Why good leaders make you feel safe | Simon Sinek | TED

翻译人员: Xiaoou Chen 校对人员: Wendy Wu

There's a man by the name of Captain

大名鼎鼎的

William Swenson

威廉·斯文森队长，

who recently was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor

他被国会授予荣誉奖章，

for his actions on September 8, 2009.

因为他在2009 年 9 月 8 日的英勇行为。

On that day, a column of American

在那一天，一支美国人和

and Afghan troops

阿富汗人组成的部队

were making their way

正试图穿越

through a part of Afghanistan

阿富汗的一个地区，

to help protect

去支援保护

a group of government officials,

一组政府官员，

a group of Afghan government officials,

这组阿富汗政府官员

who would be meeting with some local

将会会见

village elders.

当地长老们。

The column came under ambush,

这支队伍不幸被埋伏了，

and was surrounded on three sides,

被三方包围，

and amongst many other things,

在一片混乱中，

Captain Swenson was recognized

只见斯文森队长

for running into live fire

冲入熊熊火焰，

to rescue the wounded

抢救伤员，

and pull out the dead.

拖回死者的尸体。

One of the people he rescued was a sergeant,

其中一个被救者是一位中士，

and he and a comrade were making their way

他和他的一位战友那时

to a medevac helicopter.

正在赶去一架医疗直升机的路上。

And what was remarkable about this day

这一天特别的是，

is, by sheer coincidence,

非常巧，

one of the medevac medics

这一天一位医疗队员的

happened to have a GoPro camera on his helmet

头盔上正好装有GoPro的相机，

and captured the whole scene on camera.

而且捕捉了事件的整个过程。

It shows Captain Swenson and his comrade

我们可以看到斯文森队长

bringing this wounded soldier

和他的队友带回

who had received a gunshot to the neck.

这个颈部受枪伤的士兵。

They put him in the helicopter,

他们把伤员放入直升机，

and then you see Captain Swenson bend over

斯文森队长俯下身，

and give him a kiss

给了他一个吻，

before he turns around to rescue more.

然后又转身去救人。

I saw this, and I thought to myself,

我看到这时，我想

where do people like that come from?

那样的人来自哪里呢？

What is that? That is some deep, deep emotion,

那是什么？那是一种很深、很深的感情，

when you would want to do that.

才会让你想那么做。

There's a love there,

那里充满爱。

and I wanted to know why is it that

我想知道为什么

I don't have people that I work with like that?

和我一起工作的人没有像那样的？

You know, in the military, they give medals

你知道，在军队里，

to people who are willing to sacrifice themselves

奖章会颁给那些愿意牺牲自己

so that others may gain.

成全他人的人。

In business, we give bonuses to people

在商场中，我们把奖金给那些

who are willing to sacrifice others

喜欢牺牲别人、

so that we may gain.

成全自己的人。

We have it backwards. Right?

这正好相反，对不对？

So I asked myself, where do people like this come from?

我问自己，像斯文森队长那样的人是怎么来的呢？

And my initial conclusion was that they're just better people.

我最初的结论是：他们只是更高尚的人。

That's why they're attracted to the military.

那也是他们愿意投身军队的原因。

These better people are attracted

那些道德更高尚的人

to this concept of service.

被这种服务精神的概念所吸引。

But that's completely wrong.

但这个想法完全错了，

What I learned was that it's the environment,

我发现真正的原因是环境，

and if you get the environment right,

如果你进入了正确的环境，

every single one of us has the capacity

我们每一个人都有能力

to do these remarkable things,

做出这些了不起的事情，

and more importantly, others have that capacity too.

更重要的是，别人也有那样的能力。

I've had the great honor of getting to meet

我曾非常有幸地

some of these, who we would call heroes,

与那些被我们称为英雄的人会面，

who have put themselves and put their lives

他们不顾自己的生命安危

at risk to save others,

去救助他人，

and I asked them, "Why would you do it?

我问他们，“你们为什么要这样做？

Why did you do it?"

为什么会这样做？“

And they all say the same thing:

他们都说了同样的话：

"Because they would have done it for me."

“因为他们也会为我这么做。”

It's this deep sense of trust and cooperation.

这是深深的信任和合作。

So trust and cooperation are really important here.

所以信任和合作是非常重要的。

The problem with concepts of trust and cooperation

问题是，信任与合作

is that they are feelings, they are not instructions.

是种感觉，而不是指示。

I can't simply say to you, "Trust me," and you will.

我不能直接对你说，“信任我”，你就信任我了。

I can't simply instruct two people to cooperate, and they will.

我不能直接指示两个人去合作，然后他们就合作了。

It's not how it works. It's a feeling.

