????與艾倫個性不同的員工們在面對類似壓力時，可能表現更好。沃爾特?伊薩克森在《史蒂夫?喬布斯》傳記中指出，這位已故的蘋果（Apple）共同創始人著名的火爆脾氣往往收到了好結果。“那些沒有被壓垮的人們最終變得更強大，”他寫到。“出于恐懼和取悅心態，他們的工作做得更好了。”就像蓋茨，喬布斯不一定在意反擊的員工，只要他們的意見有道理。(蓋茨和他長期的副手、未來的接班人史蒂夫?巴爾默在激烈的討論中總是針鋒相對；許多內部人士表示，這種爭論對于公司的成功至關重要。)

????說到甲骨文(Oracle) CEO拉里?埃里森，他大喊大叫的時間可能比其他科技大鱷們更長，有些員工稱，他有時發脾氣的時間可能長達近1個小時，但他的叫罵在性質上驚人的相似。若論修辭手法，那就是夸張。如果埃里森不喜歡一位甲骨文高管組織銷售會議的方式，他會插話，“這是美國最糟的銷售組織展示，哦，我要糾正自己，是世界最糟。”

????管理專家們表示，如果處理得當，這種嚴酷的管理風格事實上沒有表面看上去那么可怕。不過，他們警告稱，如果過度依賴發脾氣，可能造就有害的工作環境。當員工們感覺到老板發脾氣完全是為了取得發脾氣的效果，他們很少會積極應對。但這不是超級成功的當代科技界CEO們的做法。有一點總是顯而易見，他們強烈的反應與他們的情緒極限直接相關。【伊薩克森寫的書披露，史蒂夫?喬布斯不喜歡全食超市（Whole Foods）一位員工為他準備Smoothied的做法時，他也會不冷靜。】

????類似地，員工們也需要看到CEO人格的其他方面。如果他們只將他或她與暴脾氣聯系起來，他們可能會非常消極或叛逆。“除非發脾氣能與其他什么相平衡，這位CEO會失去所有的道德權威，”工作場所咨詢公司Boswell Group的主管凱利?夏可維茨說。“表現出一些脆弱往往會有幫助。”這是拉里?埃里森始終銘記的一個深刻觀點。埃里森最近雇傭了舊金山亞洲藝術博物館（Asian Art Museum）前總監來管理自己龐大的個人收藏。埃里森在解釋他對日本藝術的熱愛時表示，日本文化是“地球上最好斗，也是最有禮的文化。令人驚異的傲慢與謙卑的融合；極佳的平衡。”或許只有埃里森一個人相信他在甲骨文創造了同樣的50/50平衡，但他的確做到了謙卑。20世紀90年代初，雷?萊恩幫助公司扭轉頹勢后，埃里森寫了一份情真意切的信，熱情洋溢地稱贊萊恩讓“因懷疑和疲勞而痛苦的團隊眼中重新充滿了期待。”但總的來說，埃里森很少說出這么動情的話。（財富中文網）

????本文作者是《美式癡迷：美國的建國原動力》一書的作者。

????譯者：早稻米??????????

????Workers with a different constitution from Allen sometimes thrive in the face of similar stresses. In his biography Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson pointed out that the late Apple (AAPL) co-founder's legendary rage attacks often had an upside. "People who were not crushed ended up being stronger," he wrote. "They did better work, out of both fear and an eagerness to please." Like Gates, Jobs didn't necessarily mind employees who fought back, as long as their opinions were thoughtfully formulated. (Gates and his longtime deputy and future successor, Steve Ballmer, often went toe-to-toe in vicious debates; many insiders say this sparring was critical to the company's success.)

????And for his part, while Larry Ellison may well be prone to yelling longer than the other tech luminaries -- according to co-workers, some of the Oracle's (ORCL) CEO tirades have clocked in at nearly an hour -- his invective is astonishingly similar in nature. Hyperbole is the trope of choice. When Ellison does not like how an Oracle executive is conducting a sales meeting, he tends to interject, "This is the worst display of sales organization in the U.S. -- no, correct me, in the world."

????Management experts say that this harsh management style is actually not as terrible as it seems -- if handled correctly. They warn that an excessive reliance on the temper-tantrum can create a toxic workplace. Employees also rarely respond positively when they sense that the boss' outbursts are staged purely for effect. But that's not something the super-successful contemporary techies have ever done. It's always been clear that their intense reactions have been directly related to their emotional wiring. (According to Isaacson's book, Steve Jobs would also fly off the handle when he did not like the way a clerk at Whole Foods (WFM) was preparing his smoothie.)

????Likewise, employees also need to see other sides of the CEO's personality. If they begin to associate him or her solely with rages, they are likely to become either overly passive or rebellious. "Unless the tantrums are balanced with something else, the CEO loses all moral authority," says Kerry Sulkowicz, head of the workplace consulting firm the Boswell Group. "Showing some vulnerability often helps." This is an insight that Larry Ellison has taken to heart. In explaining his love of Japanese art, Ellison, who recently hired the former director of San Francisco's Asian Art Museum to curate his massive personal collection, has described the Japanese as both "the most aggressive culture on Earth and the most polite. There is this incredible arrogance combined with unbelievable humility; a magnificent balance." While Ellison might be alone in believing that he has created that same 50/50 balance in the corridors of Oracle, he is capable of humility. After Ray Lane helped turn around the company in the early 1990s, Ellison wrote a heartfelt letter, effusively praising his new hire for putting "the eagerness back into the eyes of a team turned miserable by cynicism and exhaustion." But by all indications, Ellison doesn't give voice to such tender sentiments all that often.

????Joshua Kendall is the author of America's Obsessives: The Compulsive Energy That Built a Nation.