【中英双语】如何引领利益相关者时代

How to Lead in the Stakeholder Era

2020年6月，我返回明尼阿波利斯市，最后一次以百思买（Best Buy）董事长的身份参加董事会会议。开车行驶在亨内平大道上，我看到街道两边的商店都已停业。5月，乔治·弗洛伊德（George Floyd）被杀，随之而起的暴动和抗议给这座城市留下的伤疤仍未愈合。同一时期，澳大利亚山火肆虐，加利福尼亚也又一次发生森林火灾。而几个月前，一种新的病毒被发现，疫情在全世界蔓延。 In June 2020, I traveled back to Minneapolis for my final board meeting as chairman of Best Buy. As I drove down Hennepin Avenue, storefronts were boarded up on each side of the street. The city was still scarred from the riots and protests that followed the killing of George Floyd that May. Around the same time, forest fires were raging across Australia and, once again, in California. A few months earlier, a new virus had been identified, unleashing a pandemic that was spreading across the world. 过去的一年进一步加强了一项早在2020年的灾难之前就已经开始普及的认知：商业并非存在于真空中。 The past year has heightened a realization that had started to gain ground prior to the devastation of 2020: Business does not exist in a vacuum. 新冠疫情暴发之前，已经有越来越多的企业领导者从米尔顿·弗里德曼（Milton Friedman）主张的“企业的唯一目的是最大化股东回报”转为“企业应当服务于所有利益相关者”——员工、客户、供应商、社区，以及股东。赚钱自然重要，但许多领导者开始关注为何经营、为谁服务。 Even before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a growing number of business leaders were shifting away from Milton Friedman’s assertion that the sole purpose of business is to maximize shareholder returns and embracing the idea that business should serve 

all

 stakeholders: employees, customers, suppliers, and communities as well as shareholders. Although making money was of course an imperative, many leaders were focusing on 

why

 they were in business and 

who

 they were serving. 随后疫情让世界发生了翻天覆地的变化。现在很多公司努力克服这场健康危机及其经济影响，企业及其领导者是否放弃了“不止关注股价”的原则？ Then a pandemic turned the world upside down. As so many corporations now struggle to emerge from the health crisis and its economic fallout, will businesses and their leaders abandon principles that serve more than just a share price? 希望不是。现在不是退缩的时候，反而应当加速。眼下我们面临的这场深刻且涉及多方面的危机更加凸显了一个事实：如果员工、客户和社区无法健康发展，如果我们的星球处于水深火热之中，如果我们的社会出现断裂，那么商业与社会也无法繁荣发展。不改变几十年来的行为，却期望出现不同的结果，用爱因斯坦的话说，正符合疯子的定义。如今我们需要的是翻新商业和资本主义的基础，打造更可持续的未来。企业领导者应当接受相互依赖宣言，将公共利益置于首位，承认所有利益相关者的人性。 I hope not. Now is not the time to retreat. Instead, it is the time to accelerate. The profound multifaceted crisis we are facing has made it even more obvious that business and society cannot thrive if employees, customers, and communities are not healthy; if our planet is on fire; and if our society is fractured. Doing the same things we have been doing for decades while expecting different results would be, in Einstein’s words, the very definition of insanity. What we need today is a refoundation of business and capitalism so that we can build a more sustainable future. It is time for business leaders to embrace a declaration of interdependence that prioritizes the common good and recognizes the humanity of all stakeholders. 根据我自己的经验和对过去四十余年的反思，我知道让企业从追求利润最大化转为服务于员工、客户、供应商、社区和股东并不容易。这个过程需要领导力。本文将分享我在职业生涯中总结的理念，亦即百思买复兴的核心。归根结底，重要的远不止于零散的企业社会责任和环境、社会与治理，而是围绕企业目标从根本上重新定义企业，学习如何让员工充分发挥才能。要将企业目标和员工作为商业的中心。 I know, based on my own experience and reflections over the past 40 years or so, that shifting a business from maximizing profits to serving employees, customers, suppliers, communities, 

and

 shareholders is not easy. It requires leadership. In this article, I share the philosophy I have developed throughout my career and that was at the core of the resurgence of Best Buy. Ultimately, it is about much more than piecemeal CSR or ESG. It is about fundamentally redefining your company around purpose and learning how to unleash the best people have to offer. It’s about putting purpose and people at the heart of business.

