Leadership truths I’ve learned over the years

我多年来学到的领导力真理

I’ve led, managed, advised, and consulted over a dozen teams in a variety of situations over the course of my career. The people, means, and goals changed from team to team, as did my approach to leading and managing them.

在我的职业生涯中，我曾在各种情况下领导、管理、建议和咨询过十几个团队。每个团队的人员、手段和目标都不一样，我领导和管理他们的方法也是如此

Some of my approaches failed miserably, and some were highly successful. Some worked for one team but not others. Some seemed to not work at first, but after a long period of time the positive effects became evident. Other approaches worked immediately, but the improvements were fleeting.

我的一些方法惨遭失败，而另一些则非常成功。有些方法对一个团队有效，但对其他团队无效。有些方法起初似乎不起作用，但积极效果经过很长一段时间后就很明显了。其他的方法立即奏效，但带来的改进转瞬即逝。

The drastic differences between the approaches have helped highlight the constants: undercurrents of commonality that all of my effective efforts shared.

这些方法之间的巨大差异有助于突出不变的东西：我所有有效努力所共有的底层逻辑。

I’ve come to identify these constants over the years as principles that underly the effective leadership and management of teams. Further research in the form of papers, books, videos, case studies, observations, and interactions with other leaders and managers have finally given me a vocabulary I could use to distinctly identify these concepts that were discovered through experience.

多年来，我已经将这些不变的东西当作有效领导和管理团队的基础原则。通过以论文、书籍、视频、案例研究、观察以及与其他领导者和经理的互动等形式进行进一步研究，最终为我提供了一个词汇表，我可以用它来清楚地识别这些通过经验发现的概念。

As Sapir and Whorf theorized, language shapes reality, and I’ve since made these principles the foundation of my leadership and management practices.

正如Sapir 和 Whorf所论证的那样，语言塑造了现实，我已经将这些原则作为我的领导和管理实践的基础。

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First, lead yourself

首先，引领你自己

“You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself…the height of a man’s success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment. …And this law is the expression of eternal justice. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others.”

“你的控制能力，不会超越你的自制力。一个人成功的高度取决于他的自制力，一个人失败的深度取决于他的自我放纵。这是一条永恒不变的法则。不能支配自己的人，也无法支配他人”

- Leonardo Da Vinci
A good leader must have knowledge and mastery over themselves.

一个好的领导者必须有自知之明和自制力。

To truly lead a team effectively, leaders must be honest and authentic with themselves, understanding their strengths and their weaknesses.

要真正有效地领导团队，领导者必须对自己诚实和真实，知道自己的长处和短处。

They must hold themselves to an incredibly high, ever-increasing standard of character. To compromise on that personal standard is to lose leadership effectiveness.

他们必须使自己保持极高的、不断提高的角色标准。在个人标准上妥协就会失去领导效能。

They have to be the penultimate example of the very best of their team — an ideal that people can strive to emulate. A failure to live up to that ideal requires an honest introspection and a willingness to admit fault. Leadership requires integrity, discipline, initiative, responsibility, and courage.

他们必须成为人们可以努力效仿的理想的最好例子，未能达到这一理想需要诚实的反省和承认错误的意愿。领导力需要正直、纪律、主动性、责任感和勇气。

Leaders don’t have to be the subject matter experts (although they certainly can be). What I mean is that they have to constantly live up to a certain ideal and demonstrate an indelible strength of character that can be relied on by the team. They must exhibit self-mastery.

领导者不必是领域专家（尽管他们当然可以）。我的意思是，他们必须不断地做到理想的要求，并展现出团队可以依赖的不可磨灭的人格力量。他们必须表现出自制力。

Any less than a leader’s best is a disservice to the team, organization, and themselves. Leaders have to earn it every day.

任何达不到领导者最佳水平的行为都是对团队、组织和他们自己的损害。领导者必须每天都在争取。

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Core values matter

核心价值观很重要

“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.”
- Roy Disney

“当你的价值观对你来说很明确时，做决定就会变得更容易。”

People often dismiss core values, thinking they are just “posters on a wall” or “trite” memes that have no value. Others view them suspiciously, believing them to be “cult-like”.

人们经常忽视核心价值观，认为它们只是“墙上的海报”或没有价值的“陈腐”模因。其他人对他们持怀疑态度，认为他们是“类似邪教的”。

I can’t blame them — they have every right to these opinions with the many terrible examples of core values gone bad.

我不能责怪他们——他们完全有权接受这些观点，因为有许多核心价值观变坏的可怕例子。

Many leaders only pay lip-service to their core values, saying one thing and doing another. Sometimes core values are only reflected by those in the trenches of the organization, with leaders operating by an entirely different set of rules. With hypocrisy like this, it’d be better if the organization didn’t have any stated values at all.

