學(xué)會(huì)高管風(fēng)度，走上人生巔峰
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????親愛的安妮：我的公司在六月份結(jié)束一個(gè)財(cái)政年度，因此我們現(xiàn)在正在進(jìn)行一年一度的員工績(jī)效評(píng)估，而我的評(píng)估結(jié)果（再一次）令人失望。我對(duì)自己的工作非常擅長(zhǎng)，有著出色的技術(shù)能力，我的老板也承認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)。但他說(shuō)我還沒(méi)有做好在管理崗位上更進(jìn)一步的準(zhǔn)備，原因是我缺少“高管風(fēng)度”。 ????我之所以離開上一家公司，原因之一正是由于那家公司的老板總是認(rèn)為，雖然我的工作非常出色，但我還沒(méi)有做好升職的“準(zhǔn)備”。所以，很可惜。這已經(jīng)不是我第一次聽到同樣的評(píng)語(yǔ)。但我該怎么辦？“高管風(fēng)度”到底指的是什么？——S.A. ????親愛的S.A.：很有意思的問(wèn)題，因?yàn)椤案吖茱L(fēng)度”往往會(huì)決定誰(shuí)將一飛沖天，而誰(shuí)將停滯不前。但我們很難明確定義什么是“高管風(fēng)度”。如果我們看到萬(wàn)眾矚目的CEO或者公眾人物，他們像變魔術(shù)一樣將超凡魅力與可信度組合在一起，這時(shí)大多數(shù)人都會(huì)知道什么是“高管風(fēng)度”。而由于這些人似乎自然而然地表現(xiàn)出這些個(gè)人魅力（其實(shí)它通常是一種精心培養(yǎng)出的錯(cuò)覺，稍后會(huì)詳細(xì)談到這一點(diǎn)。），因此我們禁不住會(huì)想，這些氣質(zhì)肯定是與生俱來(lái)的。 ????《高管風(fēng)度：優(yōu)點(diǎn)與成功之間缺失的環(huán)節(jié)》（Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success）一書的作者西爾維婭?安妮?休利特認(rèn)為，這種觀點(diǎn)大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)。她對(duì)268位資深高管進(jìn)行了詳細(xì)調(diào)查，據(jù)此將“高管風(fēng)度”進(jìn)行了分解，并對(duì)每一個(gè)部分進(jìn)行了分析。 ????她表示，你的情況很常見。許多人在本職工作中表現(xiàn)出色，但卻因?yàn)橥瑯拥脑颍诼殬I(yè)中期遭遇瓶頸。她說(shuō)：“這與一個(gè)人在本職工作中的能力無(wú)關(guān)。而是要讓人們給你機(jī)會(huì)，證明自己能夠做到更多。”學(xué)會(huì)構(gòu)成高管風(fēng)度的那些微妙技巧，往往可以幫助人們得到那個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，而且這個(gè)過(guò)程“并沒(méi)有看起來(lái)那么復(fù)雜。” ????休利特調(diào)查的高管指出了“高管風(fēng)度”的三個(gè)基本要素：莊重（如何舉止），溝通（如何說(shuō)話）和外貌（外表如何）。莊重，尤其是對(duì)自身能力與知識(shí)的自信，是三者之中最重要的一項(xiàng)。67%的受訪者選擇了該項(xiàng)，雖然它與溝通有許多重合之處。選擇溝通的受訪者比例為28%。受訪的高管們認(rèn)為外貌應(yīng)該是指儀表和健康，而不是像電影明星一樣俊朗帥氣的面容。選擇這一項(xiàng)的比例僅有5%。 ????幸運(yùn)的是，這三項(xiàng)都可以通過(guò)學(xué)習(xí)掌握，具體方式可以從《高管風(fēng)度》一書中找到答案。以莊重為例，休利特把它定義為“臨危不懼”，即便面臨高壓局面依舊能夠保持冷靜的自信，但這只是一個(gè)方面。 ????休利特解釋說(shuō)：“組成莊重的很大部分是一種技巧，一種傳達(dá)海量知識(shí)的技巧，并且要給人留下這樣一種印象——對(duì)于正在談?wù)摰脑掝}，你甚至可以通過(guò)“6個(gè)問(wèn)題來(lái)深入探討”，但你采用的是一種簡(jiǎn)潔的方式。不論是在演講還是會(huì)議過(guò)程中，人們的注意力持續(xù)的時(shí)間非常短。因此，你必須能證明，自己如何通過(guò)一種激發(fā)興趣的簡(jiǎn)短方式來(lái)增加價(jià)值。” ????最具有個(gè)人魅力的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者在這樣做的時(shí)候會(huì)給人一種感覺，他們的話都是信手拈來(lái)——休利特認(rèn)為，只要堅(jiān)持不懈地練習(xí)，任何人都可以做到。 ????既要傳達(dá)煞費(fèi)苦心準(zhǔn)備的信息，又要讓自己看起來(lái)是在脫口而出侃侃而談，沒(méi)有人天生便具有這種能力，即便表面看起來(lái)好像如此。許多年前，休利特在哈佛大學(xué)（Harvard）讀研究生時(shí)，他的指導(dǎo)教授是已故的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家約翰?肯尼斯?加爾布雷斯，也是一位令人著迷的著名演說(shuō)家。他告訴休利特，自己的訣竅是每一篇演講稿都要重寫12遍。然后，他說(shuō)道：“到第13遍時(shí)，就有了一種即興感。” ????或許你對(duì)此已經(jīng)非常擅長(zhǎng)。你沒(méi)有說(shuō)老板是否曾詳細(xì)解釋過(guò)他為什么認(rèn)為你缺乏高管風(fēng)度，如果對(duì)方?jīng)]有解釋，你的第一步應(yīng)該是主動(dòng)追問(wèn)。休利特說(shuō)：“對(duì)于老板為什么會(huì)對(duì)你有這樣的看法，應(yīng)該尋求誠(chéng)實(shí)的反饋。要讓對(duì)方清楚，你真誠(chéng)地想要知道原因，但你不會(huì)把它視為對(duì)個(gè)人的攻擊，也不會(huì)采取自我防衛(wèi)的態(tài)度。” ????導(dǎo)師會(huì)提供巨大的幫助。他會(huì)告訴你需要磨練哪些技能，來(lái)培養(yǎng)自己的高管風(fēng)度。如果你沒(méi)有導(dǎo)師，或許現(xiàn)在就應(yīng)該找一位——理想的人選是與你沒(méi)有直接上下級(jí)關(guān)系的高層。祝你好運(yùn)。 ????反饋：是否曾有人評(píng)價(jià)你“缺乏高管氣度”或“沒(méi)有做好準(zhǔn)備”接受一個(gè)更高的職位？你如何解決這樣的問(wèn)題？歡迎留言評(píng)論。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)） ????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓 |
????Dear Annie: My company is on a June fiscal year, so we’re having our annual round of employee evaluations now, and mine was (again) pretty discouraging. I’m really good at what I do, with great technical skills, which my boss acknowledged. But he also said I’m not ready to move up to the next level of management because I lack “executive presence.” ????One of the reasons I left my last employer was that my boss at that company kept saying I was “not ready” for a promotion despite being great at my job, so unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. But what can I do about it? What exactly does “executive presence” mean, anyway? —Stymied Again ????Dear Stymied: Interesting question, since “executive presence” often determines whose