【管理英文】領導者，你是否穿了「皇帝的新裝」？

原標題：【管理英文】領導者，你是否穿了「皇帝的新裝」？

今天分享的是管理英文，主題是：領導者，你是否穿了「皇帝的新裝」？英文作者是Doug Thorpe，中文為本公號創建人浦亮元翻譯，覺得有用，請分享出去！加外語群/提供建議/簡歷漢譯英/廣告推廣，請聯繫微信puliangyuan。

你是否穿了「皇帝的新裝」？

0 1

故事：「皇帝的新裝」

「The Emperor』s New Clothes」 is a short story written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It is about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that they say is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, untrained, or incompetent. In reality, the tailors make no new clothes at all. Instead, they make everyone believe the clothes are invisible to them. When the emperor parades naked before his subjects in his new 「clothes」, no one dares to say that they do not see any suit of clothes on him. They fear that they will be seen as incompetent. Finally, a child cries out, 「But he isn』t wearing anything at all!」

《皇帝的新裝》，是丹麥作家漢斯·克里斯汀·安徒生所寫的一篇短篇小說。寫的是兩個織布工（騙子）答應了給皇帝提供一套新衣服，不過不稱職的人、未受過訓練的人，以及無能的人是看不見的。實際上，裁縫根本就沒有給皇帝新衣服。與之相反的是，他們讓所有人都相信皇帝的新衣服是看不見的。在皇帝身著「新裝」赤身裸體地在臣民面前遊行時，沒有人敢說皇帝的身上沒有穿任何的衣服，因為他們擔心自己會被視做無能。最後，還是一個孩子喊出來的：「他根本沒有穿任何衣服。」

Leaders need to be cautious about getting too caught up in the excitement of something new. Moving ahead on excitement alone can leave you exposed, just like the Emperor in the fable. Pride, maybe even arrogance, can contribute to a mindset of denial. So too can fear. Fear of what is ahead can cause a manager to block out vital information.

領導的確需要謹慎，不要過於沉迷對新事物的興奮之中。單單憑藉興奮前進，會讓你暴露無疑，就像以上提及的寓言故事中的皇帝一樣。驕傲，甚至可能是傲慢，都會導致否定的心態。恐懼也是一樣，恰恰是對未來的恐懼，會讓管理者將重要的信息拒之門外。

0 2

開啟「皇帝的新裝」模式的總經理

I once worked with an executive who lived in this 「New Clothes」 mode. This person wasn』t just occasionally vulnerable but lived a daily routine of walking about fully exposed and refusing to hear any news to the contrary. It will be impossible for me to divulge too many details of the situation without revealing the person, so I will explain in generic terms; terms that may apply to many leaders out there.

我曾經和一個生活 「皇帝的新裝」模式下的總經理一起共過事。此人不單單是有時會飽受批評，在日常工作中，他的「皇帝的新裝」模式得以充分暴露出來，他拒絕聆聽任何反對的消息。我不太可能透露此人太多的細節，所以，我會用通用術語來進行解釋，而這些術語可能適用於許多領導者。

Going to a staff meeting with this leader was a painful process for anyone who felt obligated to share 「bad news」. The reaction was brutal and downright embarrassing at times. 「How can that be?」 「What are you doing? Clearly, you must be wrong.」 These were the responses when an issue was raised. Eventually, the other executives stopped talking about the truth during the meeting, instead choosing to just go about the day dealing with and fixing the things that came up. We had our own meetings on the side to actually get things done. Obviously a very sad situation.

與這位總經理一起參加會議，會讓所有覺得有義務分享「不好消息」的員工感覺相當痛苦。對於「不好消息」的響應，很多時間都讓人很難忍受，也很尷尬。「怎麼可能呢？」「你在幹什麼？很顯然，你肯定錯了。」這些都是員工在提出問題時從這位領導處得到的響應。最後，其他高管在會議期間不再談論實際情況，而只是選擇當前處理與解決的事情。我們私下裡有自己的會議，去實實在在的做事情。毋庸置疑，這種情況確實讓人很寒心。

New projects or new initiatives bring their own set of leadership challenges. Things never go perfectly as planned. There are shifts, changes, and surprises along the way. A good leader knows these things will happen before even starting down a new path. Effective leaders take input from the team to address these issues. Decisions get made about ways to resolve problems, mitigate risks, and maximize performance.