许多领导者只是口头上说他们的核心价值观，说一套做一套。有时，核心价值观只反映在一线员工的身上，而领导者则按照一套完全不同的规则行事。像这样的虚伪，如果组织根本没有任何公开的价值观会更好。

However, truly lived core values create intense alignment, belonging, and engagement. A leader that’s able to use core values effectively unlocks an order of magnitude more effectiveness. A leader that holds true to authentic core values act as a beacon that tells their team what is expected of them at all times, allowing them to self-direct every action based on these core values.

然而，真正生活的核心价值观会产生强烈的一致性、归属感和参与度。能够有效使用核心价值观的领导者会释放出一个数量级的效率增加。一个坚持真正核心价值观的领导者就像一盏灯塔，随时告诉他们的团队对他们的期望是什么，让他们能够根据这些核心价值观自我指导每一个行动。

True core values allows an organization to survive beyond any one individual.

真正的核心价值观能让一个组织超越任何个人而生存。

While ways to identify these values, define desired behaviors, and align organizational processes to values is a whole other topic, it’s important to understand that properly defined and demonstrated core values allows everyone in the organization to be aligned and work towards a common goal.

虽然确定这些价值观、定义所需行为以及使组织流程与价值观保持一致的方法是另一个主题，但重要的是要了解到，正确定义和展示的核心价值观可以让组织中的每个人都保持一致，并朝着共同的目标努力。

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People are people

人就是人

“Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy.”
- Marcus Aurelius

“提醒自己，你的任务是做一个好人；提醒自己人的本性需求。然后毫不犹豫地去做，说出你看到的真相。而是带着善意。谦虚。没有虚伪。”
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Every organization is a collection of people — living, breathing human beings with hopes, dreams, fears, accomplishments, disappointments, insecurities, wants, needs, and more. Yet, many leaders forget this, treating them as mere worker robots.

每个组织都是人的集合——充满希望、梦想、恐惧、成就、失望、不安全感、想要、需要等等的活生生的人。然而，许多领导者忘记了这一点，将他们视为纯粹的机器人。

Treating people as drones, cogs in the machine, or some other non-individual, non-human resource is a sure-fire way to lose loyalty and commitment. People not only need to feel valued, they need to actually be valued — not just a faceless number or line-item in an expense report.

将人视为无人驾驶飞机、机器中的齿轮或其他一些非人、非人力资源是失去员工忠诚度和承诺的必经之路。人们不仅需要感到被重视，他们还需要真正被重视——而不仅仅是支出报告中的匿名数字或细目。

Promote growth in the people under your care. Take care of them. Provide for their needs. Help them succeed. Talk to them. Cultivate them. Be kind. Be honest.

促进您所照顾的人的成长。照顾好他们。满足他们的需要。帮助他们成功。与他们交谈。培养他们。要友好。要诚实。

This doesn’t mean to always be soft — far from it. Sometimes people need a heavy hand for their long-term success, even if that means reprimanding or firing them.

这并不意味着要始终保持柔软——远非如此。有时人们需要严厉的打击才能获得长期的成功，即使这意味着训斥或解雇他们。

However, never lose sight of the fact that they are human beings.

但是，永远不要忘记他们是人这一事实。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


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Build purpose

构造目标

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
- Victor Frankel

“知道为什么而活的人几乎可以承受任何东西。”

Many organizations out there wander aimlessly, pursuing many things in the hopes of achieving profits, ultimately ending up catching nothing. People become disengaged. Productivity and effectiveness goes down. The organization becomes a shell — not dead but not quite living, either.

很多组织漫无目的地游荡，追求很多东西以期获得利润，最终一无所获。人们变得脱离。生产力和效率下降。组织变成了一个空壳——没有死，但也不是活的很好。

Purpose is what ties all of our various individual efforts together into one cohesive, focused impact. When goals are shared across groups and people are held accountable to those goals, it creates intense alignment and collaboration.

目标是将我们所有的各种个人努力联系在一起，形成一个有凝聚力的、聚焦的影响。当目标在团队之间共享并且人们对这些目标负责时，它会产生强烈的一致性和协作。

As a leader you paint a vision of the end state for your organization. You vividly describe what the world looks like once that goal is accomplished and work with your team on setting sustainable, attainable milestones to achieving that goal. You answer the question “why?”.

