What’s Your Leadership Language? | Rosita Najmi | TED

Translator: Chung Hei Franco Cheng Reviewer: Thomas Tam

As an Iranian refugee who grew up in rural east Tennessee,

我係喺田納西州 東部鄉村長大嘅伊朗難民，

and someone who studied,

曾經喺 30 多個國家

lived and worked in over 30 countries,

求學、生活同工作，

I thought I knew how to navigate across cultures and languages.

我以為我能夠駕馭 唔同文化同埋語言。

I was wrong.

但係我錯啦。

There I was, day one of business school,

我第一日嚟到商學院，

getting my bearings and hearing an alien language.

一邊認知如何自處， 一邊聽住陌生嘅語言。

It wasn't English, French, or my native Persian.

嗰啲唔係英文、法文， 或者我嘅母語波斯文。

It was a bouillabaisse of languages,

係大雜燴嘅語言，

jargon from across the organizational multiverse:

嚟自組織多元宇宙嘅行業術語：

the corporate world,

企業界、非牟利組織、

the nonprofit sphere,

international development

國際發展，同埋公共部門。

and the public sector.

It was weird.

噉係好奇怪。

In business school, I thought I'd learn about leadership styles.

我以為喺商學院 已經學會領導風格。

What I found were leadership languages.

但我發現嘅係領導嘅語言。

And I learned that by becoming conversant in these languages

若然我精通呢啲語言，

that I could communicate with and contribute to all of these worlds.

就可以同所有呢啲組織交流 並且做出貢獻。

So how does one become multilingual?

所以到底要點樣成為 會講多種語言嘅人呢？

Here's my story.

呢個係我嘅故事。

In college, I went to West Africa to study microfinance

讀緊大學嘅時候， 我去到西非

and economic empowerment.

去學小額信貸 同埋經濟賦權。

Seeing a large public health need,

因為見到龐大嘅 公共衛生需求，

I cofounded and led a nonprofit

我共同創立並領導 一間非牟利組織，

collecting medical supplies and money.

募集醫療補給品同資金。

We saw what collective action could yield,

我哋見識到集體行動 帶來嘅結果，

and we were creative with our advocacy and our fundraising,

我哋喺倡導同募資方面 都好有創意，

with campaigns like "Band Aids for Benin."

好像「 俾 Benin 藥水膠布」活動。

Along the way, I studied different leadership styles:

喺個過程入面， 我研究咗唔同嘅領導風格：

autocratic, democratic,

獨裁式、民主式、

laissez faire, servant, collaborative, transformational and more.

自由放任式、僕人式、 協作式、變革式等等。

I read books, attended trainings

我睇書，參加培訓，

and I even had the privilege to study with some of the greats

我甚至十分榮幸 同一啲名人齊齊學習，

and to work with General Colin Powell and Dr. Maya Angelou.

並同 Colin Powell 將軍 及 Maya Angelou 博士一齊共事。

After all of this,

經歷過一切事之後，

I became convinced that there's no best type of leadership.

我深信無一種領導類型 係最好嘅。

So many of us just default to one style or another,

好多人只係本身 預設咗某一種風格，

similar to how we're born with our native tongue.

好似出世嘅時候 就被設定好母語一樣。

但呢種預設嘅風格 就唔見得喺每種情況下都有用。

But this default style doesn't work in every situation.

Many leaders obsess over leadership style

好多領袖沉迷喺 個別嘅領導風格，

when really they just need to get over themselves.

但實際上佢哋只要放低身段。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Sorry, leader, it's not about you.

對唔住，各位領袖， 世界唔係圍住你哋轉嘅。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

What's more useful is to adapt and personalize your leadership

更加有用嘅係 調整同個性化你嘅領導力，

to be the leader the situation and the people involved need.

成為當前情況同相關持份者 所需要嘅領袖。

It's not so much style as language,

與其講係風格， 不如話係語言，

the living vernacular of each discrete community and culture.

正係流行於離散社區 同當前文化之間。

The successful leader will aspire to be multilingual,

成功嘅領袖會渴望 能夠講多種語言，

to speak fluently with all groups and to translate among them.

喺各個組別中能流利講話， 並且可以為唔同組別翻譯。

In 2012, while working at the Omidyar Network,

2012 年，我喺 Omidyar Network 工作嘅時候，

I was one of the sponsors of a two-year study

一項針對 12 家富影響力 投資基金

of 12 impact investing funds.

為期兩年嘅研究， 我係贊助人之一。

One of the "ahas" of this project

呢個研究最大嘅成果之一，

was that the most successful funds were those led by multilingual leaders,

就係發現最成功嘅基金， 都係由多種語言領袖所領導嘅基金，

people that could communicate across the corporate, nonprofit, philanthropic

呢啲領袖嘅溝通可以橫跨 企業、非牟利、慈善，

and public policy perspectives.

以及公共政策嘅角度。

These leaders also made sure

呢啲領袖亦都會確保

that others on their team were multilingual.

自己團隊嘅成員 可以講多種語言。

This came to me as a bit of a surprise.

噉樣令到我有啲驚訝。

I expected the secret sauce to be in sophisticated financial modeling

我本來以為秘訣係在於 建立精密嘅財務模型，

or some other type of complex analysis.

