【中英双语】不懂得如何面对权力，其实当不好领导
How the Most Emotionally Intelligent CEOs Handle Their Power
我所见过和共事的大多数CEO已为这一职务准备了数年时间。在他们进入中层管理层之后，他们中的大多数人便意识到，做一个好的领导人比做一个好的执行者更为重要。很多人都有自己的故事，有的经历了各种困难；有的会谈论员工的微观管理；有的是因为自己的无理要求破坏了整个团队的士气；还有的人因为没有给予足够的时间和重视而失去了一名绝佳的团队成员。
Most of the CEOs I’ve met and worked with had years to prepare for their jobs. As they entered middle management, most of them learned that being a good leader is more important than being a good do-er. Many have stories to tell about stumbling along the way, about micromanaging people, about destroying a team’s morale with unreasonable demands, about losing a great team member because enough time and attention weren’t given to the relationship.
大多数人都度过了这些困难的经历，而且更重要的是，从中吸取了教训。他们学会了放权，并支持下属开展其工作。他们学会了观察团队的倦怠和不服从迹象。他们非常擅长发现谁需要得到表扬，谁需要支持，谁会因成就而获得动力，谁需要非常亲密的同事关系，即便与老板之间也是这样。他们掌握了打造更强大团队、应对冲突以及协商的诀窍。
Most survived these types of difficult experiences and, more important, learned from them. They learned to let go of control and instead support people in doing their jobs. They learned to watch their teams for signs of burnout and rebellion. They learned to help people work smarter, not harder. They learned to read people well. They got very good at recognizing who needs appreciation, who needs support, who’s motivated by achievement, and who needs very collegial relationships — even with the boss. They learned tricks for building stronger teams, for dealing with conflict, and for negotiating.
人们可能会觉得，这些人在经历了这些事情之后已能够胜任CEO这一职务，不是吗？不一定。让我们看看几年前我碰到的CEO詹姆士。
You would think that all of this would have prepared them well to step into a CEO role, right? Maybe not. Consider “James,” a CEO I met some years back.
詹姆士所经历的事情比我上述提到的还要多。事实上，作为一名内部候选人，他在上任CEO一职前拥有熟悉公司文化的优势。他还与各个层面以及所有地域的众多公司人士保持着良好的关系，甚至是公司董事。
James did all of the things I mentioned above and more. In fact, as an inside candidate, he’d had the benefit of learning his company’s culture before stepping into the CEO role. He also had strong relationships with many people at all levels and in all geographies — even board members.
当詹姆士在高管团队中担任职务时，他被看作是一位有着良好形象的可靠领导。他激励着他人，不会轻易生气，而且能够在获得成绩的同时不会牺牲任何人的利益。确实，他仍有点事必躬亲的毛病，尤其是当他感觉到事情会对公司成功造成威胁的时候，而且对于这一职务所能带来的种种便利，他也存在一定的盲区。他喜欢与CEO搭乘私人飞机，享受拥有一名全职的办公室主任，而且对这种生活方式也感到十分满意。但总的来说，他似乎能够成为一个称职的CEO。毫无疑问，这也是他为什么最终当选CEO的原因。
While he was still in his executive team role, James was seen as a good, solid leader. He inspired people, wasn’t ruffled easily, and managed to get results without steamrolling anyone. True, he was still a bit of a micromanager, especially when he perceived threats to the company’s success. He also had a bit of a blind spot when it came to the trappings of the role. He loved being with his CEO on the private jet, enjoyed having a full-time chief of staff, and generally liked the lifestyle. But all in all, it seemed he’d be a good CEO; no doubt that’s why he was ultimately selected for the position.
我在詹姆士担任CEO一年之际拜访了他，并亲眼看到了他与两名雇员之间的互动，这给我留下了难以磨灭的印象。事情是这样的，我们坐在一个有玻璃隔段的开放式格局会议室中。我可以看到外面，詹姆士面对着我。在我们谈话的时候，我看到两名经理走了过来，表情十分兴奋。她们有礼貌地敲了敲门，并询问是否可以分享有关其项目的一些好消息，这对于我们来说没有问题。她们对所取得的成功感到尤为高兴和满足，一个个笑得十分爽朗，对这一成果感到十分自豪。而且我看到，在詹姆士加入之后，他们聊得非常愉快。
I visited James a year or so into his tenure as CEO and witnessed an interaction between him and two of his employees that’s burned into my memory. It went like this. We were sitting in a glass-fronted conference room in an open floor plan. I could see out; James was facing me. As we talked, I noticed two managers approaching, clearly in high spirits. They knocked politely and asked if they could share some great news about their project, which was fine with us. They were clearly thrilled and happy with their success — smiling, laughing, proud of the outcomes. James joined in and they had what looked to me like a great conversation.