作为领导者，你为你的组织描绘了最终状态的愿景。您生动地描述了目标实现后世界的样子，并与您的团队一起设定可持续的、可实现的里程碑以实现该目标。你回答“为什么？”这个问题。

Teams and individuals hold each other accountable to achieving these goals. Progress can be tracked and measured. An operating rhythm, the tempo, is established. Like a beating heart, the organization springs to life. Progress becomes visible, predictable, and motivating — a virtuous cycle.

团队和个人互相追究实现这些目标的责任。可以跟踪和衡量进展。一个可操作的节奏就建立起来了。就像跳动的心脏一样，组织充满活力。进步变得可见、可预测和激励——一个良性循环。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


This clarity directs efforts towards a singular, common purpose, maximizing effectiveness and unlocking tremendous amounts of potential.

这种明确性将努力指向一个单一的、共同的目标，最大限度地提高效率并释放巨大的潜力。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


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Action required

采取行动

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…”

“功劳属于真正在场上的人……”

- Theodore Roosevelt
Good leadership requires decisiveness and action, even in the face of tremendous ambiguity or hardship. Many leaders fail this litmus test, becoming paralyzed by indecision or leaving tough decisions unmade out of fear of the consequences.

好的领导需要果断和行动，即使面对巨大的不确定性或困难。许多领导者未能通过这一试金石，因优柔寡断而瘫痪，或因害怕后果而未做出艰难的决定。

Leadership requires risk and the acceptance of the potential for failure. It requires grappling with hard tradeoffs, balancing dichotomies, and living with the effects of poor decisions. Leadership requires action and execution, not just ideas and discussion. To remain in ideation forever is for dreamers. Leaders get it done.

领导需要冒险和接受失败的可能性。它需要努力权衡取舍，平衡二分法，并忍受错误决策的影响。领导力需要行动和执行，而不仅仅是想法和讨论。永远停留在理想中是梦想家的事。领导者完成它。

While there’s strategies to help mitigate risk, factor in tradeoffs, and help arrive at a higher quality decision, at the end of the day a leader must be relied on to make a decision and act on it, living with the consequences — good or bad.

虽然有一些策略可以帮助降低风险、考虑权衡因素并帮助做出更高质量的决策，但归根结底，必须依靠领导者做出决定并采取行动，承担后果——好或坏.

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Be a servant

做仆人

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

“当人们几乎不知道他的存在时，领导者是最好的，当他的工作完成，他的目标实现时，他们会说：我们自己做了。”

- Lao Tzu

老子
(译者注：原文是--太上，不知有之；其次，亲而誉之；其次，畏之；其次，侮之。信不足焉，有不信焉。悠兮其贵言。功成事遂，百姓皆谓我自然)

Many people view leadership as a position of power and authority. They revel being in the spotlight and are quick to take credit for successes. They use leadership as a platform to obtain promotions, respect, and personal gain. Even well-intentioned and otherwise effective leaders can fall into this intoxicating trap.

许多人将领导力视为一种权力和权威的地位。他们陶醉于聚光灯下，并很快将成功归功于自己。他们利用领导作为获得晋升、尊重和个人利益的平台。即使是善意和高效的领导者也可能掉入这个令人陶醉的陷阱。

True leaders shine the spotlight on their team and their achievements, not on themselves. A good leader’s purpose is to accomplish the goal, regardless of who gets the credit or what they personally get out of it.

真正的领导者会把聚光灯放在他们的团队和他们的成就上，而不是他们自己。一个好的领导者的目的是完成目标，无论谁获得荣誉或他们个人从中获得什么。

They often do the unglamorous, unrecognized work that keeps the gears greased and the wheels turning. They look out for their teams and make sure they have what they need.

他们经常做一些不起眼的、不为人知的工作，让齿轮保持润滑和车轮转动。他们会照顾自己的团队并确保他们拥有所需的东西

This kind of servant leadership is far from being a surefire way to get promoted, but that’s not what true leaders do it for. They do it for the team and the mission, not for personal gain. They do it because it needs to be done, and they are happy to give the credit to where it belongs: the team.

这种仆人式领导远不是获得晋升的必经之路，但这并不是真正的领导者这样做的目的。他们这样做是为了团队和使命，而不是为了个人利益。他们这样做是因为需要完成，他们很乐意将功劳归功于它所属的地方：团队。

Eat last, like true leaders should.

最后吃，就像真正的领导者应该做的那样。

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No doctrine remains relevant forever. As the years pass and new challenges arise, I’m sure I’ll be constantly revising my approach to leadership and management as I gain new experience and knowledge.

没有教义永远适用。随着岁月的流逝和新的挑战的出现，我相信随着我获得新的经验和知识，我会不断地修改我的领导和管理方法。

Perfection is never achieved, but it’s something I’ll never stop striving towards.

完美永远无法实现，但它是我永远不会停止努力的目标。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处