新項目或者新舉措，帶來了一系列的領導方面的挑戰。事情從來沒有像規劃的那麼完美。一路上，有更迭，有變化，也有尷尬。優秀的領導者知道即使在開闢新的道路之前，這些事情也會發生。高效的領導者會從團隊中得到輸入，以解決這些問題。決策，是通過解決問題、降低風險和最大程度提高績效的方法來制定的。

I live by a creed in the workplace. 「I can handle any news. Just don』t let me get surprised by bad news.」 Said another way, feel free to tell me the truth about what is happening out there. There have been numerous colleagues who have told me how much they appreciate knowing that mindset is real.

在工作中，我有自己的信條。「我能處理任何消息。不要讓我對」壞消息」感到出乎意料。換種方式說，請隨時告訴我實際上發生了什麼。有很多同事告訴我，他們能夠領會這樣的心態是切切實實的。

Poor leaders take a plan and hope for the best, never wanting to accept bad news about things not working out as hoped.

糟糕的領導，會制定計劃，並希望得到最好的結果，不過，卻永遠不想接受事情沒有達到預期的「壞消息」。

0 3

領導者為什麼會「失明」？

There are many reasons a leader gets stuck in the 「New Clothes」 mode. Here are the top three I』ve seen happen.

領導者被困在「皇帝的新裝」模式中有諸多的原因。以下是我所見過的前三大原因：

01

驕傲

Yes, pride gets in the way. When you are absolutely sold out to an idea or approach, you just don』t want to hear bad news. It』s closely akin to someone telling you your baby is ugly.

是的，驕傲造成了阻礙。當你完全被某種想法或者方法所折服時，你就不想聽到「壞消息」。這類似於別人說你的孩子很醜。

Pride has to get checked at the door. Good leaders never come close to operating in a spirit of pride. Yes, you can have a strong opinion about how good an idea or a team may be, but letting pride overcome objective reasoning is a recipe for disaster.

驕傲，必須在當場進行檢查。優秀的領導者，從不向驕傲的工作靠攏。是的，你可以對某個想法或者團隊如何有著強烈的意見，但是，如果讓驕傲戰勝客觀的推理的話，則是開出了災難的處方。

When things happen that don』t meet expectations, it is your job to adjust. Review the details and make an informed decision about where, when or how to make a change.

在事情不符合預期時，你要做的工作就是調整。請回顧一下細節，並在何處、何時以及如何做出改變方面，做出明智的決定。

02

恐懼

Fear is a powerful emotion in any phase of life. As a leader, you have to overcome whatever fear you might have about the mission or the role. Fear causes us to live in the fight or flight mode. How very unproductive that can be.

恐懼，是人生階段中的強烈的情感。作為一個領導者，你得克服任何可能對任務或者角色的恐懼。恐懼，使我們生活在對抗或者逃跑的模式中。效果肯定是很差的！

If the leader is fearful, imagine what the team feels. Fear is an emotion that erodes credibility and confidence. Without either of those, your strength as a leader is undermined. Your foundation crumbles.

如果領導恐懼，請想像一下團隊的感受。恐懼，是一種損害信譽和信心的情感。如果沒有信譽和信心，你作為領導者的力量就被削弱了。你的基礎就崩潰了！

03

把頭埋在沙子里

The last principle is somewhat a catch-all. Sometimes a person just chooses to ignore the bad news. It becomes more comfortable to stick your head in the sand like an ostrich. (OK this is an old saying, not a scientific fact.)

最後一個原則，有點籠統。有時，人們只會選擇忽略「壞消息」。像鴕鳥一樣把頭埋在沙子里，會讓人感覺更舒服。（好吧，這是一句老話，但卻沒有任何科學根據。）

The point is, you choose to ignore the details. Blinded by your own sense of reality, you let important details go by, never attempting to resolve the issues.

重點是，你選擇忽略細節，蒙蔽自己的真實感覺，讓重要的細節逝去，從不嘗試去解決問題。

文章總結

小結

Don』t Fall for the Ruse.

不要墮入詭計當中。

The emperor』s new clothes was a ruse perpetrated by some bad people. Yet the ruler fell for it.

皇帝的新裝是一些壞人使的詭計，然而，統治者卻喜歡上了。

Don』t let any of these three choices impact your ability to be an effective leader. Be open to all the information; good or bad. Make informed choices about the changes around you. Remember, becoming an effective leader is less about writing the perfect plan, but more about solving imperfect problems.

千萬不要讓上面所列的任何一個原因影響到你成為有影響力的領導者的能力。無論是好是壞，請對所有的信息敞開心扉。針對周圍的變化，要做出明智的選擇。請記住：要想成為有影響力的領導者，更多不在於寫出完美的計劃，而在於解決不完美的問題。

喜歡這篇文章嗎？立刻分享出去讓更多人知道吧！