商业的目的是为共同利益做贡献

The Purpose of Business Is to Contribute to the Common Good

商业是解决当前人类共同难题的重要因素，因此，领导者眼中的公司不能是没有灵魂的赚钱机器，必须是“人的组织”，由为了共同的目标而共事的人们组成。共同目标必须能够为共同利益做贡献，为人们的生活带来积极的改变——咨询顾问兼作家莉萨·厄尔（Lisa Earle）称之为“崇高目的”。从这个角度讲，赚钱依然重要，但利润并非最终目的，而是植根于崇高目的的战略成功带来的成果。这正是百思买扭转颓势的关键。当时是2012年，几乎没有人料到百思买还能重振旗鼓。百思买并不是唯一的例外。类似的企业被称为“友爱的公司”，15年时间里业绩表现比标普500企业好14倍。很多研究证明，崇高目的能够带来回报。 For business to be part of the solution to our collective challenges, we leaders must see companies not as soulless moneymaking entities but as “human organizations” made of individuals working together in support of a shared goal. This goal must contribute to the common good by making a positive difference in people’s lives — what author and consultant Lisa Earle McLeod calls a “noble purpose.” In this approach, making money remains an imperative, but profits are not the ultimate objective; rather, they are the outcome of a successful strategy rooted in purpose. This is how Best Buy turned its fortunes around and rebounded to heights that, back in 2012, few would have imagined possible. Best Buy is not an exception. Like-minded companies described as “firms of endearment” have outperformed the S&P 500 14-fold over a period of 15 years. Multiple studies have confirmed that purpose indeed pays. 领导者如何将这一愿景变成现实？首先，协助构建崇高目的。可以在世界需要什么、你和你的团队热衷什么、公司擅长什么、如何获得投资回报这四个问题的交集中寻找崇高目的。百思买的崇高目的是什么？经过一系列深入内心的思考和分析，我们最终决定，百思买的目的是以技术应对娱乐、生产、交流、食物、安全和健康等各方面的人类关键需求，从而丰富顾客的生活。这个目标对于我们人类有着深远的意义，同时具备商业意义。比起单纯的消费电子产品零售商，这样的理想更远大，也更能鼓舞人心。 How do leaders make this vision a reality? First, they help articulate a noble purpose. It can be found at the intersection of what the world needs, what you and your team are passionate about, what the company is good at, and how it can earn a good return on its investments. What did that look like for Best Buy? After much soul-searching and analysis, we eventually decided that the company’s purpose was to 

enrich our customers’ lives through technology

 by addressing key human needs in areas such as entertainment, productivity, communication, food, security, and health and wellness. That had a deep meaning for us as human beings, and it made business sense. It was also a much bigger, more inspiring idea than simply being a consumer electronics retailer. 有时公司宣称的目标与实际运营相背离——这样只是在表面上让世界知道你希望成为怎样的人，其实远远不够。举例来说，百思买投资开发帮助老人独居的产品及服务，目标是在五年时间里为五百万老人提供服务。实现目标的过程中，公司有潜力大幅度加速增长。假如我们的目标只是向消费者出售电子产品，能否触及这个不断增长的市场？答案也许是否定的。但如果目标是用技术丰富生活，这个市场不仅可以开发，而且大有可为。 Sometimes a company’s stated purpose can feel divorced from its operations — just a fancy way to tell the world who you aspire to be. It needs to be more than that. Take Best Buy’s investment in products and services to help aging seniors stay in their homes independently. In working toward its goal to serve 5 million seniors in five years, the company has the potential to significantly accelerate growth. How likely is it that we would have tapped this growing market had our purpose been simply to sell electronics to consumers? Not very. But when your purpose is to enrich lives through technology, that market not only seems possible, it makes total sense. 领导者必须确保公司目标不止步于言语，而要以目标作为战略和运营的基础。百思买的目标一经确立，就从根本上改变了我们的战略和运营方式，将我们的领域从消费性电子产品市场转为另一个更广阔且机会丰富的环境，令我们得以成长和成功。 Leaders must ensure that their company’s purpose goes beyond words and becomes the cornerstone of strategy and operations. Once articulated, Best Buy’s purpose fundamentally transformed our strategy and how we did business, shifting our playing field from the market of consumer electronics to a much broader environment rich in opportunities, which helped to fuel the company’s growth and success.

