一个CEO的自我修养

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发表于 2013-4-12 21:41:12 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式

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一个CEO的自我修养
(CEO是一项不符合人们天性的工作。CEO不是天生的，全凭后天造就。下面就是打造CEO的秘籍。)
前几天，有位朋友问我，CEO是天生的，还是后天造就的？我说：“这就像是问Jolly Ranchers糖是长出来的，还是造出来的。CEO是一项极端不符合人天性的工作。”说完这句话，看到他脸上惊诧的表情，我意识到这一点或许并没有像我想得那么显而易见。
经过一番思考后，我意识到大多数人的想法正好相反，他们认为CEO是天生，而不是靠后天造就。我经常听到其他风投资本家和董事会成员对某位创始人迅速做出评估，得出结论：他/她不是“当CEO的料”。我不知道他们怎么能这么快就得出结论。公司创始人通常需要多年的时间来发展CEO技能，在我看来，成败难料。
体育运动中有些项目可以相对较快地学会，比如短跑。因为跑步是一种本能，只需多加训练。但像拳击等其他运动就需要较长的时间来掌握，因为它们有很多有违本能的动作。比方说，在拳击运动中后退时，很重要的一点是要先抬起后面那只脚。如果一个人用本能的方式后退，先抬起前面那只脚，很可能会被打晕。学习这样有违本能的后退方式，直到习惯自如，必须要有大量的练习。如果当了CEO后，还是以自己感觉最习惯的方式行事，可能也会被打晕。
The other day, a friend of mine asked me whether CEOs were born or made. I said, "That's kind of like asking if Jolly Ranchers are grown or made. CEO is a very unnatural job." After saying it and seeing the surprised look on his face, I realized that perhaps it wasn't as obvious as I'd originally thought.
After thinking further, I realized that most people actually assume the opposite—CEOs are born not made. I often listen as other Venture Capitalists and board members rapidly evaluate a founder and conclude that she's not "CEO material". I am not sure how they figure these things out so fast. It generally takes years for a founder to develop the CEO skill set and it is usually extremely difficult for me to tell whether or not she will make it.
In athletics, some things like becoming a sprinter can be learned relatively quickly because they take a natural motion and refine it. Others, like boxing, take much longer to master, because they require lots of unnatural motions. For example, when going backwards in boxing, it's critically important to pick up your back foot first, because if you get hit while walking backwards the natural way—picking up your front foot first—often leads to getting knocked cold. Learning to make this unnatural motion feel natural takes a great deal of practice. If you do what feels most natural as a CEO, then you may also get knocked cold.
做CEO，很多行事都会违背天生的倾向。从人类学角度，做事讨人喜欢符合人类的天性。因为它能增加一个人生存的机会。但要做好CEO，要赢得长期的推崇，必须做很多短期内会让人们失望的事情，不符合天性的事情。
事实上，即便是一些最基本的CEO行事方式在一开始也会感觉不自然。如果你的搭档给你讲了一个好笑的故事，要对他/她的表现进行评估就会让人感觉有点怪。下面这么说完全不符合我们的天性：“天哪，我觉得这个故事太烂了。原本或许是个好故事，但你的铺垫一点都不吸引人，最后抖包袱时又搞砸了。我建议你回去重新编排，明天再给我讲一遍。”这么做太怪了，但对人们的表现进行评估、同时不断给予反馈正是一名CEO必须要做的事情。如果不这么做，那么一些更复杂的事情，比如写考核评语、划定范围、处理企业政治、确定薪酬和开除员工等工作就更不可能完成，或者即便完成，也做得很差。
给出这样的反馈有违天性，但同样有违天性的管理技能正是建立于这样的基石上。一个人如何能掌握这些有违天性的技能？
Being CEO requires lots of unnatural motion. From an anthropological standpoint, it is natural to do things that make people like you. It enhances your chances for survival. Yet to be a good CEO, in order to be liked in the long run, you must do many things that will upset people in the short run. Unnatural things.
In fact, even the most basic CEO building blocks will feel unnatural at first. If your buddy tells you a funny story, it would feel quite weird to evaluate her performance. It would be totally unnatural to say: "Gee, I thought that story really sucked. It had potential, but you were underwhelming on the build up then you totally flubbed the punch line. I suggest that you go back, rework it and present it to me again tomorrow." Doing so would be quite bizarre, but evaluating people's performances and constantly giving feedback is precisely what a CEO must do. If she doesn't, then the more complex motions such as writing reviews, taking away territory, handling politics, setting compensation and firing people will be either impossible or handled rather poorly.
Giving feedback turns out to be the unnatural atomic building block atop which the unnatural skill set of the management gets built. But how does one master the unnatural?

