向前一步:第43期 往桌前坐(11)

 I would not suggest that anyone move beyond feeling confident into arrogance¹ or boastfulness. 我并非建议大家过分自信以致傲慢或自负。

No one likes that in men or women. 不管是男人还是女人，如果表现出这一点，人们都不会喜欢。

But feeling confident—or pretending that you feel confident—is necessary to reach for opportunities. 但感觉自信或假装自信，对于争取生活中的机会是必要的。

It's a cliche², but opportunities are rarely offered; they're seized. 这是老调重弹了，但机会的确会青睐那些积极争取机会的人。

During the six and a half years I worked at Google, I hired a team of four thousand employees. 我在谷歌工作的6年半时间里，雇用了一个4000人的团队。

I did not know all of them personally, but I knew the top hundred or so. 我并不认识每一个人，但我知道其中处于最高层职位的有100多人。

What I noticed over the years was that for the most part, the men reached for opportunities much more quickly than the women. 我注意到，一般情况下，就积极争取机会而言，男性比女性行动得更快。

When we announced the opening of a new office or the launch of a new project, 当我们宣布有新的空缺职位或是开始新项目时，

the men were banging down my door to explain why they should lead the charge. 男员工们都一个个来敲我办公室的门，毛遂自荐，向我解释为什么他们是新的领导职位的最佳人选。

Men were also more likely to chase a growth opportunity even before a new opening was announced. 即使在一项新的空缺职位产生前，男性也更有可能去尝试获得成长的机会。

They were impatient about their own development and believed that they were capable of doing more. 他们对自己的发展总是急不可耐，相信自己有能力做得更多。

And they were often right—just like my brother. 他们常常是对的，就像我弟弟一样。

The women, however, were more cautious³ about changing roles and seeking out new challenges. 以我的经验而言，女性对于角色变化、寻求新的挑战则更为谨慎。

I often found myself trying to persuade them to work in new areas. 我常常发现自己总是在试图说服她们进入新的领域工作。

I have had countless⁴ conversations where women responded to this encouragement by saying, "I'm just not sure I'd be good at that." 我已经和女性员工有过多次谈话，她们对我的鼓励通常作此回应：“我在这方面可能不是很擅长”，

Or "That sounds exciting, but I've never done anything like it before." Or "I still have a lot to learn in my current role." “这项新工作听上去很令人兴奋，但我没有类似的工作经验”，或“现在的工作中我还有许多要学习的”。

I rarely, if ever, heard these kinds of comments from men. 印象中我似乎从没与男员工有过这样的对话。

 

1 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

2 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

3 cautious   

adj.十分小心的，谨慎的

参考例句：

• We should not only be bold,but also be cautious.我们不仅要大胆，而且要谨慎。
• He was cautious about his work.他对工作非常谨慎。

4 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。