高层:变成坏老板的5个好方法

 　　Next time you find yourself grumbling¹ about what a jerk your boss is, just think: This person could be giving you a valuable negative example. "I've worked for some horrible managers and some great ones," says Steve Pogorzelski, the CEO of online-marketing metrics powerhouse ClickFuel. He's grateful to the worst of them, he adds, "for showing me what to avoid."

　　下一次抱怨老板有多混蛋的时候，不妨这样想：这个人可是一个非常宝贵的反面典型。在线营销指标评估网站ClickFuel的CEO史蒂夫?鲍格兹尔斯基说：“我曾为各种老板工作过，有的老板很糟糕，有的则是非常优秀的管理者。”而对于那些糟糕的上司，他也心怀感激，因为“他们让我知道未来应该避免哪些问题。”

　　Before joining ClickFuel, Pogorzelski spent 10 years at Monster.com (MWW), including two years as group president of Monster International, from 2005 to 2007, during which he helped revenues jump by 60% to $488 million. As an investor³ in tech startups, whose founders⁴ he advises, "I'm still learning every day," he adds. Not sure whether your fearless leader qualifies as a bad boss? Pogorzelski has pinpointed⁵ five things bad bosses do.

　　加入ClickFuel之前，鲍格兹尔斯基曾在招聘网站Monster.com任职十年.2005年至2007年期间，他还曾担任过该公司集团总裁。期间，在他的带领下，公司收入上涨了60%，达到4.88亿美元。作为一名科技初创企业投资人，他经常为初创企业的创始人提供咨询。他说：“我每天仍然在不断学习。”你的那位大无畏的领导是不是一位糟糕的老板呢？且看鲍格兹尔斯基总结出的“糟糕老板5症状”。

　　1. Discourage risk-taking. As an intern² at a publishing company a couple of decades ago, Pogorzelski recalls, "they told me I wasn't management material because I wasn't cautious and conservative enough." His penchant⁶ for questioning the status quo was more welcome later on at Monster, where "I had a great boss who encouraged risk," he says. "The only rule was, if you're going to take a chance and make a mistake, do it fast -- so you can change direction fast." Much of Monster International's growth spurt⁷ came from acquisitions, especially in Asia: "Every one of them was a big risk, but they all worked out."

　　1. 禁止承担风险。回忆起几十年前，自己在一家出版公司实习时，鲍格兹尔斯基说：“他们说我不是当管理者的料，因为我不够谨慎和保守。”他喜欢质疑现状的嗜好后来在Monster公司更受欢迎。他说：“在Monster，我有一位很了不起的上司，他鼓励冒险。唯一的规则是，如果你要冒险一试，而且可能会犯错，那就一定要动作迅速——这样你还有余地，可以更快地调整方向。”Monster International的急剧扩张大部分都源于收购，尤其是在亚洲的收购：“每一笔收购都存在巨大的风险，结果全都成功带来了回报。”

　　Often, he says, bad bosses "squelch⁸ risk -- even small risks -- because they fear being shown up by someone who has a better idea. But great people under you push you up. They don't push you out."

　　他说，糟糕的老板经常“压制风险——即便是很小的风险，因为他们担心想法更好的人会超过他们。但实际上，优秀的下属会推动上司更进一步，而不是挤掉上司的位置。”

　　2. Manage by command-and-control. At that publishing company where he interned⁹, Pogorzelski recalls, bosses' command-and-control style meant that "nobody did anything more than was absolutely required, because you'd be punished for showing any initiative."

　　2. 命令与控制式的管理。鲍格兹尔斯基回忆称，在那家出版公司实习时，老板命令与控制式的管理方式意味着，“除了遵守死命令之外，没有人会多干活，因为只要员工表现出一点积极性，便会受到惩罚。”

　　Crushing creativity may have worked all right back in the days when the pace of technological¹⁰ and economic change was glacial, and people expected to stay at one company for decades. "But now, employees are loyal to their own careers, not to any one company," he says. "If you fall back on command-and-control, your best people will leave. Anyone who performs well under that kind of boss is not an A player."

