????為了尋求管理方面的真知灼見，有人求助于導師或老板，也有人靠閱讀彼得?德魯克的書籍，試圖從中找到商業智慧的精髓。而亞特蘭大地區律師韋恩?基爾則依賴于祖母的智慧。

????基爾在邁阿密郊外經營著一家律師事務所。他曾經收售數家企業，還寫過一本書《祖母講故事：商業多樣化寓言》（Tales My Grandmother Told Me: A Business Diversity Fable）。盡管他的商場經歷相當豐富，但他還是常常回想起孩提時從祖父母那里學到的經驗。小時候，每年暑假他都會去祖父母開的雜貨店玩。這家雜貨店位于牙買加莫尼格小城的中心，向工人們出售魚、肉類、大米、糖果、三明治和蘇打水。祖母還會賣冰淇淋，甚至在晚上經營一個小酒吧。

????基爾說：“她絕對稱得上是鎮上的焦點人物。”祖母要兼做老板和售貨員，在腦子里算賬的同時還要營造一個理想的生意環境。

????基爾的祖母對多樣化經營很在行。除了這家雜貨店，她還買了地皮和幾家加油站。后來基爾也采納了祖母的多樣化模式，轉向公共演講和少數族裔企業咨詢。

????他的祖母多麗絲（真名是艾琳?瑪科斯塔）還教導他，要以誠實公平的態度與經銷商和其他商人做生意。他說：“我祖母早已經在實踐雙贏理念了。”這意味著他在談判中既要立場堅定，但又不能做得太過火。他回憶說，當時供應商都愿意跟祖母做生意。現在，每次談判的時候他都會告訴自己，“如果我退一小步，對方會更開心，那我們就能建立長期的合作關系，還能以誠相待，彼此尊重。”

默默追隨祖母教誨的信徒

????向祖母借鑒智慧作為領導法則的高級經理人遠非基爾一人，不管他們的祖母是叫雅詩?蘭黛，還是叫路易莎。

????雅虎公司（Yahoo）前高管蒂姆?桑德斯現為作家和咨詢師。他把祖母比莉在感恩和自信方面的洞見和經驗寫進了自己的新書《今天我們很富有》（Today We Are Rich）。

????桑德斯說，“她教會了我自信，擁有自信我就敢于面對一切。我知道我的自信源自何處。現在我正在挑戰其他一些權威和商業作家，他們也說從自己的祖母那里學到很多東西。”桑德斯說每周他都能遇到個把人，聲稱自己的商業靈感來源于祖母。

????賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院（the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School）領導力與變革管理研究中心（the Center for Leadership and Change Management）主任邁克爾?尤西姆表示，高級經理人不會耗費太多時間談論家人和家族軼事，但家人對他們的影響是巨大的。他說：“我遇到的很多人，他們的家人和先輩為人處世的方式對他們現在的人生觀影響非常大，這讓我印象頗深。”

????有的是祖父祖母，有的可能是幾代之前的祖先。當尤西姆詢問其領導力項目參與者，他們最崇拜哪些領導人時，最常見的回答是納爾遜?曼德拉，百事公司（PepsiCo）總裁盧英德，或者是最近逝世的史蒂夫?喬布斯。尤西姆表示，大約有10%到15%的人會提到自己的父母，這是他們祖父母影響力的延伸。

培養祖母式的商業智慧

????這種觀點聽起來似乎有些古怪，因為在這個不斷變革的時代，我們通常會通過Twitter、博客和其他來源獲取大量管理方面的深刻見解和觀點。當今的商業領袖必須懂得國際金融、世界經濟危機、不斷演變的社會媒體平臺以及社會品味和潮流。祖母們的思想或者智慧精髓如何才能真正與當今復雜的商業形勢產生共鳴呢？

????Some people turn to a mentor or maybe even a boss for management insights. Others look to Peter Drucker's books for pearls of business wisdom. Atlanta-area attorney A. Wayne Gill counts on the wisdom of his grandmother.

????Gill runs a law firm outside Miami; he's bought and sold a few businesses and he is the author of Tales My Grandmother Told Me: A Business Diversity Fable. Despite his considerable business experience, he often recalls lessons he learned while at his grandparents' general store in Jamaica, which he visited in the summers as a child. The store, which was located in the town center in Moneague, Jamaica, sold fish, meat, rice, sugar, sandwiches, and sodas for workers. His grandmother offered ice cream and even ran a small bar in the evenings.

????"She was just such a central figure," Gill says. She served as the sales person, and the deal maker, managing figures in her head and creating an ideal business environment.

????Gill's grandmother was all about diversification. She bought land and a couple of gas stations. Gill followed her model by moving into public speaking and minority business consulting.

????His grandmother, known as Doris (her real name was Irene Macosta) also taught him to deal fairly with vendors and other business people. "My grandmother was already practicing win-win," he says, which to him means being strong in your negotiations but not going overboard. Suppliers always wanted to do business with her, he recalls. Now, when he's negotiating: "If I get a little less, if I make the other guy happier, we can have a long-term deal, and treat each other with trust and respect."

A silent army of grandma disciples?

????Gill is far from alone among executives who refer to their grandmothers as leadership guides, whether her name was Estee Lauder or Louisa.

????Tim Sanders, a former executive at Yahoo and currently an author and consultant, weaved his grandma Billye's insights and lessons on gratitude and confidence into his latest book, Today We Are Rich.

????"She taught me confidence, and with confidence I could do anything at all," says Sanders. "I understand where it started. I'm challenging other gurus and biz authors to 'fess up' on their grandmothers' contributions." Sanders says that he runs into half a dozen people a week who refer to their grandmother as a source of business inspiration.

????Executives do not spend much time talking about their family and family histories, but their impact is considerable, says Michael Useem, director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. "I've always been impressed in how many people I encounter -- how much the family, their ancestors did what they did and influenced how they think about life now," he says.

????Sometimes it's grandma or grandpa, and other times it's an ancestor going back several generations. When Useem asks people who participate in his leadership programs which leaders they most admire, he often hears Nelson Mandela or PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi or the recently deceased Steve Jobs. Around 10 to 15% refer to their parents, which is an extension of grandparents' influence, Useem argues.

Cultivating a grandmother's business sense

????It may seem like a quaint idea in an era of constant change, where we receive a barrage of management insights and ideas via Twitter, blogs, and other sources. Leaders today must understand international finance and world economic crises, changing social media platforms and evolving societal tastes and trends. So how can grandma's ideals or sampler-stitched wisdom really resonate amid such a dense business landscape?