Abstract: In the modern management practice, managers often have dual identities of leader and manager. The difference between the two is that managers are usually faced with stable and routine problems and decision-making while leaders are more confronted with unstable and unconventional issues and decision-making. Therefore, leadership is generally regarded an art of management to deal with changes, which is requiredin the VUCA era. In China, the Book of Changes is regarded as “the first and foremost among all the scriptures”. It was made by Fuxi’s observation of the natural changes and has become the enlightening masterpiece of the thought of changing with the time, which coincides with the artistry of the leadership. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was even interpreted differently by hundreds of scholars to form their own doctrines and has brought a heated debate of management thoughts. Therefore, from the perspective of Chinese traditional culture, through decomposing the content and structure of the Book of Changes, integrating the leadership philosophy of the two schools of the image-numerology and the philosophical connotations, combining the historical compilation and the rooting theory, the leadership model of the Book of Changes can be reduced to be the leadership cogitation of dividing and uniting, the leadership method of combining yin and yang, the leadership cycle of growing collections, the leadership characteristics of self-discipline and stabilizing others, and the leadership goal of transforming negatives into success, so as to provide incremental contributions to the original leadership theory with Chinese characteristics.

Key words: the Book of Changes, leadership model, leadership philosophy, historical compilation, the grounded theory