不可能是这样的。这是一种感觉。

So where does that feeling come from?

到底这种感觉从何而来？

If you go back 50,000 years

如果你往回倒推 5 万年，

to the Paleolithic era,

回到旧石器时代，

to the early days of Homo sapiens,

到智人生活的早期，

what we find is that the world

我们会发现

was filled with danger,

世界充满了危险，

all of these forces working very, very hard to kill us.

所有的力量都在努力要杀死我们。

Nothing personal.

没有什么是只与个人有关的，

Whether it was the weather,

无论是天气，

lack of resources,

资源匮乏，

maybe a saber-toothed tiger,

或是牙齿锋利的老虎，

all of these things working

所有这些东西都在

to reduce our lifespan.

缩短人的寿命。

And so we evolved into social animals,

于是，我们发展成为群居动物，

where we lived together and worked together

在部落里，我们一起生活与工作，

in what I call a circle of safety, inside the tribe,

我把这个叫做安全圈，

where we felt like we belonged.

我们在那里有归属感。

And when we felt safe amongst our own,

当我们在同伴中感到安全时，

the natural reaction was trust and cooperation.

自然的反应便是信任与合作。

There are inherent benefits to this.

这带来了根本的益处，

It means I can fall asleep at night

意味着我可以晚上睡着觉，

and trust that someone from within my tribe will watch for danger.

相信部落里有人在提防危险。

If we don't trust each other, if I don't trust you,

如果我们不互相信任，如果我不相信你，

that means you won't watch for danger.

那就意味着你不会为别人留心危险。

Bad system of survival.

不好的幸存系统，

The modern day is exactly the same thing.

完全就像现代社会这样。

The world is filled with danger,

世界充满了危险，

things that are trying to frustrate our lives

那些试图挫败我们、

or reduce our success,

阻挠我们成功的事，

reduce our opportunity for success.

减少了我们成功的机会。

It could be the ups and downs in the economy,

这可以是经济的波动，

the uncertainty of the stock market.

证券市场的漂移不定；

It could be a new technology that renders

也可能是高新科技

your business model obsolete overnight.

使你的商业模式顷刻过时；

Or it could be your competition

或者是试图

that is sometimes trying to kill you.

压垮你的竞争，

It's sometimes trying to put you out of business,

有时它试图将你赶出市场，

but at the very minimum

至少会

is working hard to frustrate your growth

尽可能地阻止你的增长，

and steal your business from you.

并将你的生意偷走。

We have no control over these forces.

我们对这些力量无能为力。

These are a constant,

它们是常态，

and they're not going away.

不会从身边消失。

The only variable are the conditions

唯一的变量就是

inside the organization,

组织内部的情况，

and that's where leadership matters,

这也是领导力起作用的地方，

because it's the leader that sets the tone.

因为是领袖决定了整体风气。

When a leader makes the choice

当领袖决定

to put the safety and lives

将团队成员的

of the people inside the organization first,

生命安全放在第一位，

to sacrifice their comforts and sacrifice

即便牺牲舒适和有形的资产也要保证安全，

the tangible results, so that the people remain

这样大家就会留下来，

and feel safe and feel like they belong,

并且有安全感和归属感，

remarkable things happen.

这样奇迹也就会发生。

I was flying on a trip,

我曾乘飞机旅行，

and I was witness to an incident

看到这样一个事件，

where a passenger attempted to board

一位乘客想

before their number was called,

提前登机，

and I watched the gate agent

我看到门卫

treat this man like he had broken the law,

对待这个人

like a criminal.

像对待一个违法的罪犯。

He was yelled at for attempting to board

因为想提前登机，

one group too soon.

那个人被大声斥责。

So I said something.

我于是说了些话。

I said, "Why do you have treat us like cattle?

我说：“你为什么把我们当作牛来对待？

Why can't you treat us like human beings?"

你不能像对待人一样对待我们吗？”

And this is exactly what she said to me.

这是她回答我的原话。

She said, "Sir, if I don't follow the rules,

她说：“先生，如果我不遵守规则，

I could get in trouble or lose my job."

我会陷入麻烦甚至丢掉工作。”

All she was telling me

所有她告诉我的

is that she doesn't feel safe.

都表明了她缺乏安全感。

All she was telling me is that

所有她表达的话

she doesn't trust her leaders.

都说明了她不信任她的上司。

The reason we like flying Southwest Airlines

我们喜欢乘坐西南航空

is not because they necessarily hire better people.

不是因为它有更好的雇员，

It's because they don't fear their leaders.

