What it takes to be a great leader | Roselinde Torres | TED

翻译人员: Zhiting Chen 校对人员: Peipei Xiang

What makes a great leader today?

今天的杰出领导者是什么样的？

Many of us carry this image

我们中的很多人会想到

of this all-knowing superhero

一个无所不能的超人，

who stands and commands

站在那里，指挥着

and protects his followers.

并保护着他的追随者们。

But that's kind of an image from another time,

但那是旧时的印象，

and what's also outdated

同样过时的还有

are the leadership development programs

领导力发展培养计划，

that are based on success models

这种发展计划通常是基于

for a world that was, not a world that is

过去而不是眼前或者

or that is coming.

未来的环境。

We conducted a study of 4,000 companies,

我们做了一个研究，其中覆盖了4000个公司，

and we asked them, let's see the effectiveness

我们问他们，贵公司领导力

of your leadership development programs.

发展培养计划的效果怎样。

Fifty-eight percent of the companies

58%的公司认为他们

cited significant talent gaps

在重要的领导角色选取上

for critical leadership roles.

有很大的人才欠缺。

That means that despite corporate training programs,

这意味着，尽管有着各种培训项目，

off-sites, assessments, coaching, all of these things,

远程网络课程，评估、 辅导等等，

more than half the companies

仍然有超过半数的公司

had failed to grow enough great leaders.

未能培养出足够杰出的领导者。

You may be asking yourself,

你可能会问自己，

is my company helping me to prepare

我的公司有在帮助我成长为

to be a great 21st-century leader?

一名21世纪的杰出领导者吗？

The odds are, probably not.

很可能是：没有。

Now, I've spent 25 years of my professional life

我花了 25 年的职业生涯时间

observing what makes great leaders.

来观察杰出领导者的特征。

I've worked inside Fortune 500 companies,

我曾经为财富500强企业工作，

I've advised over 200 CEOs,

我曾经为200多名首席执行官提供咨询服务，

and I've cultivated more leadership pipelines

我打造的领导力培养渠道

than you can imagine.

比你可以想象的还要多。

But a few years ago, I noticed a disturbing trend

但几年前，我注意到在领导力培养方面

in leadership preparation.

一个令人不安的趋势。

I noticed that, despite all the efforts,

我注意到，尽管所有这些努力，

there were familiar stories that kept resurfacing

类似的不同个体的故事

about individuals.

却一再上演。

One story was about Chris,

一个故事是关于克里斯的，

a high-potential, superstar leader

他是一名具有很大潜力的超级巨星领导者，

who moves to a new unit and fails,

他调职到了新的工作环境，失败了，

destroying unrecoverable value.

造成了无法弥补的损失。

And then there were stories like Sidney, the CEO,

还有茜德尼，这位首席执行官

who was so frustrated

非常沮丧，

because her company is cited

因为她的公司被认为是

as a best company for leaders,

最适合领导者施展才华的公司，

but only one of the top 50 leaders is equipped

但在50名最优秀的领导者中只有一名能够

to lead their crucial initiatives.

带领实施公司的关键商业行为。

And then there were stories

还有很多故事，

like the senior leadership team

比如，曾在一度兴旺的公司工作的

of a once-thriving business

资深领导团队

that's surprised by a market shift,

惊讶地发现市场出现波动，

finds itself having to force the company

不得不迫使该公司

to reduce its size in half

减小至原规模的一半

or go out of business.

或退出行业。

Now, these recurring stories

这些不断重复出现的故事

cause me to ask two questions.

让我开始思考两个问题。

Why are the leadership gaps widening

为什么尽管那么多的资金投入到

when there's so much more investment

领导力发展培养项目，

in leadership development?

领导力的差别还是这么大？

And what are the great leaders doing

杰出领导者做了什么

distinctly different to thrive and grow?

