糟糕老板正好就是你的最佳職場導師
“透視領導力”是《財富》雜志一個在線互動社區(qū),最有思想、最具影響力的商界人士將在此回答關于職業(yè)與領導力的問題。今天我們的問題是:“在你的職業(yè)生涯當中,你學到的最重要的經驗教訓是什么?”以下為Axonify公司CEO卡洛爾?利曼的回答。 正如老話說的那樣,如果我在職業(yè)生涯當中每學到一條教訓都能得到一個5美分硬幣,我現在肯定已經很富有了。在你年輕的時候,你沒有辦法預測或者知道你會面臨多少挑戰(zhàn),這實際上是好事。如果大多數人都能預先了解前途坎坷,恐怕我們都會放棄傳統(tǒng)的職業(yè)道路,選擇在加勒比海灘開一家小酒店,靠賣果汁朗姆酒為生,從而過上“輕松的生活”。如今,我進入職場已有二十多年時間,我已經接受了學無止境這種說法。我漸漸發(fā)現,新的經驗教訓模式和主題,往往是我之前種種遭遇的變體。 但有一件事一直沒有變。它對我的成功、同事們的成功以及整個公司的成功,產生了直接影響。這條教訓可以歸結為領導者在工作中如何展現自己;他們有能力讓一家公司從優(yōu)秀變成卓越,也有可能摧毀一家公司。領導者的基本態(tài)度,比如如何應對挑戰(zhàn)和如何積極對待公司的其他人,是對有效領導力最好的考驗。 初入職場時,我就曾遭遇過一位糟糕透頂的老板。他不僅自大傲慢,令人生畏,而且喜歡提高嗓門說話。事實上,這位老板非常難相處,以至于經常有人問我,如何能忍受為這樣一位糟糕的老板工作?;仡^想想,我認為這要歸結于多個因素:我當時還年輕,心思單純,有些膽小。除了忍受,別無他法,而且我也不知道還有其他的選擇。 這位老板帶來的負面影響一直困擾著我:人們害怕承擔風險,披露壞消息會引發(fā)恐慌,而提出意見則意味著你將成為眾人嘲笑的對象。簡而言之,沒有人以最佳狀態(tài)投入工作,包括我在內。我們生活在恐懼當中,大部分工作時間都在竊竊私語地討論公司的問題,猜測誰會是老板的下一個目標。 幾年后,我第一次擔任CEO,終于有機會研究一名領導者的情緒和態(tài)度如何影響公司績效。別誤會,我并沒有滿臉堆笑地在辦公室里閑逛,發(fā)布幸福的宣言——我采用的是實實在在的作法。我盡最大努力告訴所有人真相。我沒有各種狂躁的極端情緒。我會努力用人性化的方式解決棘手的情況。我的終極目標是為我、我的員工和我的團隊樹立信心。(財富中文網) 譯者:劉進龍/汪皓 審校:任文科 |
The Leadership Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question “What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career?” is by Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify. As the old saying goes, if I had a nickel for every lesson I’ve learned in my career I’d be a very rich person. In fact, it’s actually a good thing that you have no way to anticipate or appreciate just how many challenges you’ll be faced with when you’re young. If most of us knew, we’d eschew the traditional career route and find a beach shack in the Caribbean where we could sell fruity rum drinks and live “the easy life.” Now that I’m more than a couple of decades into my career, I’ve come to accept that the lessons will never end. Over time I’ve recognized patterns and themes to the point where new lessons tend to be a variation of things I’ve encountered before. But there is one lesson in particular that has been consistent. It’s had a direct impact on my success, the success of the people I work with, and the success of business as a whole. It all comes down tohow leaders present themselves at work; they have the power to turn a good company into a great one, or destroy it. A leader’s general attitude — how theydeal with challenges and how they actively treat others in the business — is the best test of effective leadership. Very early in my career I was on the receiving end of abysmal treatment at work. My boss at the time was arrogant, intimidating, and loved to — ahem — raise his voice. In fact, he was so difficult to work with that I was constantly asked how I could work for such a terrible boss. Looking back, I think it was a combination of things; I was young, naiive, and shy. I felt like I had no choice but to put up with it,plus I didn’t know any differently. The fallout was all around me: people were afraid to take risks, disclosing bad news incited panic, andoffering an opinion meant you were setting yourself up for ridicule. In a nutshell, not a single employee including me, performed at peak. We lived in fear and spent a lot of time at work whispering about problems and who was the latest target. Several years later I became a CEO for the first time and finally got the opportunity to see how a leaders mood and attitude effects performance. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t run around the office with a smile pasted on my face, making happy proclamations — I’m just real. I do my best to tell the truth. I don’t have wild extremes of emotion. And I try to deal with tough situations with a human approach. At the end of the day, my goal is to instill confidence — in me, my employees, and my team. |