　　在科技与经济变革极其缓慢的时代，打压创造力的做法或许还能行得通，因为人们都希望能在一家公司呆上几十年。“可如今，员工只会忠于自己的职业，而不是哪一家公司，”他说。“如果老板采取命令与控制式的管理方式，最优秀的员工肯定会离开。在这种老板手下即便表现好的员工，也一定不会是最优秀的人才。”

　　One symptom of a command-and-control culture, he adds, is when "people are surprised by their annual performance evaluations¹². That shouldn't happen, because a boss should be coaching and giving feedback constantly." In his experience, the most effective coaches pull no punches: "If people know you have their best interests at heart, they can take honest criticism no matter how it's given. There's no need to sugarcoat it."

　　他补充说，命令与控制式管理文化的另外一种症状则表现在“年度绩效评估令员工大吃一惊的时候。本来这种事不应该发生，因为老板应该不断给员工提供指导与反馈。”按照他的经验，最有效的教练从来都是毫不留情的：“如果大家知道，你真诚地批评完全是为了他们的最大利益，他们应该都能够接受，不论你采取哪种方式。没有必要粉饰批评。”

　　3. Reward tenure¹³ and personal loyalty¹⁴ over merit. "I've worked for some bosses who demanded personal loyalty and rewarded sycophants¹⁵, not performance," Pogorzelski says. "But the best bosses believe everyone's main loyalty should be to the customer, and they reward you based on what you do, not who you know."

　　3. 功过不分，任人唯亲。鲍格兹尔斯基称：“许多我之前的老板会要求对个人的忠诚，对‘马屁精’会加奖赏，却不管绩效如何。而最优秀的老板则相信，员工主要的忠诚应该献给客户，他们会根据员工做过什么进行奖励，而不是你认识什么人。”

　　As for tenure, a long stint¹⁶ with one employer is now just as outdated¹⁷ as command-and-control management, he believes. "Unless you've been promoted a lot or faced a series of new challenges, staying a long time in one place is almost a negative." That idea is more accepted in the U.S. than in some other cultures, he adds: "At Monster International, we found that it was hard to convince European managers, who are used to a whole different tradition, that just being there for a certain number of years didn't guarantee a promotion¹⁸."

　　而关于任期，他相信，长期只为一个人打工，就像命令与控制式的管理模式一样，早已经过时了。“除非你得到了许多升职机会，或者面临一系列全新的挑战，否则长时间待在一家公司，通常都不会有积极的效果。”他补充说，和在其他国家相比，这种观点在美国更容易被接受。“在Monster International，我们发现，要想让欧洲管理者相信，在这里工作几年不一定能得到升职，是非常困难的，因为他们习惯了一种截然不同的传统。”

　　4. Emphasize anecdotes²⁰ over analytics. "I've worked with a few bad bosses who made decisions based on anecdotal information rather than hard data," says Pogorzelski. "But given the amount and the speed of data available now, there's no good reason to do that. Incompetent²¹ managers prefer to rely on anecdotes because they can always find someone to tell them what they want to hear, rather than what the facts are."

　　4. 偏信传闻，忽视分析。鲍格兹尔斯基说道：“我以前跟过的几位糟糕老板，会根据道听途说的信息制定决策，而不是实实在在的数据。考虑到当下可用信息的数量和传递速度，他们更不应该这样做。能力不足的管理者之所以喜欢小道消息，是因为他们总能找到一个人，告诉他们自己想听的话，而不是确凿的事实。”

　　Beware, he says, of "a boss who starts a meeting by saying, 'If the data are to be believed ... ' or 'I know what the data show, but everybody thinks ... ' My answer to that is, 'Bring me everybody, and we'll see.'" One of his all-time worst bosses, he adds, "made a major product decision based on an isolated²² anecdote¹⁹ he heard that suggested the product didn't work well, when the analytics showed that it did. The changes he made as a result were disastrous²³ for the business."