明显不同于他人的事情，使他们成长为更杰出的人？

One of the things that I did,

我做了一件事，

I was so consumed by these questions

我因为思考这些问题越发感到无力

and also frustrated by those stories,

同时因为这些故事而感到沮丧，

that I left my job

我离职了，

so that I could study this full time,

这样，我就可以专职研究。

and I took a year to travel

我花了一年时间游历

to different parts of the world

世界的各个地方，

to learn about effective and ineffective

试图了解高效和无效的

leadership practices in companies,

领导力实践——在公司，

countries and nonprofit organizations.

在国家和在非盈利组织。

And so I did things like travel to South Africa,

所以我前往南非，

where I had an opportunity to understand

在那里我有机会了解到

how Nelson Mandela was ahead of his time

纳尔逊 · 曼德拉是如何超越他的时代

in anticipating and navigating

预测和引领

his political, social and economic context.

政治、 社会和经济走向。

I also met a number of nonprofit leaders

我还约见了一些非营利组织的领导者，

who, despite very limited financial resources,

尽管他们的财政资源非常有限，

were making a huge impact in the world,

却仍在努力改变世界，

often bringing together seeming adversaries.

并经常促成和看似是敌人的合作。

And I spent countless hours in presidential libraries

我在总统图书馆内度过了无数个小时，

trying to understand how the environment

试图了解环境是如何

had shaped the leaders,

塑造领导者的，

the moves that they made,

他们的行动，

and then the impact of those moves

以及这些行动造成的

beyond their tenure.

超越他们的任期的影响。

And then, when I returned to work full time,

后来，我返回全职工作，

in this role, I joined with wonderful colleagues

在这个岗位上，我与很棒的同事合作，

who were also interested in these questions.

他们也对这些问题感兴趣。

Now, from all this, I distilled

从所有这一切，我总结出

the characteristics of leaders who are thriving

快速成长的领导者有哪些特征

and what they do differently,

以及他们做了哪些不同常规的事，

and then I also distilled

我也同样总结出

the preparation practices that enable people

增长人类潜能的

to grow to their potential.

准备练习。

I want to share some of those with you now.

我想分享其中一些给你们听。

("What makes a great leader in the 21st century?")

("21世纪，什么造就了杰出的领导者?")

In a 21st-century world, which is more global,

在更加全球化、数字化和

digitally enabled and transparent,

透明的21世纪，

with faster speeds of information flow and innovation,

信息流动和创新都十分快速，

and where nothing big gets done

没有采用某种复杂的模型

without some kind of a complex matrix,

就好似什么大事也做不了，

relying on traditional development practices

依托传统发展的方法

will stunt your growth as a leader.

会阻碍领导者的成长。

In fact, traditional assessments

事实上，传统的评估方式

like narrow 360 surveys or outdated performance criteria

比如狭隘的360度调查或是过时的评价标准

will give you false positives,

会给你错误的正向信息，

lulling you into thinking that you are more prepared

引诱你认为自己比现实

than you really are.

准备的更充分。

Leadership in the 21st century is defined

21世纪的领导力

and evidenced by three questions.

可以用这三个问题来定义和证明。

Where are you looking

你打算在哪里

to anticipate the next change

实行下一步

to your business model or your life?

对于你的商业模式或你的生活的改变？

The answer to this question is on your calendar.

这个问题的答案就在你的日历上。

Who are you spending time with? On what topics?

你的时间和谁一起度过？你们聊什么主题？

Where are you traveling? What are you reading?

你去哪里出差旅行？你在读什么书？

And then how are you distilling this

然后你怎样从中提炼

into understanding potential discontinuities,

来了解潜在的不连续性，

and then making a decision to do something

然后作出现在要做什么的决定

right now so that you're prepared and ready?

并随时准备着。

There's a leadership team that does a practice

有一个领导力训练团队做了一个练习，

where they bring together each member

他们将成员聚集在一起

collecting, here are trends that impact me,

收集整理，这些趋势影响到我，

here are trends that impact another team member,

这些趋势影响到另一个组员，

and they share these,

然后他们互相分享，

and then make decisions, to course-correct a strategy

并做出决定，来改变战略

or to anticipate a new move.

