,

you can run on your own;

if you want to go far,

you have to bring everyone along with you.

The higher you climb the ladder of success,

the less it’s a solo journey.

The more people you can bring together,

the higher you’ll go.