如何做個好領導？從搬行李開始

如何做個好領導？

從搬行李開始

How to Be a Good Leader?

Carry the Luggage

丹·里昂斯

Dan Lyons

《紐約時報》暢銷作者，著有《混亂：我在初創泡沫中那些倒霉遭遇》

NYT Best-Selling Author at "Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble."

很可能你從未聽說過卡拉·奧夫貝克。她是美國國家女足隊隊長，這支隊伍分別在1996年和1999年贏得了奧運會金牌和女足世界盃總冠軍，在四年的國際比賽留下了84勝6負6平的記錄，是體育運動歷史上贏得最多比賽的代表隊。

奧夫貝克無疑是她們輝煌勝利的關鍵要素——正如一位隊員所說，是「隊伍的心跳和引擎」，以及「隊伍的核心」。然而沒人聽說過她。她不是隊里最優秀的運動員，也不是最有天分的那個。她踢後衛，而且鮮有得分，儘管她幾乎每場比賽都踢全場。外界看不見她，但對她的隊友來說她是不可或缺的。

奧夫貝克還有著一個看起來有點兒古怪的習慣：運動員們抵達酒店後，她會為每一個人把行李搬運到房間。

奧夫貝克搬運行李的故事出現在了《隊長班：看不見卻創造了世界最好隊伍的力量》，一本很棒的新書，它挑戰了一些關於領導的傳統觀點。

這本書的作者，山姆·沃克，是華爾街日報的一位編輯，同時也是一位狂熱的體育粉絲。他從十多年前起研究體育運動史上最棒的一些隊伍，還弄明白了他們共同擁有的特性是哪些。他認為在商業中也可以適用同樣的準則。

在11年的過程中，沃克研究了37項體育項目中1200支隊伍。他為了採訪，在世界各地遊歷。然後他發現只有一種東西是這些傑出的隊伍共有的，而且它出乎你們的意料。

不是教練。不是明星隊員。成功的關鍵要素是隊里有一位優秀的隊長——就像卡拉·奧夫貝克。

「一支隊伍能取得並保持歷史性的輝煌成績，最關鍵的因素，」沃克表明，「是運動員中那個領導的角色。」

另外，最優秀的隊長不見得是最優秀的運動員。事實上，就像奧夫貝克，最好的隊長通常都不是超級明星。他們通常都不如隊友們那麼有天賦。然而他們仍然是優秀的領導者。

沃克稱這種運動員為「送水工」，並講述了迪迪埃·德尚，法國國家足球隊隊長的故事。在1996年，一次重大比賽前，對手隊伍的隊長取笑德尚是「能力有限」的足球運動員和「送水工」。的確，德尚進球並不多，但他更多專註在傳球給別人。

然而德尚的隊伍贏了球——也包括1996年對手嘲笑是送水工那場比賽。

那場比賽後，記者們詢問德尚那次嘲諷的事。毫無疑問他們希望德尚也發出侮辱作為回擊，然而他聲明，「我並不介意被叫送水工。」

精英隊長們不需要是得分王，但他們有一些共性。他們都是兇悍的競爭者。他們的比賽表現十分侵略性，甚至到了試探規則底線的地步。他們做著枯燥乏味的工作，那都是「幕後的吃力不討好的活兒」。他們是那種即使受傷了也要堅持上場，比誰都訓練的更久、更刻苦的運動員。

那麼上述這些有反映在商業世界中嗎？沃克認為是的。我們聽說過很多 「有遠見的」CEO們，特別是在矽谷。新一代科技創始人被像名人甚至超級英雄一樣對待。這些天風險資本家甚至受到了Jay-Z級別的待遇，雜誌封面上印著他們的臉，旁邊是關於他們超級預知未來能力的說明。

但是沃克的書讓我思考，也許最棒的領導者是一些安靜的人，你聽說的他們的事不多，他們不爭著站在聚光燈下，也不想看到自己的照片出現在Wired或者Fortune雜誌封面上。

他們就是商界的卡拉·奧夫貝克——安靜，幕後，但卻領導著人們。

而關於搬運行李，這到底是什麼意思？你不會認為一個領導者該做這種事。按理說領導者應該被一群隨行人員們環繞著出現，還有一些人專門給他們提行李。

那麼卡拉為什麼這樣做呢？是這樣的，顯然奧夫貝克是一位堅韌的任務大師，她不停的對隊員們施加壓力，練習和比賽中都是如此。你要是在比賽中懈怠或者動作慢下來，就會被她嚴厲斥責，而且通常是用髒話。她能毫不猶豫地對隊員們大聲呵斥，讓她們表現好點，或者刻苦點。

但是因為她搬了行李，她就有了做個暴君的權利。搬行李意味著一旦隊伍上場，「她可以想說什麼就說什麼，」教練說。

當美國隊贏了1999年女足世界盃，她們所有人都去了一場勝利旅行。奧夫貝克翹掉了這場慶祝，飛回了北卡的家。在大家抵達紐約那天，她卻在洗衣服。

奧夫貝克領導了體育史上最好的隊伍之一，然而大多數人還從未聽說過她。而這對她來說很好：「我從不想要自己的名字刊在報紙上，」她說，「只要我的球隊贏了，我就很開心了。」