发挥人的魔力

Unleash Human Magic

崇高目的必须能让每个人都感到与自己的日常工作有联系。对于太多的人来说，工作是令人厌烦的任务，是诅咒和惩罚，或只是一种达成目的的手段——为了支付账单、出去度假和养老。将利益置于其余一切东西之上的组织里通常就是这种状况，让员工毫无激情。我们在多项研究中看到了这样的情况，如2020年ADP研究所的一项研究中，全球只有16%的人表示自己在工作中“完全投入”。如此之大的个人潜力和经济潜力未能充分发挥，令人扼腕。假如我们换一种截然不同的方式看待工作会怎样呢？假如领导者的职责变成建立一个让每位员工充分发挥才能的环境，让每个人都能成为最好的自己，那会有怎样的不同？ A noble purpose must be something every employee can relate to in their day-to-day job. For far too many people, work is viewed as a chore, a curse, a punishment, or a means to an end — something you do to pay the bills, go on vacation, and retire. And too often, this is the reality at organizations that put profit ahead of everything else. Sadly, the result is an uninspired workforce; we see that in study after study, including 2020 research by ADP Research Institute in which only 16% of people globally reported being “fully engaged” at work. This is a tragedy of unfulfilled personal and economic potential. But what if we choose to view work in a radically different light? What if leadership becomes about creating an environment where every employee can blossom and become the best, biggest, most beautiful version of themselves? 举个例子：乔丹今年三岁，他最喜欢的霸王龙玩具坏掉了。妈妈带他去本地的百思买门店，那里的圣诞老人听了霸王龙的情况，并向两位销售人员解释。销售人员没有让乔丹的妈妈在玩具货架上寻找一样的玩具，而是上演了“救治”霸王龙的故事。他们扮成医生，把坏掉的恐龙拿到柜台后面“做手术”，悄悄换成新的霸王龙玩具。几分钟后，他们将“治好”的恐龙玩具递给了兴高采烈的乔丹。 Consider this interaction: Jordan was a three-year-old whose favorite T. rex toy broke. His mom brought him to the local Best Buy where Santa Claus had “sourced” the T. rex and explained the situation to two sales associates. These associates could have directed Jordan’s mom to the toy shelves and let her find a replacement. Instead, they went above and beyond to “save” the T. rex. Playing doctor, they took the broken dinosaur in for “surgery” behind the counter, discreetly exchanging it for a new one while narrating the lifesaving procedure being performed. After a few minutes, they handed over the “cured” dinosaur to a beaming, excited Jordan. 百思买没有关于如何应对生病的恐龙的标准操作程序，或者说我没有作为领导者下达相关指示。之所以出现上述情景，是因为百思买努力营造对这样的创意予以认可的环境。对于这两名员工来说，工作不仅仅是收钱或出售新玩具，而是让一名小男孩重新露出笑容。用诗人纪伯伦（Khalil Gibran）的话来说，对于他们而言，劳动是有形的爱。 There aren’t standard operating procedures at Best Buy — or a memo from me as leader — detailing how to deal with sick dinosaurs. Instead, this moment was the result of creating an environment that recognizes and values such human creativity. Work for the two employees was not just about collecting a paycheck or selling a new toy. It was about putting a grin back on a little boy’s face. Work was for them, in the words of poet Khalil Gibran, love made visible. 我们领导者如何将公司转变为一个更好的地方，让所有员工都愿意且能够充分贡献力量，而且不仅是为客户，还是为彼此、供应商、所在社区和股东？ How can we as leaders transform companies into places where all employees are willing and able to give their very best, not only to customers but to each other, to suppliers, to their communities, and to shareholders? 这项工作的基础，或者说这个魔法的火花，是要把工作当成人之为人所必不可少的一大要素、一种在人生中寻找意义和满足的手段。首先问问自己和组织上下的人，“你的驱动力是什么？”——我发现企业环境中很少问到这个。这个问题的答案可以帮助人们找到个人目的感，反过来决定他们如何与自己的工作相联系。我在百思买时常常被员工给出的简洁而富有人性的答案打动。管理者常常谈及朋友、家人和同事——他们重视的、给予他们动力的真实的人。 The foundation or spark of this magic is to treat work as an essential element of people’s humanity and as a way of finding meaning and fulfillment in life. Start by asking yourself and people across your organization, “What drives you?” — a question that I find rarely gets asked in corporate environments. The answer helps people discover a sense of personal purpose, which in turn determines how they relate to their work. When I was at Best Buy, I always found the simplicity and humanity of people’s answers striking. Often, managers talk about friends, family, and colleagues — real people who matter to them and motivate them. 领导者最重要的一大职责就是帮助组织各层级员工在自己的驱动因素和公司的崇高目的之间建立联系。这类举措听起来似乎无用，但若在日常工作中注入更大的意义，有助于提升能量和动力，让下至一线人员、上至CEO的每个人明确前进的方向。我们百思买在波士顿的一个门店就体现了这种力量。门店管理者询问每一位员工的人生梦想，之后定期配合每个人向目标前进。该门店绩效优秀，绝非偶然。与此相似，我们高管团队一次外出开会时在餐桌上各自讲述了自己的人生故事、驱动力，以及与百思买目标的关系。我记得这次对话深刻地影响了我们如何确立公司目标、如何让公司在世界上贡献向善的力量。 One of the most crucial roles for any leader is helping people at all levels of the organization make the connection between what drives them and the company’s noble purpose. This may seem like a woolly step. But being able to infuse what we do every day with a bigger sense of 