　　要注意下面的情况，他提醒谁：“比如老板在开会时，开场白就是‘如果相信这些数据……’或者‘我知道这些数据代表着什么，但每个人都认为……’对这个问题，我会这样回答：‘把每个人都请来，让我们看个究竟。’”他说，有一位史上最糟糕的老板，“听到一点传闻，称某款产品表现不好，虽然分析结果与传闻内容截然相反，但他还是根据那条孤立的传闻，做出了一项重大的产品决策。结果，他做出的改变让公司落入万劫不复的深渊。”

　　5. Consider management a project or an end result. "Bad bosses see managing people as an event, rather than a process," Pogorzelski notes. "A once-a-year performance evaluation¹¹ is an event. But real management is something that goes on every day, where you're constantly finding occasions to give feedback."

　　5. 将管理视为一个项目或最终结果。鲍格兹尔斯基发现：“糟糕的老板会将人员管理视为结果，而不是过程。一年一次的绩效评估是结果，但真正的管理应该体现在日常工作当中。管理者应该不断寻找机会给员工提供反馈。”

　　Listening helps, too. Pogorzelski observes that key people often start job hunting because "they're uncertain what's next for them in this company. If you create an environment where they feel they can tell you what they're hoping for -- international experience, for example -- you're less likely to lose them."

　　倾听也能有所帮助。鲍格兹尔斯基发现，许多优秀员工之所以开始寻找新工作，通常是因为“他们不确定未来在这家公司会有怎样的发展。如果管理者能创造一种环境，让员工感觉他们可以将自己所期望的条件提出来，比如国际经历等，优秀员工离开的可能性便会大幅降低。”

　　In the tech startups he advises, Pogorzelski says, "I recommend to top management that theycoach the people under them as often as possible, because coaching is a gift. If you put it that way -- if you say, 'I'm telling you this because I care about your success' -- people will respond by giving you their best work." Ideally, he adds, the coaching goes both ways. As a CEO interviewing potential new hires, "I look for people who will tell me I'm wrong. I want subordinates who aren't afraid to bring me bad news."

　　鲍格兹尔斯基称，在自己提供咨询建议的科技初创公司，“我会建议公司高层尽可能经常指导下属，因为对员工来说，来自高层的指导就像是一件礼物。比如，如果管理者这样说：‘我之所以告诉你这个，是因为我在乎你的成功。’下属就会以最佳表现来回报公司。”他补充道，理想情况下，指导应该是双向的。作为一名经常面试新员工的CEO，“我喜欢那些会直言我做错了的人。我希望下属敢于直言，不怕告诉我坏消息。"

1 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

2 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

3 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

4 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

5 pinpointed   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的过去式和过去分词 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice. 他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。
• Computers pinpointed where the shells were coming from. 计算机确定了炮弹发射的位置。

6 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

7 spurt   

v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆

参考例句：

• He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
• After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿，莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。

8 squelch   

v.压制，镇压；发吧唧声

参考例句：

• The President wants to squelch any perception that the meeting is an attempt to negotiate.总统想要消除任何视本次会议为谈判尝试的看法。
• You cannot squelch wanting.你不能压制要求。

9 interned   

v.拘留，关押( intern的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was interned but,as he was in no way implicated in war crimes,was released. 他曾被拘留过，但因未曾涉嫌战争罪行而被释放了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These soldiers were interned in a neutral country until the war was over. 这些士兵被拘留在一个中立国，直到战争结束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

11 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

12 evaluations   

估价( evaluation的名词复数 )； 赋值； 估计价值； [医学]诊断

参考例句：

• In fact, our moral evaluations are merely expressions of our desires. 事实上，我们的道德评价只是我们欲望的表达形式。 来自哲学部分
• Properly speaking, however, these evaluations and insights are not within the concept of official notice. 但准确地讲，这些评估和深远见识并未包括在官方通知概念里。

13 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

14 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

15 sycophants   

n.谄媚者，拍马屁者( sycophant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The office is a menagerie of egotists and sycophants. 该办公室乃是自私者与谄媚者汇集之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They even praise such a disappointing program, they really are sycophants. 这么差劲的节目也有人夸赞，真是捧臭脚！ 来自互联网

16 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

17 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

18 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

19 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

20 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

22 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

23 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。