时代周刊:CEO聊政治 沃伦·巴菲特有话说

Now the CEO report by Alan Murray

下面是阿兰·默里供稿的CEO报告

Warren Bufett speaks to CEOs going political

CEO聊政治 沃伦·巴菲特有话说

WHEN WARREN BUFFETT held his annual investor-fest at the beginning of this month,

本月初，在举行一年一度的投资者大会时，

he weighed in on CEOs taking stands on social issues.

沃伦·巴菲特就CEO们对社会问题表明自己的立场发表了自己的看法。

While he certainly airs his own political views from time to time,

虽然他自己也会不时地发表自己的政治观点，

his stance is that he doesn’t want to speak for shareholders¹.

但他的立场是，他不想当股东们的传声筒。

Bufett’s view on this subject was once standard CEO fare.

过去，巴菲特对这个问题的看法也是CEO们的标准姿态。

But that’s changed: think Salesforce CEO Marc Beniof’s campaign against Indiana’s religious freedom law,

但这种情况已经变了：不妨想想Salesforce的首席执行官马克·本尼奥夫发起的，反对印第安纳州宗教自由法的运动吧，

Merck CEO Ken² Frazier’s resignation from President Trump’s advisory³ council after the Charlottesville riots

想想夏洛茨维尔骚乱后，从特朗普总统的顾问团队辞职的默克公司首席执行官肯·弗雷泽，

or Delta⁴ CEO Ed Bastian’s decision to cut discounts for NRA members after the Parkland shootings—to name a few.

或者想想帕克兰枪击案后，决定降低给美国步枪协会会员的折扣的达美航空首席执行官艾德·巴斯蒂安——随便举几个例子。

None of those would have happened a decade ago.

换作十年前，这些事一件都不会发生。

So why are they happening now?

那今天为什么就发生了呢?

In many cases, employees and customers are demanding that CEOs speak out.

很多情况下，员工和客户都会要求CEO们畅所欲言。

But Bufett is right to note that this gets tricky⁵ quickly.

但巴菲特指出，这个问题很快就会变得棘手起来，他的判断是对的。

When Frazier made his stand, he was not giving his personal views but signaling “what kind of company we are.”

弗雷泽表明他自己的立场时，他并不是在发表自己的个人观点，而是在暗示“我们是一家怎样的公司”。

Beniof and Bastian were doing the same.

本尼奥夫和巴斯蒂安都是如此。

At some point, taking such stands risks alienating⁶ customers and adding to polarization.

从某种程度讲，表明这类立场可能会疏远客户，加剧公司极端化。

The old line separating business from politics has clearly moved.

商业与政治之间传统的分界线已经发生了明显的移动。

But many CEOs are still struggling to understand where the new line should be drawn⁷.

但这条新的界限到底应该画在哪里，很多CEO都还很吃力地在想这个问题。

1 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

4 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

5 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

6 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。