或者实施新的举措。

Great leaders are not head-down.

杰出领导者不会低着头。

They see around corners,

他们会看周围的角落，

shaping their future, not just reacting to it.

他们会塑造自己的未来，而不仅仅只是对它作出反应。

The second question is,

第二个问题是，

what is the diversity measure

如何权衡

of your personal and professional stakeholder network?

你的个人和职业利益相关的社会网络？

You know, we hear often about good ol' boy networks

我们经常听到的老友关系网络，

and they're certainly alive and well in many institutions.

这些网络在许多机构中仍然存在。

But to some extent, we all have a network

但某种程度上而言，我们都有一个社交网络，

of people that we're comfortable with.

它由我们熟悉喜欢的人组成。

So this question is about your capacity

所以这个问题是关于

to develop relationships with people

你和与你大为不同的人

that are very different than you.

发展关系的能力。

And those differences can be biological,

这些差异可以是生理的、

physical, functional, political, cultural, socioeconomic.

身体的、 功能的、 政治的、 文化的、 社会经济方面的。

And yet, despite all these differences,

然而，摒除所有这些差异，

they connect with you

他们与您交往

and they trust you enough

并且足够信任你

to cooperate with you

与你合作

in achieving a shared goal.

为实现一个共同目标而努力。

Great leaders understand

杰出的领导者明白

that having a more diverse network

拥有多样化的网络

is a source of pattern identification

是一种更多层次的识别思考

at greater levels and also of solutions,

以及解决方案，

because you have people that are thinking

因为你认识那些和你有着

differently than you are.

不同思考方式的人。

Third question: are you courageous enough

第三个问题是： 你是否有勇气

to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past?

放弃一种过去使您成功的作法？

There's an expression: Go along to get along.

有一种说法是： 随遇而安，取法中庸。

But if you follow this advice,

但如果你遵循这一理念，

chances are as a leader,

更大的可能性会是，你作为领导者，

you're going to keep doing what's familiar and comfortable.

继续遵循对你而言熟悉又方便舒适的作法。

Great leaders dare to be different.

伟大的领导者勇于改变。

They don't just talk about risk-taking,

他们不只是嘴上谈论冒险，

they actually do it.

他们会真的去冒险。

And one of the leaders shared with me the fact that

有位领导者跟我分享了这一事实，

the most impactful development comes

最有影响力的发展会出现在这样的时候：

when you are able to build the emotional stamina

你能够情绪稳定地

to withstand people telling you that your new idea

接受别人告诉你——你的新想法

is naïve or reckless or just plain stupid.

很天真或很鲁莽或就是非常愚蠢。

Now interestingly, the people who will join you

有趣的是，将加入你的网络的人

are not your usual suspects in your network.

不是你的社交网络中你通常认为会加入的人。

They're often people that think differently

而是那些和你有着不同想法

and therefore are willing to join you

并愿意加入你

in taking a courageous leap.

去实现一次勇敢的飞跃的人。

And it's a leap, not a step.

这是一次飞跃，不是一个步子。

More than traditional leadership programs,

不同于传统的领导力培养项目，

answering these three questions

回答这三个问题

will determine your effectiveness

将确定你作为一个

as a 21st-century leader.

21世纪领导者的能力。

So what makes a great leader in the 21st century?

那是什么造就了21世纪的杰出领导者？

I've met many, and they stand out.

我见过许多，他们与众不同。

They are women and men

他们中有女士也有男士，

who are preparing themselves

他们正在准备着，

not for the comfortable predictability of yesterday

不是为舒适的可预测的昨天

but also for the realities of today

而是为了今天的现实

and all of those unknown possibilities of tomorrow.

和明天所有未知的可能性。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）