why

 we do it helps foster energy, drive, and direction in everyone — from front liners to the CEO. I saw the power of this at one of our stores in Boston, where the store manager asked all employees — every single one — about their dreams in life and then regularly collaborated with them one-on-one toward their goals. Not coincidentally, this store was a top performer. Similarly, during one of our executive team retreats, each of us shared over dinner our life story, what drove us, and how it related to Best Buy’s purpose. I remember that this conversation had a profound impact on how we decided to shape the company’s purpose and make the company a force for good in the world. 这类措施并非无用。有充分的证据表明，个人和集体共同的目标会影响员工投入工作的意愿和能力。这个维度令企业成为有目标的人类组织，如果配合上有崇高目的的合理战略，就能让组织获得超凡的成果。这就是人的魔力。 These are not soft practices. The link between personal and collective purpose and how much people are willing and able to invest themselves at work is well-documented. This is the dimension that powers corporations as purposeful human organizations and, when coupled with a sound strategy anchored in a noble purpose, results in extraordinary performance. This is human magic. 所以请想一想：如何协助团队成员将对意义的追求与公司的崇高目的联系起来？一种简单的方法是，把每位员工当作具备独特才能的个人，而非“人力资源”。这种方法听起来非常简单，但若付诸实践，会产生巨大的影响。我还记得一位年轻员工对我说，他感到自己在百思买被当作一个人，这件事对他影响很大。他18岁进入公司，腼腆且对自己毫无信心。被问及在百思买获得的有意义的经历，他立刻讲述了一次区域经理去到他的门店。经理在他刚入职时见过他，那次认出了他，记得他的名字。这件小事给他留下了长久的印象。他不只是一个“蓝衫员工”，而是一个人，会被人记住，并非无关紧要。两年过去，曾经那个腼腆又没有信心的孩子成长起来，充满自信。 So, ask yourself: How can you help connect your team members’ search for meaning with the company’s noble purpose? A simple way to start is by treating people as individuals who are valued for their unique talents — not as “human capital.” This sounds simple and basic, but it has an enormous impact when you actually practice it. I still remember a young employee who explained to me that he felt seen as an individual at Best Buy and what a difference that made to him. He had been hired at 18 years old, shy and unsure of himself. When asked about meaningful experiences at Best Buy, he immediately recounted a visit by his district manager to his store. The manager, who had met him back when he was hired, recognized him and knew his name. That one small moment of connection left a lasting impression. He wasn’t just a “Blue Shirt.” He was an individual who was known and who mattered. Two years in, the once shy, unsure kid was flourishing and confident. 这就是将人置于中心的意义所在。在一个不只重视股东的世界里，这就是领导者的职责所在。要学习如何服务当下和未来的所有利益相关者，这是最好的基础。 This is what putting people at the center means. This is the job of the leader in a world driven by more than shareholders. It is the best foundation for learning how to serve all your stakeholders today and in the future.

