In his view, knowing one's true capabilities in order to set appropriate goals is also a "method of survival" in one's job position.

During a weekend lunch at a restaurant, when Mr. Y was in a particularly good mood, a friend toasted him with a beer and said, "You're not doing too badly, yet for over a decade you've just been a low-level specialist. You should strive to catch up with your peers to impress your friends and family!"

Following a gentle nagging from his friend, Mr. Y gradually changed his ways by frequently approaching and creating opportunities for close and intimate interaction with the highest-ranking leader of the commune's People's Committee. Whenever the commune chairman's family had an event, even without being invited or asked, he was always the first to arrive, busily attending to the needs of the chairman's family, busily preparing meals like a devoted household helper. When the chairman arrived at the committee, he would sometimes rush to receive the chairman's briefcase and carry it to his desk, or open the chairman's office door to clean, wash teacups, and boil water for tea.

The motives for striving are not pure. (Illustrative image. Photo: Tuoi Tre Cuoi Newspaper)

Even when the chairman returned from a business trip and his shoes were dirty, he didn't hesitate to clean and polish them until they shone. Of course, he did these "unnamed" tasks quite discreetly, but because they happened so often, it was hard to escape the notice of everyone in the office. Not only did he voluntarily assist his superior like a "high-class servant," but he also responded with utmost submissiveness and politeness to everything the leader said. During conversations, after the chairman finished speaking, he would either echo the previous sentence to show that he was always paying attention to the chairman's every word.

His dedicated and devoted service finally caught the chairman's attention, leading to his promotion to deputy head of a specialized department within the commune's People's Committee. However, since assuming his new position, he felt increasingly lonely and isolated. His colleagues and junior staff, who had once held him in high regard, were either hesitant or avoided conversation, rather than being as open as before. Generally, his colleagues only conversed with him when necessary and during work-related discussions, rarely offering the genuine empathy they once shared.

In fact, no one in the agency envied Mr. Y's new position. However, when considering the code of conduct outlined in the Government's Public Service Culture Project issued in 2018: "Regarding superiors, officials and civil servants should not flatter or curry favor with them for ulterior motives," Mr. Y failed to win people's trust due to his dishonest and unethical pursuit of advancement, which did not live up to the standards of a genuine official and Party member.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/dong-co-phan-dau-chua-trong-sang-1029389