经理们离开后，詹姆士转向我，带着笑容对我说：“你看到了吗？”“是的”，我回答道，“很了不起！他们干得不错，你一定很自豪。”“不是。”他说，“你看到他们对我的态度了吧？”
The managers left. Grinning, James turned to me and said, “Did you see that?” “Sure,” I said, “that was great! They did such a good job, you must be proud.” “No,” he said, “did you see how they are with me?”
我很困惑，也很担忧。他说话的语气并不对劲。他继续说道，自他升任CEO之后，女士们似乎在这里过得更惬意了（这两位经理刚好都是女性）。当时，我感到很震惊，他这话到底是什么意思？
I was confused. And concerned. The way he said it just didn’t feel right. He went on to tell me that ever since he ascended (his word) to the CEO slot, women seemed to enjoy his company more (the two managers happened to be female). Now I was shocked. What on earth did he mean?
我们又聊了起来，也更深入地交流了一下。事实是，詹姆士完全忽略了他的这一角色对于其员工的意义。他把所有的事——包括奉承、表扬和获取其认可的愿望——都归功于自己个人的魅力。他认为，人们对待他的方式源于他出众的领导才干和闪亮的个性。但是他没有想到，人们对他的态度可能是源于对他的职务和权力的考虑。
We talked. And we talked some more. It turns out that James had completely lost sight of what his role meant to people. He was taking everything — all the adulation, all the praise, all the desire for his recognition — personally. He actually thought that the way people were treating him was 100% due to his great leadership and shiny personality. It didn’t occur to him that it might be his role and the power that goes with it that caused people to behave in certain ways.
长话短说，在几个月中，詹姆士和我一道解决了他所面临的一些问题（很幸运的是，我们有一段时间很友好，也能坦诚相待）。我们发现，尽管他在此期间吸取了一些教训，但职务所带来的权力让他失去了对很多事物的辨识能力，尤其是对他自己和他在工作中的关系。总的来说，他的意识中缺失了两大关键情商因素——自我意识和同理心。
Long story short, over some months, James and I worked through some of the issues he was facing (luckily we’d been friendly for a while and could talk honestly). What we discovered was that despite all he’d learned along the way, the power of the role had blinded him to a great many things, particularly about himself and his relationships at work. In essence, two key emotional intelligence competencies, self-awareness and empathy, had disappeared from his tool kit.
自那之后，我一直在研究CEO们和其他高管如何应对权力。在我看来，像詹姆士这样的高管并非个例，而是有很多。
Since then, I’ve made it a point to attend carefully to how CEOs and other top executives deal with power — or not. And, it seems to me, what happened to James is not unique. It happens a lot!
为什么？原因是多方面的。首先，权力会让人堕落，包括我们的判断。第二，人们之所以区别对待是因为我们有权力。有时候，人们会和高管走得很近，例如詹姆士的案例。有时候，人们会对高管恨之入骨。不管怎么样，高管们很容易深陷其中，并被甜言蜜语冲昏头脑。
Why? There are several reasons. First, power really does corrupt us, including our judgment. Second, people treat us differently if we are powerful. Sometimes, as with James, they love us more. Sometimes they hate us more. Either way, it’s easy to get caught up in and believe the hype.
最后，很多人在升任高管之前并未进行过多的个人反思或缺乏成长过程。尽管高管们的情商在这一过程中似乎有所长进，但通常都是表面上的。
Finally, a lot of people get to the top without doing a lot of personal introspection or growth. While they seem to have learned emotional intelligence along the way, it’s often fairly superficial.