困境中的目标和员工

Purpose and People When Things Get Tough

将目标与员工置于中心，并不是只有在好的时期才能享受的奢侈品。在疫情这种危机时期，有目标的人性化组织经受考验，坚持这点对领导者而言更为重要。我在百思买担任CEO期间，2017年9月的飓风玛利亚席卷波多黎各岛，给了我们极其有意义的考验。风暴摧毁了岛上的供电和通信基础设施。住宅毁于狂风和洪水，无法修复。道路无法使用。医院要么难以到达，要么已经疏散。百思买在波多黎各的门店和配送中心有约300位员工。一开始，我们无法定位到其中任何一个人。 Putting purpose and people at the center is not a luxury reserved for good times. It is even more crucial for leaders to stay the course during challenging crises like the pandemic, which test the spirit and humanity of purposeful organizations. During my time as CEO of Best Buy, few moments tested us as meaningfully as when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017. The storm knocked out the island’s electrical and communications infrastructure. Homes were blown apart or flooded beyond repair. Roads were impassible. Hospitals were inaccessible or evacuated. Best Buy had about 300 employees on the island in our stores and our distribution center. At first, we could not locate any of them. 我们的团队迅速投入行动。与员工取得联系后，我们得知，一些员工失去了自己的家和全部财产，许多人没有足够的食物和清洁的水。团队在几天之内安排了货运飞机，带着第一批应急物资抵达波多黎各。我们向员工分发现金以购买必需品，并且发了风暴后四个星期的薪水，尽管门店并未开门营业。我们还继续为支援参加当地重建工作的员工支付薪水。货运飞机总共飞了14趟，运送婴儿尿布、水和食物，分7次将员工送回内地。我们一步一步帮助员工重新建立起自己的生活。 Our team sprang into action. After we accounted for everyone, we learned that some employees had lost their homes and all their possessions, and many didn’t have enough food and clean water. Within a few days, the team organized a cargo plane and arrived in Puerto Rico with the first shipment of emergency supplies. We gave employees cash to buy necessary items and paid them for four weeks after the storm, even though the stores were closed. We also continued to pay any employee who volunteered in the community to help rebuild the island. All told, that cargo plane made 14 trips to Puerto Rico filled with supplies of diapers, water, and food, and made seven trips to bring employees to the mainland. Over time, we helped our people piece their lives back together. 那是2017年12月中旬。如果你在零售业工作，就知道这意味着什么。我们的门店在假期购物季的关键时段没有营业。但我根本不在乎这个。我们的员工感受到公司的关切，我们在飓风过后只用了三个月就恢复正常营业——足以成为关于复原力和目标的案例。百思买帮助员工，员工也反过来帮助百思买。不到一年时间，波多黎各的百思买门店和配送中心重新开业，年同比销售额增长了10%到15%。不过在我看来，我们的员工努力帮助彼此渡过一夜间失去一切的创伤，才是真正的成就。 This was in mid-December 2017. If you work in the retail sector, you know what that means: Our stores were closed during key weeks of holiday shopping. But I couldn’t have cared less about that. Our employees felt cared for and we were open for business a mere three months after Maria — a case study in resilience and purpose. And much like we helped our employees, they in turn, helped Best Buy. Within a year, the stores and our distribution facility on the island were open again. Remarkably, our year-on-year sales in each of those locations soared 10% to 15%. But in my mind, our employees’ commitment to helping each other through the trauma of losing everything overnight was the real achievement. 显然，这一切都不容易。企业会遇到障碍和艰难的抉择。但不管境遇是好是坏，培养、保持和体现集体精神，将人置于一切的中心，都是我们身为领导者的主要职责。 Clearly, none of this is easy. Businesses will face obstacles and difficult choices. But, in good times as in challenging ones, it is one of our main responsibilities as leaders to create, nurture, and embody a collective spirit that puts people at the center of everything we do.

