Sophie Williams: The rigged test of leadership | TED

Transcriber:

翻译人员: psjmz mz 校对人员: Bruce Wang

我大部分时间花在谈论、思考和撰写

欧美女性职业经历上，

I spend most of my time talking and thinking and writing

尤其是，黑人女性的职业经历。

所以对我来说，理解玻璃悬崖——

about women's experiences in UK and US workplaces,

在这种情境下，这些代表不足的女性领导

particularly, Black women's experiences.

开始登上管理岗位时，

And so for me, understanding the glass cliff --

只是发现她们的成功机会

the situation that underrepresented leaders find themselves in

甚至在她们开始前就受限了——

真是令人大开眼界。

when they take on leadership positions,

only to find that their chances of success

我知道对很多人来说，

这可能是你们第一次听说玻璃悬崖。

have been limited before they even begin --

really was an eye-opener.

所以我觉得进入 这个话题的最容易方式

是从玻璃悬崖开始，

Now, I'm aware that for a lot of people,

这种看不见但挡在职业女性头上

this might be the first time you're hearing about the glass cliff.

And so I think the easiest way into the conversation

看来不可突破的障碍，

is by starting with the glass ceiling,

这阻碍了她们抵达

that invisible but seemingly impossible-to-break-through barrier

专业能力的顶峰。

that sits above the heads of women in business

我们谈论了很多玻璃悬崖

and stops them from reaching the absolute pinnacles

以及在它下面生活和工作是什么样。

of their professional capabilities.

但我们很少谈论当这些人

We talk a lot about the glass ceiling being there

确实取得突破时会怎样。

and what it's like to live and to work underneath it.

我觉得我们可能都会想当然认为

But we don't really talk about what happens to those people

如果有人能够打破玻璃悬崖，

who do manage to break through.

从那开始，天空就是极限。

I feel like we maybe have this shared imagination

但在现实中，事情并非如此，

that if someone were able to break through the glass ceiling,

因为很多时候，当人们打破玻璃悬崖时，

it would be onwards and upwards from there, the sky's the limit.

But in reality, that's not what often happens,

她们会发现自己处于新的危险境地。

because all too often, when somebody does break through the glass ceiling,

她们发现自己在玻璃悬崖 的边缘摇摇欲坠。

they find themselves in a new, dangerous position.

所以我要在这个问题上 多谈谈被低估的人，

They find themselves teetering on the edge of the glass cliff.

这对不同的人在不同的时候

和不同的场景中 意味着很多不同的东西。

So I'm going to talk about underrepresented people a lot in this,

但我正在谈论的是那些被低估的

and that can mean so many different things

在商业最高层的人。

to different people in different moments and different contexts.

那主要是女性，

还有被种族边缘化的人——

But I'm talking about those people who are most underrepresented

本质意思是，任何非白人男性的人。

at the most senior levels of business.

So that is women,

故事往往是这样的，

and that's racially marginalized people --

当被低估的人开始掌管公司时，

essentially, anybody who's not both white and male.

这个公司似乎要开始倒闭了。

And so the story often goes

那真的很奇怪，

that when underrepresented people take over a business,

如果这是真的，那真的值得探究。

that business seems to start to fail.

于是《时代周刊》真的研究了一番。

And that's really strange,

他们发表了一篇头条，

and if that's true, that's worth looking into.

“董事会中的女性：帮忙还是阻碍？”

And so "The Times" newspaper did look into it.

他们说了我刚告诉你们的，

And they released an article with the headline,

当女性掌管公司的最高层职位——

"Women on the Board: A Help or a Hindrance?"

董事会成员、CEO时——

那些公司似乎都处在麻烦之中。

And they said what I've just told you,

that when women take over businesses at those most senior levels --

于是，他们得出结论说女性在董事会，

board member, CEO --

that those businesses seem to find themselves in a moment of trouble.

不利于公司。

他们是对的。

And so, they concluded that women on the board were, in fact,

但只是在一个小的方面。

在100个其他方面， 更多，更重要的方面，

bad for business.

他们绝对错了。

And they were right.

但我们可以从他们对的地方开始。

But just in one small way.

他们是对的，研究确实显示

In 100 other, much bigger, much more important ways,

当代表不足的人掌管最高的职位时，

they were absolutely wrong.

But we can start with where they were right.

公司业务确实处在麻烦之中。

They were right that the research does show

that when underrepresented people do take on those most senior roles,

但这不是他们想让你们认为的——

不是那种，踏着沉重的步伐走进会议室，

that businesses do seem to be in a moment of trouble.