而是因为它的雇员不畏惧上司。

You see, if the conditions are wrong,

你看，当情况不对的时候，

we are forced to expend our own time and energy

我们被迫花费时间和能量

to protect ourselves from each other,

去保护我们自己，

and that inherently weakens the organization.

这从本质上削弱了一个组织。

When we feel safe inside the organization,

当我们在组织内部有安全感时，

we will naturally combine our talents

我们会自然地结合我们的特长

and our strengths and work tirelessly

和力量，并不知劳累地

to face the dangers outside

去面对外面的危险，

and seize the opportunities.

同时抓住机会。

The closest analogy I can give

关于一个好领袖是什么样的，

to what a great leader is, is like being a parent.

我可以给出的最贴切的类比就是家长。

If you think about what being a great parent is,

如果你想想一个好家长是什么样的，

what do you want? What makes a great parent?

你想要什么？什么会塑造一个好家长？

We want to give our child opportunities,

我们想给我们的孩子机会，

education, discipline them when necessary,

教育，并在必要时训诫他们，

all so that they can grow up and achieve more

所有这一切都是为了他们可以长大，

than we could for ourselves.

并且比我们更有成就。

Great leaders want exactly the same thing.

伟大的领袖也是这样的。

They want to provide their people opportunity,

他们想为团队成员提供机会、

education, discipline when necessary,

教育，以及必要的训诫，

build their self-confidence, give them the opportunity to try and fail,

帮助他们建立自信，给他们尝试和犯错的机会，

all so that they could achieve more

为了他们可以获得

than we could ever imagine for ourselves.

超出我们想象的成就。

Charlie Kim, who's the CEO of a company called Next Jump

查理·金，纽约一家叫做Next Jump的

in New York City, a tech company,

科技公司的CEO，

he makes the point that

他指出，

if you had hard times in your family,

如果你的家庭遇到困难，

would you ever consider laying off one of your children?

你会考虑牺牲你自己的一个孩子吗？

We would never do it.

我们绝不会这样做。

Then why do we consider laying off people

但为什么我们要考虑

inside our organization?

在我们的组织中裁员呢？

Charlie implemented a policy

查理采用了

of lifetime employment.

终生雇佣制度。

If you get a job at Next Jump,

如果你在Next Jump获得了工作，

you cannot get fired for performance issues.

你不会因为表现不好被开除。

In fact, if you have issues,

实际上，如果你有问题，

they will coach you and they will give you support,

他们会训练你，并给你支持，

just like we would with one of our children

就像我们对待

who happens to come home with a C from school.

带着一个等级C回家的孩子一样。

It's the complete opposite.

这是完全不同的方式。

This is the reason so many people

这也是为什么许多人

have such a visceral hatred, anger,

拿着微薄的工资和奖金

at some of these banking CEOs

对一些银行的CEO

with their disproportionate salaries and bonus structures.

有发自内心的仇恨和愤怒。

It's not the numbers.

这不是因为薪水的多少，

It's that they have violated the very definition of leadership.

而是因为他们亵渎了领袖的定义。

They have violated this deep-seated social contract.

他们违反了这根深蒂固的社会契约。

We know that they allowed their people

他们会让组织成员做牺牲，

to be sacrificed so they could protect their own interests,

以保全他们自己的利益，

or worse, they sacrificed their people

甚至更糟的是他们会牺牲组织成员，

to protect their own interests.

去保护他们自己的利益。

This is what so offends us, not the numbers.

这是让我们感到被冒犯的原因，不是薪水。

Would anybody be offended if we gave

会有人因为我们给甘地

a $150 million bonus to Gandhi?

1.5 亿美元的奖金而觉得被冒犯么？

How about a $250 million bonus to Mother Teresa?

会有人因为给特蕾莎修女 2.5 亿美元的奖金被激怒么？

Do we have an issue with that? None at all.

我们会对这感到不愉快么？绝对不会。

None at all.

绝对不会。

Great leaders would never sacrifice

伟大的领袖绝不会牺牲

the people to save the numbers.

人民去拯救数字。

They would sooner sacrifice the numbers

他们会立即牺牲数字去

to save the people.

拯救人民。

Bob Chapman, who runs

鲍勃·查普曼，在中东经营

a large manufacturing company in the Midwest

一家大型生产工厂，

called Barry-Wehmiller,

叫Barry-Wehmiller，

in 2008 was hit very hard by the recession,

2008年受经济萧条严重的打击，

and they lost 30 percent of their orders overnight.

他们一夜间丧失 30% 的订单。

Now in a large manufacturing company,

对于一个大的生产公司来说，

this is a big deal,

这是非常严重的，

and they could no longer afford their labor pool.

