????最近大家都在討論女性與金錢(qián)的關(guān)系。上周，我發(fā)表了一篇題為《女孩害怕金錢(qián)嗎？》的文章，激起了大家對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題的廣泛探討。美國(guó)運(yùn)通公司OPEN卡部門(mén)（American Express OPEN）總裁蘇珊?薩博特也通過(guò)郵件向我表達(dá)了她的一些看法。她的觀(guān)點(diǎn)頗有洞見(jiàn)，于是我請(qǐng)問(wèn)她，我能否將該郵件作為客座文章發(fā)布。

????薩博特認(rèn)識(shí)很多企業(yè)家。美國(guó)運(yùn)通OPEN是運(yùn)通公司旗下一個(gè)服務(wù)于小型企業(yè)的部門(mén)，自1990年起，她連續(xù)七年主管OPEN卡部門(mén)。兩年前，運(yùn)通OPEN卡攜手《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）創(chuàng)辦了“最具影響力的女企業(yè)家排行榜”（ Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs），該排行榜每年會(huì)篩選出美國(guó)最具創(chuàng)新精神的女企業(yè)家，并召開(kāi)《財(cái)富》“最具影響力女性峰會(huì)”（ Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit）。在峰會(huì)上，她們有機(jī)會(huì)同來(lái)自世界各地的最知名的女企業(yè)家和熱衷于企業(yè)家精神的榮譽(yù)男嘉賓沃倫?巴菲特進(jìn)行思想上的交流。——Patricia Sellers

????當(dāng)我們同女企業(yè)家談及她們的事業(yè)時(shí)，她們通常會(huì)從創(chuàng)業(yè)的靈感、個(gè)人的使命、與客戶(hù)之間的關(guān)系以及作為企業(yè)家的心路歷程等這些話(huà)題談起。

????經(jīng)過(guò)剛開(kāi)始的幾個(gè)試探性的問(wèn)題之后，她們才會(huì)切入正題，比如她們的商業(yè)模式是什么，以及她們是如何賺錢(qián)的。

????而男性企業(yè)家在這個(gè)時(shí)候可能會(huì)在思維順序上與她們有一些不同之處。

????那么這意味著什么？當(dāng)然，并非所有的女企業(yè)家都是這樣。只不過(guò)相比于男性，女企業(yè)家比較“忌諱數(shù)字”，她們會(huì)說(shuō)，“我是一個(gè)對(duì)數(shù)字不大關(guān)注的人……”

????然而在通常的情況下，事實(shí)并非如此。

????這種“恐懼”是一種心理障礙。同女性討論關(guān)于金錢(qián)的問(wèn)題會(huì)使她們感到不太自然，她們認(rèn)為這是應(yīng)該獨(dú)立去應(yīng)對(duì)的事情。

????公司的規(guī)模對(duì)她們而言似乎也不那么重要。但是這對(duì)男性企業(yè)家來(lái)說(shuō)（請(qǐng)?jiān)忂@里提及的刻板印象）卻至關(guān)重要。

????女性企業(yè)家?jiàn)^斗的動(dòng)力源于她們對(duì)事業(yè)的使命感。而對(duì)于男性企業(yè)家而言，奮斗的動(dòng)力則是利潤(rùn)的多少。

????這一點(diǎn)是我最近與一對(duì)經(jīng)營(yíng)零售業(yè)的夫婦在交談中發(fā)現(xiàn)的。丈夫與我聊了一些關(guān)于庫(kù)存周轉(zhuǎn)方面的細(xì)節(jié)，而妻子則與我談?wù)摿怂侨绾螌?zhuān)門(mén)針對(duì)客戶(hù)的特殊需要進(jìn)貨的。

????她更注重維護(hù)客戶(hù)關(guān)系；而他更注重貨品的周轉(zhuǎn)。

????男性企業(yè)家通常會(huì)有一個(gè)堅(jiān)定且需要迅速達(dá)成的目標(biāo)。他們的目的是想要賺到X美元的利潤(rùn)或是達(dá)到Y(jié)程度。目標(biāo)驅(qū)使他們制定計(jì)劃并一步一步的達(dá)成。

