托福阅读素材：3招让老板听得进你的反对意见

 　　It is important to speak up, and this sometimesmeans disagreeing with your boss. Getting disagreements on the table make it possible tochallenge a problem and gain alignment¹ – without this, teams can’t move forward in the samedirection. Also, tensions get buried and that eventually creates problems. With marketschanging so fast, and many business models in transition, real debates on strategy, direction,and targets are extremely critical today.

　　我们应该大声表达出自己的观点，但有时你与老板的想法并不一致。把不同的意见摆在桌面上讨论，可以让我们直面问题并最终统一思想，否则团队就无法朝着同一个方向继续前进。而且，如果掩盖而不是解决矛盾，最终只会导致更严重的问题。市场瞬息万变，很多商业模式也在变化之中，因此，关于战略、方向和目标展开真刀实枪的辩论，在今时今日尤为重要。

　　But how do you challenge the boss? Personalities² are different so there will always bevariations on how to approach this type of discussion, but I think there are three points thatare essential to every conversation:

　　但是，我们应该采用何种方式提出相反意见呢?人们的性格各不相同，所以对待这种讨论的方式也总是有所差异。但我认为，对于这类谈话来说，有三个基本要素普遍适用。

　　1.) Present the facts.Start the conversation with an analytical³ assessment⁴ of how you cameto your conclusion and why your perspective is different. Steer⁵ clear of framing your pointsas opinion or emotionally-based.

　　1)陈述事实。你为什么持有这种观点?为什么你看待这个问题的角度与老板不同?你应该在谈话之初就给出背后的分析思路。千万避免把你的想法表现得具有主观色彩或者带有情绪化色彩。

　　2.) Think it through.Chart out the risks and benefits of both paths – your recommendationand that of your boss’. Don’t leave room for surprises!

　　2)深思熟虑。想清楚你和老板支持的两种不同方案的风险与收益。不要出现任何意想不到的突发状况!

　　3.) Own what you’re suggesting.Be transparent⁶ about what you can deliver, over whattimeframe, and what resources you will need. It’s important to be specific and clear.

　　3)对你的建议负责。要清楚说明你可以做些什么，什么样的时间框架，需要多少资源。一定要具体、清晰。

　　The most dangerous elements of disagreeing with your boss are emotionally chargedconversations, lack of clarity on why you disagree, and confusion about the choices on thetable. Don’t get caught in these traps, and your chances of having a productive talk will begreatly enhanced.

　　与老板观点相左时，最危险的事情莫过于表现得情绪化，或是不能清楚说明你反对的原因，或是对于各种可选方案混淆不清。如果你能避免这些陷阱，就能更有效地提出建设性意见了。

1 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

2 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

3 analytical   

adj.分析的；用分析法的

参考例句：

• I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
• As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

5 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。