四下张望并若有所思，

“老天，我不知道我在这里做啥。”

But it’s not like they want you to think --

It's not that we've, you know, stomped our way into boardrooms,

完全不是那样。

但你可能这样想原因在于

only to look around and think,

他们没有告诉你的故事开始部分。

"Oh, God, I don't know what I'm doing here."

It's not that at all.

我们需要去了解故事的开始部分，

But the reason you might think that

如果我们想要理解是什么阻碍了 更多的非白人男性

is that they haven't told you the beginning of the story.

And the beginning of the story is what we need to understand

在领导岗位时取得成功的话。

if we want to see what's stopping more people who aren't both white and male

埃克塞特大学有一项研究。

from being successful when they take on leadership roles.

他们研究了富时100指数的公司，

当这些公司任命女性高管时，

So, there's a piece of research from the University of Exeter.

这些公司相比一般公司

已经持续表现糟糕

They looked at FTSE 100 companies,

and when they appointed female leaders,

超过5个月了。

those businesses were much more likely than average

那种糟糕的表现可能是各种各样的原因。

to have already been in a consistent period

可能出了声誉丑闻

of five months of poor performance.

这很容易转移到新的高管上。

And that poor performance can look like all kinds of things.

也可能和市值或利润有关。

It could be a reputational scandal

但不管是什么情况，

where the tarnish is likely to be passed on to the new leader.

这些公司相比平均公司

It could be a hit to market valuations or to profit.

在新领导被任命前已经

But whatever that was,

these businesses were all much more likely than average

持续表现糟糕一段时间了。

to have already been in a consistent period of poor performance

并且还不只是这个研究，

甚至不限于单个国家。

before that new leader was appointed.

犹他大学也做了类似的研究，

And this isn't a single piece of research,

但他们不仅看了女性的任命。

and it's not even limited to a single country.

他们研究了女性和被种族边缘化的男性。

Researchers at the University of Utah did a really similar thing,

他们研究了财富500公司 超过15年的时期——

but they didn't just look at the appointment of women.

They looked at the appointment of women and racially marginalized men.

样本够大了——

他们的发现完全一样。

And they looked at Fortune 500 companies over a 15-year period --

这些任命代表性不足的领导的公司

so, a huge data set --

相比平均公司

and they found exactly the same.

已处于表现不佳的公司比例更高。

Those businesses that appointed underrepresented leaders

可能你听到这个会想，“那又怎样？”

were much more likely than average

to already be in a period of poor performance.

只要这些人获得机会，

她们到来之前的

So maybe you're listening to this and you're thinking, "Well, so what?

公司状况好坏有什么紧要的呢？

So long as these people are getting an opportunity,

它关键的一个重要原因是

推回给我们的那种叙事。

why does it matter if the businesses aren't in perfect condition

如果一个代表不足的人获得任命

before these people arrive?"

但她们的成功机会 在开始前就被限制了，

Well, one of the reasons it matters

is the narrative that that pushes back to us.

如果她们失败了， 如果她们从悬崖边掉下去了，

If an underrepresented person takes on a role

and their chances of being successful are limited before they even begin,

我们得到的信息是：

“当然，她们就这样。

if they do fail, if they do fall off that cliff,

诸如——她不是一个能搞好公司业务的

the message that we get back is:

合适人选。”

"Well, of course they did.

所以这个信息是复合的， 我们就把它内化了。

Someone like that -- that's not the right kind of person

to run a successful business."

我觉得从逻辑上讲 所有这些引出了两个问题，

And so that message compounds, and we just internalize it.

第一个是：

为什么事情会这样？

So I think all of this logically leads us to two questions,

为什么处于困境的公司

更可能会去任命代表不足的领袖？

the first of which is:

Why is this happening?

Why are businesses that are in trouble

在父权社会中可能是这样，

more likely to appoint an underrepresented leader?

女性被视为照顾者，养育者，

于是研究显示，当公司处于困境时，

Well, it could be that, in patriarchal societies,

女性常常被任命，

women are viewed as caregivers, as nurturers,

不是因为她们有能力做出变革，

and so research has shown that when a business is in trouble,

而是因为她们被视为拥有软能力，

women are often appointed to lead,

因为她们有能力重新吸引员工

not for their ability to make transformational change,

让他们重新获得动力。

but because of their perceived soft skills,

但重要的是，

for their ability to reengage that workforce

因为她们不是因推动变革的能力 而被任命的，

and to get them back motivated again.