例如，他们可能学会了如何管理人际关系，但是他们并未能完全掌握如何感同身受或完全、准确地洞悉他人的想法。他们可能有能力去解读员工的动机和需求，但仅限于用于完成特定的工作。当涉及自我管理时，很多高管学会了管理外在的情绪表达，但并不知道如何处理内在的情绪，例如不安或他们对权力和威望的感受。我发现，高管之间最大的差距在于自我意识。部分原因在于，自我反思与经商没有关联，人们认为它是不必要的。
For example, they may have learned how to manage relationships, but they never truly learned to empathize or read people fully or accurately. They may be able to decipher motives and needs, but only enough to get things done. When it comes to self-management, a lot of leaders learn to manage the outward expression of emotion but don’t have a clue about how to deal with deep-seated emotions such as insecurity or how they feel about power and authority. As for self-awareness, that’s where I see the biggest gap. This is partly because personal reflection has never been something we do in business; it just hasn’t been deemed necessary.
因此，大多数机构都会鼓励人们自省，并发现不足，然后加以弥补。这倒没什么问题，但一旦人们被职务权力蒙蔽了双眼，这种自我意识就有点捉襟见肘了。
So in most organizations we are encouraged to examine ourselves to find weaknesses and fix them. This is fine, but it’s not the kind of self-awareness you need if you are going to be dealing with situations where you, and everyone else, can be blinded by the power of your role.
未来的CEO们应如何准备，才能更好地应对职场员工对权力的各种复杂态度？以下是我所学到的东西：
What can prospective CEOs do to be better prepared to deal with our complicated and complex human responses to power in the workplace? Here’s what I’ve learned:
在没有个人成长的前提下，真正的职业成长是不现实的。为了完全掌握如何成为一个更称职的领导者，以及如何更好地应对权力问题，人们必须自知自觉。一开始，人们可以问自己以下问题：
True professional growth without personal growth is impossible. In order to truly learn to be a better leader, and to be better able to deal with power dynamics, you’ve got to figure yourself out. To start, ask yourself a few questions:
你对权力有什么感受？你如何应对你的上司或那些能够制定影响你生活的决策的权威人士，例如你的老板？你对权力和权威人士的态度源自于哪里？（是的，你可能需要考虑与他人的关系，例如你的父亲、母亲和其他在你童年扮演着重要角色的人。）
How do you feel about power? How do you react to people — like your boss — who have power over you or who have authority and can make decisions that affect your life? Where do you think your reactions to power and authority originated? (Yes, you probably will need to think about relationships with people such as your father, mother, and others who were instrumental in your childhood.)
你对权力所带来的事物有何感受，例如金钱、车辆、房子和假期？你会按照这些标准来衡量你自己吗？当你达到这一标准后会有什么样的感受？你如何对待达不到标准的人？当你自认为没有达标的时候，你有何感受？你会如何应对这些感受？例如，你是否会自己承受，然后责备自己？还是对外宣泄？
How do you feel about the trappings of power, things like money, cars, homes, vacations? Do you measure yourself with these yardsticks? How do you feel when you “measure up”? How do you treat people who don’t measure up? How do you feel when you think you are falling short? What do you do with those feelings? For example, do you turn inward and blame yourself? Or do you lash out?
对于你来说，哪些东西比权力更重要？家庭、健康、福祉、工作和生活的幸福感，或道德？你的回答将明确揭示自己真正的人生价值观。在意识到这一点之后，让你的价值观引导你做出选择，此举将对日后工作行为和思想的养成发挥重要的作用。
What is more important to you than power? Is it family, health, well-being, happiness at work and in life, ethics? Your answers will give you a clear indication of what you truly value in life. Being aware of this and letting your values guide your choices will go a long way toward helping you navigate your behaviors and thoughts at work.
在过去20年中，大多数高管都意识到，情商是其成功的关键。然而，人们必须意识到，情商的培养是一个毕生的工作，而不是一种练习，我们还有很长的路要走。对于那些掌控着他人职业和生活的高管和CEO们来说，这是一种责任。
Over the past twenty years, most leaders have come to accept that emotional intelligence is key to their success. But we’ve still got a long way to go before we realize that developing EQ is a lifelong quest, not an exercise. And for senior leaders and CEOs, who hold people’s careers and livelihoods in their hands, it’s a responsibility.
关键词：领导力
安妮·麦基 | 文
安妮·麦基是宾夕法尼亚大学高级研究员，也是PennCLO高管博士项目的主任。
时青靖 | 编辑
