????親愛的安妮:我很想知道您和您的讀者對(duì)這件事怎么看。我的一位密友兼同事——就叫他鮑勃吧——一心巴望著,或者至少是希望能被任命為我們部門的頭兒??墒牵紫瘓?zhí)行官一職最終落到了另一個(gè)對(duì)手頭上,而鮑勃只得到了向老板匯報(bào)工作的第二把交椅。 ????我明白這個(gè)結(jié)局讓他失望透頂,他現(xiàn)在干脆打算離職,這在我看來是極大的失策。我一直努力說服他,當(dāng)二把手對(duì)他來說也是個(gè)好機(jī)會(huì),這個(gè)任命很值得接受(至少在最近幾年內(nèi)都是值得的),不過我覺得他聽不進(jìn)去。請(qǐng)問您怎么看這個(gè)問題?——一位憂慮不安的旁觀者 ????親愛的旁觀者: 這是個(gè)有意思的問題,不過,如果不了解更多細(xì)節(jié),這也是一個(gè)非常難以回答的問題??偛课挥趥惗氐娜驈V告和營(yíng)銷巨頭薩奇廣告公司(Saatchi & Saatchi)的副董事長(zhǎng)理查德?海特納指出:“在這個(gè)層級(jí),接班計(jì)劃應(yīng)該是透明公開的。誰(shuí)將出任下一任首席執(zhí)行官不該是個(gè)讓人驚訝的決定?!?/p> ????而事實(shí)上它確實(shí)令人驚訝(至少對(duì)鮑勃來說是如此),這在海特納看來不是個(gè)好兆頭。他的疑惑是:“鮑勃曾經(jīng)和首席執(zhí)行官談過他的期望嗎?如果一番交談下來,他覺得老總已經(jīng)承諾這項(xiàng)職位非他莫屬,然后卻把這個(gè)位置給了別人,那就是嚴(yán)重的失信,他可能真應(yīng)該脫身而去,另謀高就了。” ????如果情況并非如此,那海特納先生就十分同意你的看法,即雖然鮑勃本人目前還沒意識(shí)到,但他確實(shí)獲得了一個(gè)千載難逢的機(jī)會(huì)。海特納自己曾深思熟慮過當(dāng)二把手的種種好處:幾年前,他主動(dòng)辭去了薩奇廣告公司歐洲、中東和非洲區(qū)首席執(zhí)行官一職,出任母公司副董事長(zhǎng)。 ????他在自己的著作《顧問:陰影下的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)藝術(shù)》(Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows)中寫道:“我決定出任副手,不再當(dāng)那個(gè)永遠(yuǎn)在奮力工作、永遠(yuǎn)在做決策的首席執(zhí)行官。當(dāng)二把手是我的首選。事實(shí)證明這是我職業(yè)生涯中的最佳決策?!?/p> ????在《顧問》【Consiglieri,一個(gè)可追溯至中世紀(jì)的意大利語(yǔ)詞匯,后來因電影《教父》(The Godfather)而一炮而紅】一書中,他描述了兩種他稱為“C”高管的管理者:一種是充分利用二把手位置為當(dāng)一把手做準(zhǔn)備的人——比如蒂姆?庫(kù)克,他在蘋果公司(Apple)長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任斯蒂夫?喬布斯的副手,最后才出任首席執(zhí)行官;另一種是看重二把手這個(gè)位置獨(dú)特價(jià)值的人。 ????海特納顯然屬于第二個(gè)陣營(yíng)。一方面,他喜歡“有時(shí)間深入思考問題,這是大多數(shù)首席執(zhí)行官都做不到的。如果你天生就富有求知欲,好深思,又喜歡在幕后影響公司戰(zhàn)略和重大事件,那就沒有比二把手更好的工作了,”他說。 ????“但對(duì)多數(shù)人來說,當(dāng)二把手好像沒什么出息,沒法像一把手那么位高權(quán)重,也拿不到高不可攀的薪水。不過,二把手也不必承受跟最高職位相伴的無休無止、令人痛苦的壓力,還能更好地掌控屬于自己的時(shí)間,”他補(bǔ)充道。海特納自己就利用空余時(shí)間在倫敦商學(xué)院(London Business School)教授市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷。 |
????Dear Annie: I’m curious about what you and your readers have to say about this situation. A close friend and colleague of mine—let’s call him Bob—was expecting, or at least hoping, to be named head of our division. Instead, the CEO position has gone to someone else who was also in the running, and Bob has just been offered the No. 2 job, reporting to the new chief. ????I understand that it’s a disappointment, but he’s thinking about leaving the company, which I believe would be a big mistake. I’ve been trying to convince him that being second-in-command could be a huge opportunity for him, and well worth taking (at least for a couple of years), but I don’t think he’s listening. Your thoughts, please? — Concerned Bystander ????Dear C.B.: Interesting question, and a tough one to answer without knowing a few more details. “At this level, succession planning should be transparent,” notes Richard Hytner, deputy chairman of London-based global advertising and marketing behemoth Saatchi & Saatchi. “Who is next in line to be CEO shouldn’t come as a surprise.” ????The fact that it apparently did (at least to Bob) strikes Hytner as a bad sign. “Did Bob discuss his expectations with the CEO?” Hytner wonders. “If he came away from that conversation having been promised that the job was his, and it was then given to someone else, that is a serious enough breach of trust that he probably should quit and go elsewhere.” ????If not, however, Hytner agrees with you that, although he may not realize it right now, Bob has just been given a terrific opportunity. Hytner has done a lot of thinking about the unique advantages of being No. 2: A few years ago, he voluntarily quit his job as CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Europe, Middle East, and Africa to become deputy chairman of the parent company. ????“I decided to become a deputy instead of an all-singing, all-dancing, always-deciding CEO,” he writes in his book Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows. “Being second [was] my first choice. It proved the best one of my career.” ????In Consiglieri (an Italian word for adviser or counselor that dates back to the Middle Ages but was made famous by The Godfather), he writes about two types of what he calls “C” executives: Those who have taken advantage of the No. 2 role to prepare themselves for the top job—think Tim Cook, who was Steve Jobs’ longtime deputy at Apple before becoming CEO—and those who value the position for its own sake. ????Hytner is decidedly in the second camp. For one thing, he likes “having the time to think through a problem deeply, which most CEOs do not have,” he says. “If you are curious and contemplative by nature, and enjoy influencing strategy and events from behind the scenes, then there really is no better job. ????“The problem is that being No. 2 looks like failure to many people,” he adds. “You don’t have the status and overt power, or the stratospherically high pay, of the top job. But you also don’t have the miserable, nonstop pressures that come with it. And you have a lot more control over your own time.” Hytner uses some of his freed-up schedule to teach marketing at London Business School. |
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