研究发现她也不会被给予 工具或必需的时间

But importantly,

because she's not hired for her ability to make transformational change,

来让改变发生。

因为任命她们的人

research shows that she's often not given the tools or the time necessary

想象力有限，

她们掉落悬崖的几率

to make that change.

在她们开展工作前就增加了。

And so her chances of falling off that cliff

are increased before she even begins

第二个原因，套用克里斯汀·安德森的话，

because of the limitations of the imaginations

他是休斯敦大学的心理学教授，

of the people who have brought her in.

在商业中，女性更容易被视为 一次性，可牺牲的，

The second reason, to paraphrase Kristin Anderson,

who's a psychology professor at the University of Houston,

这意味着她们是很好的替罪羊。

is that in business, women might be seen as more disposable, more expendable,

在那样的情景中，如果你的公司运作不佳，

引入女性领导可能真是一个双赢局面。

and that means they make really good scapegoats.

In that case, if your business isn't doing well,

如果她进来后能够让变革发生， 那么很好，

bringing in a female leader could be a real win-win scenario.

你的公司成功变革了。

但如果她不能，

If she comes in and is able to make that transformational change, then great,

所有的锅都可以让她背，

然后她被赶出这个公司，

your business is transformed.

But if she's not,

被推下悬崖。

all of the blame is able to be put onto her shoulders,

重要的是，研究还发现

她更有可能被一位白人男性取代，

and she's able to get pushed out of the business,

pushed over that cliff.

这种被人们熟知的“救世主效应”。

Importantly, the research then shows

这种救世主效应告诉 我们这些股东、投资者、雇员，

that she's more likely than not to be replaced by a white man,

公司又回到了可靠的人手里。

a move known as the "savior effect."

And that savior effect signals to us, to shareholders, investors, employees,

公司一切如常了。

更重要的是，新的白人男性的手

that the business is back in a safe pair of hands.

更可能会被授予工具和所需的时间

It’s back to business as usual.

And really importantly, that new white male safe pair of hands

在未被充分代表的人失败的地方 取得成功。

is more likely to be given both the tools and the time necessary

所以到现在为止，我们在谈论

to succeed where the underrepresented person has failed.

当你是被种族边缘化的人

或女性时的遭遇。

So up until now, we've been talking about what happens

但如我所说，我的大部分工作 在关注黑人女性。

when you are a racially marginalized person

那么当我们做更多交叉观察，

or a woman.

去考虑不仅拥有一种而是两种

But as I said, the majority of my work looks at Black women.

被边缘化的人时会怎样呢？

So what happens when we do take that more intersectional look,

你可能会想，这不是最好的故事。

when we think about the experiences of people

with not just one but two marginalized identities?

如果一位黑人女性掌管了 公司最高的职位——

As you might imagine, it's not the best story.

董事会成员，CEO——

我们可以打包票假设两件事。

If a new Black woman takes over the most senior role in the business --

第一个我们可以假设的是， 正如我们讨论过的，

这个公司可能景况不佳。

board member, CEO --

we can safely assume two things.

第二个我们可以假设的是

她可能管理着一群白人男性，

The first thing that we can assume, as we've discussed,

is the business might not be in great shape.

这些人管理层级仅比她低，

And the second thing that we can assume

她的最亲密队友。

is that she's likely to be managing a large team of white men,

我们可以假定说，因为在2019年，

向前一步基金会报告称白人男性

that leadership layer just below her,

her closest cohort.

占职场初级人群的30%。

And we can assume that because in 2019,

但到C高管层时，

the Lean In Foundation reported that white men make up about 30 percent

这个比例膨胀到了68%。

of that entry-level junior cohort.

这意味着白人男性是 唯一随着层级增长

But by the time we get to the C-suite,

that's actually ballooned up to 68 percent.

代表比例增长的群体。

或者，换种说法：

That means white men are the only group whose representation grows

他们是唯一能够经历玻璃悬崖 反面的群体。

as they become more senior.

与往上看，看不到自己的影子相比，

Or, to put it a different way:

they're the only group who experienced the opposite of the glass ceiling.

他们往上看，看到的只有他们处于最高层级。

Instead of looking up and not being able to see themselves reflected back at all,

这当然，持续到他们不能为止，

直至他们有了像新的黑人女性老板。

they look up and see nothing but themselves at the most senior levels.

原因在于德克萨斯大学 和密歇根大学

That is, of course, until they don't,

until they have a new boss who's somebody like a Black woman.