三明治批评法
对于新手，一种常用而有效的反馈技巧是资深经理们所谓的“三明治批评法”。这个技巧在经典管理书籍《一分钟经理》（The One Minute Manager）中有精彩的描述。它的基本理念是，如果你能在一开始先表扬（第一片面包），人们就会更容易接受你的反馈；接着给出令人不快的信息（批评）；最后提醒他们你有多看重他们的优点（第二片面包）。三明治批评法的一大好处是反馈重在对事不对人，因为你在一开始就明确了一点，你很看重他/她。这是一个重要的反馈理念。
三明治批评法对低级员工管用，但它也面临以下挑战：
The Shit Sandwich
A popular and sometimes effective technique for feedback beginners is something that experienced managers call The Shit Sandwich. The technique is marvelously described in the classic management text, The One Minute Manager. The basic idea is that people open up to feedback far more if you start by complimenting them (slice of bread #1), then you give them the difficult message (the shit), then wrap up by reminding them how much you value their strengths (slice of bread #2). The shit sandwich also has the positive side effect of focusing the feedback on the behavior rather than the person, because you establish up front that you really value the person. This is a key concept in giving feedback.
The shit sandwich can work well with junior employees, but has the following challenges:
• 它往往过于正式。因为你必须得预先计划三明治的内容，确保正确陈述，整个过程会让员工感觉很正式，像是在接受评判。
• 而且，这种方法用过几次后，就会变得不那么真诚。员工会想：“天啊，她又在表扬我了。我知道接下来是什么了，批评。”
• 中高级经理人员会立即意识到这是三明治批评法，结果产生负面效果。
我在职业生涯的早期曾试图给一位资深雇员一份“三明治批评”，她就像看着一个小孩一样看着我说：“本，那些好听的就省省吧。直接告诉我，我哪里做错了。”当时，我就想，我绝对不是天生的CEO料。
• It tends to be overly formal. Because you have to preplan and script the sandwich to make it come out correctly, the process can feel formal and judgmental to the employee.
• After you do it a couple of times, it will lack authenticity. The employee will think: "Oh boy, she's complimenting me again. I know what's coming next, the shit."
• More senior executives will recognize the shit sandwich immediately and it will have an instant negative effect.
Early in my career, I attempted to deliver a carefully crafted shit sandwich to a senior employee and she looked at me like I was a little kid and said: "Spare me the compliment, Ben, and just tell me what I did wrong." At that point, I thought that I was definitely not born to be a CEO.
关键点
要想精通反馈之道，必须要超越“三明治批评”这类基础技巧，形成符合自己个性和价值观的风格。以下是实现有效反馈的几个关键点：
• 真实可信。非常重要的一点是要让他们相信你的反馈，不要说一些操纵听者感受的话。不能假模假式。
• 出发点正确。给出反馈的目的是因为希望他们成功，而不是失败，这一点也很重要。如果你真的想让他们成功，就得让他们感受到这一点。让他们感受到你的心。如果他们能感受到你的心，感受到你的支持，他们就会听你的。
• 对事不对人。如果想开除某个人，就直接开除吧。不要让他/她准备好被开除。让他/她准备好取得成功。如果他/她不听取反馈，那就换种对话方式。
The Keys
To become elite at giving feedback, you must elevate yourself beyond a basic technique like the shit sandwich. You must develop a style that matches your own personality and values. Here are the keys to being effective:
• Be authentic. It's extremely important they you believe in the feedback that you give and not say anything to manipulate the recipient's feelings. You can't fake the funk.
• Come from the right place. It's important that you give people feedback because you want them to succeed and not because you want them to fail. If you really want someone to succeed, then make her feel it. Make her feel you. If she feels you and you are in her corner, then she will listen to you.
• Don't get personal. If you decide to fire somebody, fire her. Don't prepare her to get fired. Prepare her to succeed. If she doesn't take the feedback, then that's a different conversation.
不要在同事面前把一个人当小丑耍。虽然在小组会议上给出某种反馈并无不可，但绝对要避免让一个人在同事面前颜面扫地。否则，你的反馈除了能产生以下两种效果，将毫无效果：1) 让这名员工感到奇耻大辱；2)让这名员工对你恨之入骨。
• 反馈因人而异。每个人都不同。有些人对于反馈非常敏感，有些人则脸皮特别厚，也很迟钝。你的语气应当结合员工的个性，而不是由着自己的性子。
• 直截了当，但不刻薄。不要兜圈子。如果你觉得某人的演示很糟糕，不要说：“这的确不错，但可以加一个过渡，强化结论部分。”下面的说法听起来严厉，但效果也许更好：“我没听懂，不知道你要说什么，原因是如何如何。”弱化反馈中的批评部分，可能会比没有反馈还要糟搞，因为这可能导致误解，让听者困惑。但不要狂批他们，也不要显摆你的地位。这么做只会适得其反，因为正确的反馈是对话，而不是独白。
• Don't clown people in front of their peers. While it's OK to give certain kinds of feedback in a group setting, you should strive never to embarrass someone in front of their peers. If you do so, then your feedback will have little impact other than to a) cause the employee to be horribly ashamed and b) cause the employee to hate your guts.