我喜歡這個故事，因為它很好的映射出一個了不起的老闆是如何對待她的屬下的。她不會把時間耗在「向上管理」、試圖提升自己的形象或者自己的升職上。她不去試著爭取榮譽。她關心他的團隊，希望他們做得好，並以身作則引領全隊。她比任何人工作都努力。她不會去要求你的忠誠，而是博得它。她也可能是你效力過的最粗暴，要求最高的老闆了，但你願意為她赴湯蹈火。

令人吃驚，這麼多偉大的隊長們是謙遜無私的運動員，而他們看起來堅信領導別人反而是服務他們。

每個渴望成為管理者的人，或者已經在管理別人並希望更上一層樓的人，都可以從《隊長班》中學到很多，並被卡拉·奧夫貝克所激勵。

第一課：學會搬行李。

Chances are you』ve never heard of Carla Overbeck. She was captain of the U.S. national women』s soccer team that won Olympic gold in 1996 and the World Cup in 1999, a team that over four years of international play posted an 84-6-6 record, making them one of the winningest squads in the history of sports.

Overbeck was arguably the key to their success -- 「the heartbeat of that team and the engine,」 and 「the essence of the team,」 as one teammate put it. Yet no one has ever heard of her. She wasn』t the best player on the team, or the most talented. She played defense, and rarely scored, though she played almost every minute of every game. To the outside world she was invisible, but to her teammates she was indispensable.

Overbeck also had one habit that seems kind of eccentric: When the players arrived at a hotel, she would carry everyone』s bags to their rooms for them.

That story about Overbeck schlepping the luggage appears in The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World』s Greatest Teams, a remarkable new book that challenges some conventional ideas about leadership.

Its author, Sam Walker, is an editor at the Wall Street Journal and an avid sports fan. He set out more than a decade ago to study the greatest teams in sports history and figure out what traits they shared. He reckoned you could apply those same principles to business.

Over the course of 11 years, Walker studied 1200 teams in 37 sports. He traveled around the world conducting interviews. After all that he could find only one thing that extraordinary teams had in common, and it wasn』t what you』d expect.

It was not the coach. It was not a superstar player. The key to success was that each had an extraordinary captain -- like Carla Overbeck.

「The most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains historic greatness,」 Walker argues, 「is the character of the player who leads it.」

What』s more, the great captain is not always a great player. In fact, as with Overbeck, the best captains are often not the superstars. They』re often less gifted than their teammates. Yet they still manage to be great leaders.

Walker calls these players 「water carriers,」 and tells the story of Didier Deschamps, captain of the French national soccer team. In 1996, before a big match, the captain of a rival team Deschamps as a 「limited」 footballer and a 「water carrier.」 It was true that Deschamps didn』t score much. He mostly focused on passing the ball to others.

But his teams won games -- including the 1996 match where an opponent mocked Deschamps as a water carrier.

After that game, reporters asked Deschamps about the taunt. No doubt they were hoping Deschamps would offer an insult in return. Instead, he declared, 「I don』t mind being called a water carrier.」

Elite captains don』t have to be big point scorers, but they do have some things in common. They』re fierce competitors. They play aggressively, to the point of testing the rules. They do the grunt work, the 「thankless jobs in the shadows.」 They』re the kind who insist on playing even when they』re injured, who practice longer and train harder than anyone else.

Does any of this map to the world of business? Walker thinks so. We hear a lot about 「visionary」 CEOs, especially in Silicon Valley. The new generation of tech founders is treated like celebrities or even superheroes. These days even venture capitalists receive the Jay-Z treatment, with their faces plastered on magazine covers alongside claims about their unique superpower abilities to predict the future.

But Walker』s book makes me think maybe the best leaders are the quiet ones, the ones you don』t hear much about, the ones who don』t hog the spotlight and don』t want to see their photograph on the cover of Wired orFortune.

They』re the business equivalent of Carla Overbeck – quiet, in the background, but leading nonetheless.

And carrying the luggage. What on earth was that all about? It』s not the kind of thing you expect a leader to do. Leaders are supposed to show up surrounded by an entourage, with people carrying bags for them.

So why did she do it? The theory is this. Apparently, Overbeck was a relentless taskmaster. She pushed her teammates relentlessly both in practice and during games. Slack off during a game, or slow down, and you』d get an earful from her, usually in some rather colorful language. She had no problem shouting at her teammates, telling them to shape up or work harder.

But because she had carried the bags, she had earned the right to be a tyrant. Carrying the bags mean that once the team took the field, 「she could say anything she wanted,」 her coach says.

When the U.S. team won the World Cup in 1999, they all went on a big victory tour. Overbeck skipped the celebrations and flew home to North Carolina. On the day of the big rally in New York City, she was doing laundry.

Overbeck led one of the greatest teams in all of sports history, and yet most people have never heard of her. And that was fine by her: 「I』ve never cared about getting my name in the paper,」 she said. 「As long as my team wins, I』m happy.」

I love this story because it』s such a great metaphor for the way a terrific boss treats her employees. She doesn』t spend her time 「managing up,」 trying to raise her own profile and win a promotion for herself. She doesn』t try to grab credit. She cares about her team and wants them to do well. She leads by example. She works harder than anyone else. She doesn』t demand your loyalty, she earns it. She might also be the toughest, most demanding boss you』ve ever had. But you would walk through fire for her.

It』s striking how many great captains were humble, selfless players, who seemed to believe that leading people is, paradoxically, a lot like serving them.

Anyone who aspires to be a manager, or is already managing people and hopes to get better at it, could learn a lot from The Captain Class, and be inspired by Carla Overbeck.

First lesson: Carry the luggage.

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