他们不再有能力支付人员工资，

They needed to save 10 million dollars,

他们需要省出 1000 万美元。

so, like so many companies today,

因此，像许多现在的公司一样，

the board got together and discussed layoffs.

董事会集中并开始商讨裁员。

And Bob refused.

但是鲍勃拒绝了。

You see, Bob doesn't believe in head counts.

你们看，鲍勃不相信人头数，

Bob believes in heart counts,

鲍勃相信人心数，

and it's much more difficult to simply reduce

简单地去减少人心数

the heart count.

是更困难的。

And so they came up with a furlough program.

所以他们想出了度假项目。

Every employee, from secretary to CEO,

所有的雇员，无论是秘书还是CEO，

was required to take four weeks of unpaid vacation.

被要求接受一个4周的无薪假期。

They could take it any time they wanted,

他们可以选择任意时间，

and they did not have to take it consecutively.

而且他们不需要一次性用完假期。

But it was how Bob announced the program

鲍勃是这样宣布

that mattered so much.

这个重要的项目的。

He said, it's better that we should all suffer a little

他说，我们大家都牺牲一点，

than any of us should have to suffer a lot,

比完全牺牲我们其中的任何人，要好得多。

and morale went up.

员工的斗志上来了。

They saved 20 million dollars,

他们省下了 2 千万美元，

and most importantly, as would be expected,

最重要的，也在预料之中的是，

when the people feel safe and protected by the leadership in the organization,

当人们感到安全，感到被领导力保护的时候，

the natural reaction is to trust and cooperate.

人们自然的反应就是信任与合作。

And quite spontaneously, nobody expected,

超出大家预想的，

people started trading with each other.

人们开始自发地互相帮助。

Those who could afford it more

那些能够承担多一些无薪假期的人，

would trade with those who could afford it less.

向无力承担的人购买假期。

People would take five weeks

有些人愿意休五周的假，

so that somebody else only had to take three.

这样一来别人就只需要休三周的假。

Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank.

领导力力是一种选择，不是等级。

I know many people at the seniormost

我认识很多组织的

levels of organizations

最高领导层，

who are absolutely not leaders.

但他们绝对不算领袖。

They are authorities, and we do what they say

他们是权威，而我们按他们所说的做，

because they have authority over us,

是因为他们有高于我们的权限，

but we would not follow them.

但是我们不愿追随他们。

And I know many people

我认识许多人

who are at the bottoms of organizations

在企业底层

who have no authority

没有任何权威，

and they are absolutely leaders,

但他们是真正的领袖，

and this is because they have chosen to look after

因为他们关照

the person to the left of them,

他们左边的人，

and they have chosen to look after

也关照

the person to the right of them.

他们右边的人，

This is what a leader is.

这才是真正的领袖。

I heard a story

我听说过一个故事，

of some Marines

一些海军陆战队员

who were out in theater,

外出在一家影院里，

and as is the Marine custom,

他们穿着军服，

the officer ate last,

那个军官让队员们先吃，

and he let his men eat first,

他最后一个吃，

and when they were done,

当队员们吃完后，

there was no food left for him.

已没有食物留给他。

And when they went back out in the field,

当他们回到营地，

his men brought him some of their food

他的士兵们拿出一些自己的食物，

so that he may eat,

让他们的军官吃，

because that's what happens.

因为这样的事常发生。

We call them leaders because they go first.

我们称他们为领袖，因为他们总是身先士卒。

We call them leaders because they take the risk

我们称他们为领袖，因为他们

before anybody else does.

总是第一个承担风险。

We call them leaders because they will choose

我们称他们为领袖，因为他们

to sacrifice so that their people

会选择奉献自己来保护

may be safe and protected

他的人民的安全，

and so their people may gain,

让他的人民获益。

and when we do, the natural response

而当我们这样做时，很自然的结果是，

is that our people will sacrifice for us.

我们的人民会为我们做出牺牲。

They will give us their blood and sweat and tears

他们会献出他们的血汗和欢笑、泪水，

to see that their leader's vision comes to life,

为了看到他们领袖的愿景变为现实，

and when we ask them, "Why would you do that?

当我问他们，“你们为什么会那样做？

Why would you give your blood and sweat and tears

为什么你们会献出你们的血汗和欢笑、泪水

for that person?" they all say the same thing:

给那个人？”他们都给出了同样的回答：

"Because they would have done it for me."

“因为他们也会这样为我做的。”

And isn't that the organization

难道这不是我们都想

we would all like to work in?

在其中工作的组织么？

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

Thank you. (Applause)

感谢。(掌声)

Thank you. (Applause)

感谢。(掌声)