????而女性企業(yè)家則傾向于制定一個(gè)大體上的發(fā)展目標(biāo)。然后她們會(huì)集中考慮具體的計(jì)劃：客戶(hù)的數(shù)量是多少？選擇什么樣的供應(yīng)商、獲得多少利潤(rùn)與現(xiàn)金流才能達(dá)成目標(biāo)？

????最終的結(jié)果是：女性創(chuàng)業(yè)的比例是全美平均比例的1.5倍。而且，從某種程度上來(lái)說(shuō)，女性使得我們的小型企業(yè)得以成長(zhǎng)。也就是說(shuō)，女性企業(yè)家的公司要比男性企業(yè)家的公司成長(zhǎng)更為迅速，但是她們的員工數(shù)量一般不到100人，企業(yè)估值也大多在100萬(wàn)美元以?xún)?nèi)。

????在所有的女性企業(yè)家的公司中，遺憾的是只有3%的公司收益達(dá)到或超過(guò)100萬(wàn)美元。而男性企業(yè)家的公司中，這個(gè)數(shù)字卻達(dá)到了6%。

????而那些公司規(guī)模較大、運(yùn)營(yíng)較為成功的女企業(yè)家們最好能做些什么呢？她們可以與其他的女性分享經(jīng)驗(yàn)，讓她們認(rèn)識(shí)到數(shù)字的重要性，讓她們知道運(yùn)營(yíng)公司的一個(gè)至高目標(biāo)則是賺錢(qián)盈利。

????那么，打破女性對(duì)于金錢(qián)的心理恐懼的最好方式是什么呢？應(yīng)該讓她們從小就知道，不應(yīng)該刻意回避數(shù)字——尤其是不要回避賺錢(qián)這件事。

????The debate rages on about women and money. After I published "Are women afraid of money?"--which stirred up this week's far-flung opinionated commentary--Susan Sobbott, president of American Express OPEN, emailed me her thoughts. Her note was so insightful that I asked her if I could run it as a Guest Post.

????Sobbott knows entrepreneurs. At American Express (AXP) since 1990, she has headed OPEN, the company's small-business card unit for seven years. Two years ago, OPEN partnered with Fortune to create Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, a program that each year selects 10 of the most innovative female entrepreneurs in the U.S. and brings them to the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. There, they share ideas with the world's foremost women leaders and our honorary male participant who believes passionately in entrepreneurship: Warren Buffett (BRKA). - Patricia Sellers

????When you speak to women about their businesses, they start with their inspiration, their mission, their client relationships, their personal journey as entrepreneurs.

????After a few probing questions, typically, they get to the business model and how they make money.

????Male business owners have the order a bit different.

????So how does this translate? This isn't true for all women, but more women than men are "intimidated by the numbers," they say. "I'm just not a numbers person..."

????Usually, that is so far from the truth.

????The intimidation is a psychological barrier. Asking for financing comes less naturally for a woman. She feels that she should do it on her own.

????Size of business also matters less. And size (pardon the stereotyping here) absolutely matters most to men.

????The mission of the business is what drives women who start them. The size of the profit drives their male counterparts.

????I noticed this recently as I was speaking to a married couple who own a retail business. The husband shares details about inventory turns while his wife talks about the specialty merchandise she carries for the unique needs of her customers.

????She's focused on the relationships; he's focused on moving the goods.

????Men also tend to have a hard and fast goal in mind. They want to get to $X in revenues or Y locations. The goal allows them to plan their way to it.

????Women entrepreneurs tend to operate with a more general goal to grow their business. Their thinking then goes to the plan: How many customers?...What suppliers, margins, cash flow will get them there?

????The upshot of all this: Women start businesses at 1.5 times the national rate. And women are driving the growth of our smaller business--to a point. That is, women-owned firms have higher growth rates than male-owned firms, but only up to the 100-employee and $1 million mark.

????Unfortunately, only 3% of all women-owned firms have revenues of $1 million or more. This compares to 6% of all male-owned firms.

????What's the best thing that women who have large and successful businesses can do? Show other women that knowing the numbers is critical and that making money is a noble outcome of owning a business.

????And the best way to break woman's psychological barriers about money? Teach girls at a young age that they shouldn't shy away from the numbers--and especially from the money.