• Feedback is not one size fits all. Everybody is different. Some employees are extremely sensitive to feedback while others have particularly thick skin and often thick skulls. Stylistically, your tone should match the employee's personality not your mood.
• Be direct, but not mean. Don't be obtuse. If you think somebody's presentation sucks, don't say: "It's really good, but could use one more pass to tighten up the conclusion." While it may seem harsh, it's much better to say: "I couldn't follow it and I didn't understand your point and here are the reasons why." Watered down feedback can be worse than no feedback at all because it's deceptive and confusing to the recipient. But don't beat them up or attempt to show your superiority. Doing so will defeat your purpose because when done properly feedback is dialogue, not a monologue.
反馈是对话，而非独白
没错，你可能是CEO，你可以告诉人们哪些是你不喜欢的、不认同的，但这并不意味着你一定是对的。你的员工应当比你更了解他们自己的职责。他们应当掌握了比你更多的数据。你有可能是错的。
因此，你的目的应当是通过反馈，启动（而不是终结）讨论。鼓励人们挑战你的判断，给出观点和结论。从文化上，你希望围绕超高标准展开深入探讨。你想通过施加高压，获得高质量的想法，但同时也要足够开明，以便及时发现自己的错误。
Feedback is a dialogue, not a monologue
You may be the CEO and you may be telling somebody about something that you don't like or disagree with, but that doesn't mean that you're right. Your employee should know more about her function than you. She should have more data than you. You may be wrong.
As a result, your goal should be for your feedback to open up rather than close down discussion. Encourage people to challenge your judgment and argue the point to conclusion. Culturally, you want super high standards thoroughly discussed. You want to apply tremendous pressure to get the highest quality thinking, yet be open enough to find out when you are wrong.
高频率反馈
一旦掌握了这些关键点，就应时时刻刻练习。作为CEO，你应当对几乎每件事都有一个观点。你应当对每项预测、每个产品计划、每次演示，甚至每项评论都有一个观点。让人们知道你的想法。如果你喜欢某个人的评论，就反馈给她。如果你不同意，也反馈给她。说出你的想法。充分表达自己。
这样做会带来两大积极效应：
• 在你的公司里，反馈对事不对人。如果CEO不断给出反馈，那么与之互动的每个人都会习惯这一点。没人会想：“天哪，他/她这么说到底是什么意思？他/她是不是不喜欢我？”每个人都会自然而然地关注事情本身，不会把它看成随机的表现评估。
• 人们会习惯讨论坏消息。如果人们习惯了探讨每个人做错了什么，那么，探讨公司做错了什么就会变得非常容易。优秀的公司文化深谙“好事不出门，坏事传千里”的信息传播规则，而糟糕的公司文化则有绿野仙踪（The Wiz）中东方女巫的影子：“别告诉我坏消息。”
High frequency feedback
Once you've mastered the keys, you should practice what you've mastered all the time. As CEO, you should have an opinion on absolutely everything. You should have an opinion on every forecast, every product plan, every presentation and even every comment. Let people know what you think. If you like someone's comment, give her the feedback. If you disagree, give her the feedback. Say what you think. Express yourself.
This will have two critically important positive effects:
• Feedback won't be personal in your company. If the CEO constantly gives feedback, then everyone she interacts with will just get used to it. Nobody will think: "Gee, what did she really mean by that comment? Does she not like me?" Everybody will naturally focus on the issues, not an implicit random performance evaluation.
• People will become comfortable discussing bad news. If people get comfortable talking about what each other are doing wrong, then it will be very easy to talk about what the company is doing wrong. High quality company cultures get their cue from data networking routing protocols: bad news travels fast and good news travels slowly. Low quality company cultures take on the personality of the Wicked Witch of the East in The Wiz: "Don't nobody bring me no bad news."

造就CEO
做CEO还需要有更广泛的技能（对此，我在博客中已经写了很多），但要达到高级水平，获得你天生就是CEO的感觉，关键是要掌握这些有违天性的行为。
如果你是创始人CEO，你在做这些事的时候感到有些别扭或不能胜任，但深知这不是当公司达到100人或1,000人时能一蹴而就，那么欢迎你加入我们的俱乐部。这正是我曾经的感受。我遇到过的每位CEO都是如此。这是一个过程。CEO就是这么炼成的。
Making the CEO
Being CEO requires also a broad set of more advanced skills—I've written about many in this blog—but the key to reaching the advanced level and feeling like you were born to be CEO is mastering the unnatural.
If you are a founder CEO and you feel awkward or incompetent when doing some of these things and believe there is no way that you'll be able to do it when your company is 100 or 1,000 people, welcome to the club. That's exactly how I felt. So did every CEO that I've ever met. This is the process. This is how you get made.