career takes off like a rocket and whose doesn’t. Yet it’s hard to define. Most of us know it when we see it, in any CEO or public figure who commands attention with a seemingly magical combination of charisma and credibility. And, since this kind of personal magnetism seems to come naturally to the people who’ve got it (which is usually a carefully cultivated illusion, but more about that in a minute), it’s tempting to think you have to be born with it. ????Wrong, according to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of a new book called Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success. She set out to break “executive presence” down into its component parts and then analyze each one, relying partly on a detailed survey of 268 senior executives. ????Your situation isn’t unusual, she says. Lots of people are terrific at what they do, but they hit a plateau mid-career for the same reason. “It isn’t a question of competence at your job,” she says. “It’s a question of getting people to give you the chance to prove you are capable of more.” Learning the subtle tricks that add up to executive presence is often how people get that chance, and “it’s not as complicated as it may seem.” ????The executives in Hewlett’s study pinpointed three essential elements of “presence”: Gravitas (how you act), communication (how you speak), and appearance (how you look). Gravitas, especially confidence in your own abilities and knowledge, is by far the most important of the three, according to 67% of those polled, although it overlaps a lot with communication, which got 28% of the vote. Appearance—by which the executives in the survey meant mostly grooming and fitness, not movie-star good looks—came in at a tiny 5%. ????Luckily, all of these can be learned, and Executive Presence tells how. Take gravitas, for instance. Hewlett defines it as “grace under fire” and the self-confidence to stay calm in high-pressure situations, but there’s more to it than that. ????“A big part of gravitas is a knack for conveying tremendous amounts of knowledge and giving people the impression you could go ‘six questions deep’ on the subject you’re talking about, but in a way that’s concise,” Hewlett explains. “Attention spans are so short now that, whether it’s in a speech or in a meeting, you have to show how you can add value in a way that’s both compelling and brief.” ????The most charismatic leaders do this while seeming as if their remarks are off the cuff—and Hewlett says anyone can pull it off, through practice, practice, practice. ????Delivering a painstakingly prepared message, while seeming to talk off the top of your head, doesn’t come naturally to anybody, even if it looks that way. When Hewlett was a graduate student at Harvard many years ago, her faculty advisor was the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith, a famously riveting public speaker. His secret, he once told her, was that he rewrote every speech 12 times. Then, he said, “I introduce a note of spontaneity in the thirteenth draft.” ????Maybe you’re pretty good at this already. You don’t say whether your boss went into any detail about exactly why he thinks you lack executive presence, but if not, your first step should be to ask him. “Ask for honest feedback about why this boss sees you this way,” Hewlett says. “Make it very clear to him or her that you really want to know, and that you’re not going to take it personally or get defensive.” ????Mentors can be a big help in telling you exactly where you need to polish the skills that add up to executive presence. So if you haven’t got a mentor, now might be a good time to find one—ideally a higher-up you don’t report to directly. Good luck. ????Talkback: Have you ever been told you “l(fā)ack executive presence” or were “not ready” for a bigger job? What did you do about it? Leave a comment below. |
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