英国新闻听力 领导人物应具备何种品格

We're hearing a lot about leadership: what worked for Alex Ferguson; what didn't work for Stuart Lancaster, and what might work for the individuals aspiring¹ to be the next UK Prime Minister or US President. But what are those elusive² leadership qualities and what can we learn from the great leaders of the past? What about the Buddha³, Gautama, who started a movement that eventually grew into a great religious and cultural civilisation⁴?

Many texts, or Discourses⁵, recount Gautama's conversations with religious seekers, merchants and kings. These were memorised and passed on orally after his death, probably around 400 BC, and written down a few centuries later. However much may have changed in transition, the Buddha of the texts is a vivid character and a remarkable⁶ leader.

His most striking quality, for me, is the deep confidence he displays in his understanding of life, and this enables him to teach in varied⁷ and flexible ways without departing from his essential vision. Sometimes, in private Gautama speaks passionately⁸ - the texts say 'he roars his lion's roar'. But in dialogue with others, including other religious teachers, he's always courteous⁹ and concerned to establish rapport¹⁰. No hair-dryer treatment, then.

He listens to what someone believes in - security or virtue¹¹ say - and teases out the underlying¹² values. He tells a householder that real security means accepting insecurity, and tells priests that true virtue comes from inner qualities, not external rituals. In other words, the Buddha exemplifies an approach to communication that engages with another person's way of thinking without accepting their assumptions, and then opens up a wider perspective.

This is leadership as communication, not coercion¹³, and Gautama was similarly open with his own followers¹⁴, encouraging them to see him as a teacher with authority but no power. He urged the members of his monastic community to live harmoniously¹⁵ within clear collective structures, but refused to appoint a successor to lead the community after his death. Instead he told them to rely on the truth they found in his teachings, not on rites¹⁶, dogmas or institutions.

The Buddha's example suggests that while great leaders display many skills, these aren't just techniques. When a leader's qualities express his or her being — who they really are and what they really know - they can be open and flexible without losing control. Perhaps the lesson is that offering really compelling leadership means truly learning to be ourselves.

我们经常听说与领导才能有关的话题：哪些对亚历克斯·弗格森有效，哪些对斯图尔特·兰开斯特无效，哪些有助于励志成为下任英国首相或美国总统的人。但是令人难以捉摸的领导品格到底是什么？从过去的领导人那里，我们可以学会什么？开创了伟大的宗教和文化文明的佛祖释迦牟尼呢？

许多文章或演讲都曾详细叙述释迦牟尼与宗教探求者，商人和国王的对话。在他公元前400年死后被记忆并流传，并在几个世纪后被用文字书写下来。虽然在传达的过程中会发生改变，然而文章中的佛祖都是栩栩如生的形象和卓越的领导人。

对我来说，他最突出的品质就是他对生活的理解表现出的深刻的信心，这使他能够不偏离根本观点以各种各样，灵活多变的方式教化众生。有时，释迦牟尼私下曾充满激情地讲话，文章称“他如狮子般咆哮”。但是与他人对话时，包括其他宗教导师，他总是非常礼貌，小心地建立融洽的关系。那时还没有“电吹风管理”这种说法。

他倾听他人的想法——安全或高尚的品德——套出潜在的价值观。他告诉一位一家之主，真正的安全意味着接受不安全，他告诉牧师，真正的高尚品德来自内在品质，而不是外在形式。换句话说，佛祖举例说明了一种交流方法，不需接受他人的假设来干预他人的想法，然后打开更宽阔的视角。

这是领导的沟通能力，而不是强制威压。释迦牟尼与他的追随者开诚布公，鼓励他们将他视为有权威而不是有权利的老师。他敦促他的修道院社区与其他集体结构和谐共处，但是拒绝委任继承者在他死后领导这一团体。他告诉他们依赖他的教化中学到的事实真相，而不是依赖习俗，教条或制度。

但是佛祖的例子表明，尽管伟大的领导人表现出了许多技能，然而不仅仅是技巧的问题。当一位领导的品质表现出他或她的本性时——他们的本真，他们真正知道什么——他们就能开诚布公，灵活多变，不会失控。或许我们学到的教训是，有说服力的领导意味着真正学会做自己。

1 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

2 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

3 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

4 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

5 discourses   

论文( discourse的名词复数 )； 演说； 讲道； 话语

参考例句：

• It is said that his discourses were very soul-moving. 据说他的讲道词是很能动人心灵的。
• I am not able to repeat the excellent discourses of this extraordinary man. 这位异人的高超言论我是无法重述的。

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

8 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

9 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

10 rapport   

n.和睦，意见一致

参考例句：

• She has an excellent rapport with her staff.她跟她职员的关系非常融洽。
• We developed a high degree of trust and a considerable personal rapport.我们发展了高度的互相信任和不错的私人融洽关系。

11 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

12 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

13 coercion   

n.强制，高压统治

参考例句：

• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions.既不诱供也不逼供。
• He paid the money under coercion.他被迫付钱。

14 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

15 harmoniously   

和谐地，调和地

参考例句：

• The president and Stevenson had worked harmoniously over the last eighteen months. 在过去一年半里，总统和史蒂文森一起工作是融洽的。
• China and India cannot really deal with each other harmoniously. 中国和印度这两只猛兽不可能真心实意地和谐相处。

16 rites   

仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
• He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。