或者其他類型嘅複雜分析。

According to this study,

根據呢項研究，

the multilingual leader will describe their work

會講多種語言嘅領袖 係噉樣描述佢哋嘅工作：

as being unremittingly financially driven -- business speak,

持續不斷由財務誘因 驅使（商業方面），

moving the needle on social and environmental challenges --

推動解決社會同環境挑戰

nonprofit and philanthropic speak,

（非營利和慈善方面），

while addressing systemic market failures --

同時解決系統性市場失靈

public policy speak.

（公共政策方面）。

The study further found

呢個研究進一步發現，

the need to be conversant into four industry languages.

要精通四種行業語言，

Those are finance, nonprofit, government and international development.

包括財務、非牟利、政府，同國際發展語言。

The multilingual leader

呢啲會講多種語言嘅領袖

was something that seemed very familiar to me.

對我嚟講，似乎都好熟悉。

This really rang true

噉聽落真係幾有道理，

based on my own experience of patchworks across these sectors,

我自己喺呢啲行業之間得嚟嘅經驗 都支持呢個講法，

and it took me back to that first weird day in business school.

而佢將我帶番番去 我喺商學院嘅奇怪第一日。

Now that we've described the how, let us turn to the what.

我哋已經講完「點樣做」， 而家嚟講講「係啲咩」。

Where should leaders focus?

領袖應將焦點放喺邊度先？

I will modestly propose three topics that cut across issues,

請容許我謙虛噉提出 三個橫跨各種問題嘅主題，

and together we'll double-click on one of them.

然後大家再進入 其中一個主題。

Data, climate, power.

資料、氣候、權力。

How each of these sectors measure the impact and even the timing,

呢啲部門衡量影響嘅方式，

就連時間安排、發展嘅步調、 同佢哋所用嘅工具

the tempo and the tools that they use for each

could not be more different.

都會有唔同。

Say you're the private sector at one end.

假設你係私營部門。

You have accounting on a daily, a weekly,

你會有每日、每週、

a monthly and quarterly increments.

每月、每季增額嘅會計資料。

The public sector.

喺公營部門，

You're working on multi-year election cycles.

你工作嘅循環係根據幾年一次嘅選舉。

The nonprofit and philanthropic sector,

喺非牟利同慈善部門，

well, you may give yourself 15 years or even a generation to reach a goal.

你可能會俾自己十五年 甚至一個世代嚟達成個別目標。

Yet all of these sectors must come together

但所有呢啲部門 都要結合埋一齊，

to reach these outcomes.

嚟達成呢啲結果。

To make it real,

為咗實現目標，

let's look together about how these sectors can come together

我哋一齊睇吓呢啲部門 點樣同心協力

to address power

處理針對性別平等嘅權力問題。

with the focus on gender equality.

Say you're a public sector leader.

假如你係公營部門嘅領袖，

You have the unique ability to create equity, a level playing field,

你擁有獨特嘅能力， 創造平等公平嘅競爭環境，

so everyone has a fair shot.

令每個人都有同等嘅機會。

You can create regulations and incentives

你可以製定法規同獎勵措施 增加性別資料嘅使用。

to increase the use of gender data.

You can set goals for women on boards and in public office.

你可以為董事會 同公職入面女性設定目標。

You can practice gender budgeting and you can mandate paid care.

你可以做性別預算， 同強制實施有薪看護假。

Say you're a leader in the business sector.

如果你係商業部門嘅領袖，

You can design products and services that unleash the economic power

你可以設計產品同服務

嚟釋放女性客戶嘅經濟力量。

of the female customer.

You can fortify and diversify your supply chain

透過女性擁有嘅企業， 更強化

with women-owned businesses,

同更多樣化你嘅供應鏈。

and you can invest in your female talent pipeline

同埋你可以投資培養女性人才，

with pay equity and leadership opportunities

提供平等嘅工資同領導嘅機會，

so that your corporate decisions are more inclusive.

噉樣你嘅企業決策 就會更加有包容性。

Or maybe you work in philanthropy or international development.

或者，你可能喺 慈善或者國際發展部門工作，

You can help remove the barriers, whether formal or informal,

你可以協助除去正式同非正式嘅障礙，

that influence how power is distributed.

唔好俾佢哋影響到權力分配。

You can fund the research and training

你可以資助公共同私人部門，

that both the public and the private sector need to do their part.

盡自己嘅一份力量 做好所需的研究同培訓。

You can fund campaigns and grassroots efforts

你可以資助影響社會同文化規範嘅 基層努力同活動。

that influence social and cultural norms.

And you can help get women in decision-making roles

你亦都可以協助女性 擔任決策角色，

in their households, in their communities,

喺佢哋嘅家庭同社區入面、

in their countries and in economies.

喺國家同經濟體系入面。

The multilingual leader can be conversant

會講多種語言嘅領袖，

and use the languages of all of these sectors

可以精通同運用 所有呢啲部門嘅語言，

to identify the root causes,

去搵出問題嘅成因，

and then collaborate together

跟住一齊協同合作，

to find the solutions to these complex issues.

為呢啲複雜嘅議題 搵出解決方案。

So here is over 20 years of experience distilled into one sentence.

等我將二十幾年嘅經驗 總結成精華一句：

Don't fret over your leadership styles,

唔好為你嘅領導風格苦惱，

focus on your leadership languages.

專注喺你嘅領導語言。

So over to you, leader.

所以交俾你啦，領袖。

Which languages are you going to learn next?

你跟住要學邊啲語言呢？

Thank you.

多謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）