零和领导力的终结

The End of Zero-Sum Leadership

要将人置于商业的中心，就要建立真诚体贴的关系。在公司内部应当如此，对公司所有利益相关者——客户、供应商、本地社区和股东——也都应当以一种不仅有利于公司目标，还能有利于彼此的方式交往。 Putting people at the center of business means fostering caring and authentic relationships. This should occur within a company but also with all the company’s stakeholders — customers, vendors, local communities, and shareholders — in a way that not only contributes to the company’s purpose but also creates great outcomes for each of them. 只有将客户当作有需求的人类，而非会走路的钱包，企业方能顺利渡过疫情，蓬勃发展。这样的公司把供应商当作合作伙伴建立联系，共同获益并服务客户；以一种与自身崇高目的一致的方式为社区做贡献；拒绝那种认为股东没有灵魂、不惜代价只顾追求短期利润的观念。这种由贝莱德CEO拉里·芬克（Larry Fink）引领的投资理念转变，目前仍在发展；新理念主张优先投资关心环境及社区影响的公司，并强调成功的可持续商业要把目标和人（以及地球）置于中心。能在将来取得成功的企业不会把世界看作零和博弈，会选择“两者兼顾”而非“两者择一”。坚持这一点有时并不容易：一些企业只是“漂绿”并声称自己可持续，不采取实际的环保行动。领导者必须抵制这种诱惑，保持言行一致，为所有利益相关者服务。 The corporations that will thrive coming out of the pandemic are those that will treat customers as human beings with needs, not walking wallets. They will connect and collaborate with vendors as partners, benefiting both sides and serving customers. They will contribute to their communities in a way that aligns with their noble purpose. They will reject the view of shareholders as soulless and obsessed with short-term profits at all costs. This shift in investor mindset, still in process and led by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, prioritizes investing in companies that care about their impact on the environment and their communities, and it reinforces the belief that purpose and people (and planet) are at the heart of successful, sustainable business. The companies that will thrive will refuse to see the world as a zero-sum game. They will choose “and” instead of “or.” It won’t always be easy; there is the temptation to simply “greenwash” and say you’re sustainable but not behave as such. Leaders must resist this temptation and serve all stakeholders in word and deed. 我们早已知道自己身为领导者的职责发生了三个根本性的变化。其一，不再只是最大化股东价值，而是对世界产生积极影响；其二，领导者要最大限度地提升表现，不是在利益相关者之间做出权衡取舍，而是遵循崇高目的为所有利益相关者服务，在此过程中拒绝零和博弈。其三，如果沿用传统的自上而下的管理模式，让永远正确的权威领导者在权力和名利驱使下管理，有目标的人性化组织将无法繁荣发展。现在需要的是将目标和人置于商业核心的领导方式。 It is past time that we as leaders acknowledge that our role has changed in three fundamental ways. One, it is no longer simply about maximizing shareholder value; it is about making a positive difference in the world. Two, the job of leaders is to maximize performance not by choosing among stakeholders but by embracing, mobilizing, and serving all of them in line with a noble purpose, and refusing zero-sum games along the way. Three, the purposeful human organization cannot flourish with the traditional top-down model of the powerful and infallible hero-leader driven by power, fame, glory, or money. What is required now is a leadership approach that puts purpose and people at the heart of business. 唯其如此，我们才能开始彻底改造资本主义，打造更为可持续的未来。 This is how, together, we can begin to reinvent capitalism so that it contributes to a more sustainable future. 休伯特·乔利是百思买前董事长兼CEO，哈佛商学院高级讲师，与卡罗琳·兰伯特（Caroline Lambert）合著《商业的核心》（The Heart of Business）。他入选《哈佛商业评论》百佳CEO、《巴伦周刊》CEO三十强，以及Glassdoor网站的美国优秀CEO前十名。现在乔利热切希望出力为以目标和人为中心的商业和资本主义奠定必不可少的基础。 休伯特·乔利（Hubert Joly）|文