的一项研究，

他们研究了这群

And the reason this matters is there's research from the University of Texas

非常习惯于看到自己影子的人

and the University of Michigan,

当他们遇到一个新的不能

and they looked at what happens to that group of men

反映他们肤色和男性特征 的老板时的情况。

who are so used to seeing themselves directly mirrored back

他们的研究非常惊人。

when they get a new boss who doesn't mirror

他们发现当他们的老板

不能直接反映这些特征时，

both their whiteness and their maleness.

他们报告说，感觉自己与公司 的个人联系变少了，

And what they found was amazing.

They found that as soon as they get a boss

不太能认同公司

who doesn't directly mirror them in both of those ways,

并且个人投入也变少了。

they report feeling less personally connected to the business,

这意味着他们的工作表现 受到了影响，

less able to personally identify with it

他们的工作表现变差了。

and less personally invested in it.

如果公司已经陷入困境了，

即便是最伟大的领袖也不能 通过单打独斗解决。

And that means that their work performance suffered;

they did worse at their jobs.

她需要她的团队，尤其是她的高级团队。

Now, if a business is already in trouble,

even the greatest leader is not going to solve it single-handedly.

所以，如果他们停止了工作，

他们的做法只能继续将她推向悬崖边缘。

She needs her team, particularly her senior team.

同样的研究发现的第二件事是

And so if they've stopped doing their jobs properly,

all they're doing is continuing to push her towards the edge of that cliff.

他们不再做管理者工作中 真正重要的部分，

The second thing that same piece of research found was that

那就是管理自己的团队。

他们停止了拓展、指导，

they stopped doing a really important part of any manager's job,

和那些他们应该照顾的人一起工作。

and that's managing their teams.

但他们并没有一视同仁。

They stopped developing, mentoring,

不，他们基本上不再帮助、合作、

working with the people who was their job to take care of.

发展团队中被种族边缘化的人。

But they didn't stop doing that equally.

所以在那种情况下， 被玻璃悬崖咬了两次。

No, they mostly stopped helping, working with, developing

anyone in that team who was also racially marginalized.

我们不仅把现在的领导 推向悬崖的边缘，

And so in that way, the glass cliff bites twice.

我们也在阻止可能出现的 新一代代表不足的领导

出现，

We're not only pushing the existing leader closer to the edge of their cliff,

因为我们没有让她们获得 她们的同事能够获得的

we're stopping what could be this new cohort of underrepresented leaders

同样的支持、指引、指导和发展。

from coming up,

because we're not giving them the same support, guidance, mentorship, development

我告诉你们这个是因为我们想让 你们成为改变的一部分。

that the rest of their colleagues are getting.

这听起来可能不可能。

你可能会想，

“我无法改变企业或慈善机构、政府，

So I'm telling you this because I want you to be a part of making this change.

这些地方玻璃悬崖无处不在。”

And that might sound impossible.

但——跟我一起思考一会——

You might be thinking,

"Well, I can't change businesses or charities, governments,

你能够，因为这些东西都不是真的。

any of the places where we see the glass cliff playing out."

But -- and stay with me for a second --

企业、政府、慈善机构——所有这些

都是一群人来一起做事情的地方。

you can, because none of those things are real.

既然我们是一群在一起 做点事情的人，

Businesses, government, charities -- all of these things

are just groups of people who've come together to do something.

那么我们就可以让改变发生。

我们可以审视我们的 有意识和无意识偏见，

And we're a group of people who have come together to do something,

并且我们可以决定说，我们看到 任何人在任何时候的价值，

and so we can make that change.

不仅只是某些人，

We can look at our own conscious and unconscious biases,

当我们遇到问题她们可能可以解决时，

and we can decide that we see the value in all people all of the time,

或我们遇到某些可能会责怪她们的事情时。

not just some people,

正如安吉拉·戴维斯所说，

when we have a problem that they might be able to solve,

我们需要“像[有可能改变] 世界那样行动。

or something that we might be able to blame them for.

你需要一直这样做。”

所以这是我要呼吁你们去做的。

So, as Angela Davis says,

我呼吁你们审视自己

we have to “... act as though [it’s possible to change] the world.

去决定你不会成为把别人

And you have to do it all of the time."

And so that's what I'm asking you to do.

推向自己悬崖的人。

I'm asking you to look at yourself

我想让你们知道， 我会一直陪在你身边，

and to decide that you are not going to be part of pushing anybody else

努力做同样的事情。

closer towards the edge of their own cliff.

And I want you to know that I'm going to be right alongside you,

trying to do the same.