文章來源：《經(jīng)濟學(xué)人》Feb 25th 2023 期 Business 欄目 Dullness and its discontents

The charismatic corporate climber is a common target for resentment in office life. He—and research suggests men are particularly given to such narcissism—hogs the spotlight in meetings, is adept at grabbing undeserved glory, and is a pro at self-promotion. More often than not, he is the boss’s pet. But he rises on the back of another, unsung, corporate archetype: the competent, diligent but unexciting achiever.

在辦公室生活中，有魅力的職場攀登者經(jīng)常成為人們怨恨的對象。他（研究表明，男性尤其自戀）在會議上占據(jù)焦點，擅長攫取不應(yīng)得的榮耀，擅長自我推銷。他常常是老板的寵兒。但他的"晉升"是建立在另一種默默無聞的企業(yè)原型之上的: 能干、勤奮但平庸的成功者。

Studies find that plenty of confident egomaniacs, unsuited to the subtleties of management, get a leg-up for being, well, confident egomaniacs. Companies disproportionately promote narcissists. Perhaps a fifth of chief executives fit the description, researchers have found, a far higher proportion than within the wider population. Self-absorbed CEOs can sap morale and, evidence suggests, produce poor financial results.

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，許多自信的自大狂不適合縝密的管理，卻因為成為自信的自大狂而得到幫助。公司多半會提拔自戀者。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，大約五分之一的CEO符合這一描述，這一比例遠遠高于更廣泛人群中的比例。有證據(jù)表明，只顧自己的CEO會削弱士氣，還會導(dǎo)致糟糕的財務(wù)業(yè)績。

A strong case for the dull striver was made by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a psychologist at University College London, in an article for the Harvard Business Review in 2015 entitled “The best managers are boring managers”. Understated competence does not intuitively scream leadership. Many totemic bosses of the age, from bankers to tech founders, come with big egos, showy antics and volatile tempers. Elon Musk may be accused of many things. Dullness is not one of them. Even so, Mr Chamorro-Premuzic argued, conscientious but unprepossessing characters tend to have little-noticed but precious advantages. They can be depended on to make decisions calmly, manage teams deftly and be emotionally mature. They deserve promotion ahead of co-workers with “flash and vision, and bold displays of confidence”.

2015年，倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院心理學(xué)家托馬斯?查莫羅-普雷穆奇克在《哈佛商業(yè)評論》上發(fā)表了一篇題為《最好的管理者都是無聊的管理者》的文章，有力地為無趣的奮斗者證明。從直覺上看，低調(diào)的能力并不意味著領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力。從銀行家到科技公司創(chuàng)始人，這個時代的許多代表性的老板都非常自負、愛炫耀、脾氣暴躁。埃隆·馬斯克可能會被指控很多罪名。沉悶不是其中之一。盡管如此，查莫羅-普雷穆奇克先生認為，盡職盡責但不起眼的角色往往具有很少人注意但寶貴的優(yōu)勢。他們冷靜地做決定，熟練地管理團隊，情感成熟。他們應(yīng)該比“閃光有遠見、大膽表現(xiàn)自信”的同事更有資格升職。

A seminal meta-analysis of research on leadership characteristics, published in 2002 by Timothy Judge, then at the University of Florida, and colleagues, indeed found a link between managerial effectiveness and personality traits such as being stable, agreeable and dependable. One explanation is that level-headedness makes it easier to deal coolly with the many subtle problems thrown up by human beings (who may all too easily infuriate a more volatile manager). Emotional maturity is also an indicator of trustworthiness. Studies have found that managers with dysfunctional traits such as narcissism are likelier to get up to no good. Conscientious bosses, by contrast, score highly for integrity.

2002年，當時在佛羅里達大學(xué)工作的蒂莫西?賈奇及其同事發(fā)表了一份關(guān)于領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力特征研究的開創(chuàng)性薈萃分析報告，確實發(fā)現(xiàn)了管理效率與性格特征(如穩(wěn)定、隨和和可靠)之間的聯(lián)系。一種解釋是，頭腦冷靜更容易冷靜地處理人類提出的許多微妙問題(人類很容易激怒一個反復(fù)無常的經(jīng)理)。情感成熟也是值得信賴的一個指標。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，具有自戀等功能失調(diào)特征的管理者更有可能不安好心。相比之下，有責任心的老板在誠信方面得分很高。

The dull but diligent could be especially valuable now. As companies claim increasingly to prize soft skills, such as being able to communicate well with all sorts of people, emotionally intelligent workers ought to be in demand. A volatile business environment in which firms face problems from recession to climate change, pandemics and war, favours the steady leader.

沉悶但勤奮的人現(xiàn)在可能特別有價值。隨著公司越來越重視軟技能，比如能夠與各種人良好溝通的能力，高情商的員工應(yīng)該很受歡迎。在動蕩的商業(yè)環(huán)境中，公司面臨著經(jīng)濟衰退、氣候變化、流行病和戰(zhàn)爭等問題，這有利于穩(wěn)健的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。

Chief executives face tricky decisions about how much risk to take in pursuit of growth, as shareholders look on nervously. Startup bosses who proudly moved fast and broke things are now falling over themselves to look demure. “We are a very boring company,” Oliver Merkel, head of Flink, a grocery-delivery startup, bragged to the Financial Times recently. The trend is visible in politics, too. Joe Biden in America and Rishi Sunak in Britain rose to their countries’ top jobs partly because their boring dependability promised relief from their predecessors’ noisy incompetence. Testing times call for cool heads.

首席執(zhí)行官們面臨著棘手的決定，即在追求增長的過程中要承擔多大的風險，而股東們則在一旁緊張地觀望。那些自豪地快速行動、打破陳規(guī)的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司老板們，現(xiàn)在正努力讓自己看起來端莊?！拔覀兪且患曳浅o趣的公司，”雜貨配送初創(chuàng)公司Flink的負責人奧利弗?默克爾最近向英國《金融時報》吹噓道。這種趨勢在政治上也很明顯。美國的喬·拜登和英國的里?！ぬK納克之所以能登上各自國家的最高職位，部分原因是他們乏味的可靠性承諾緩解前任們吵吵嚷嚷的無能?？荚嚂r需要保持頭腦冷靜。

For all that, quietly competent types hoping for greater appreciation (and remuneration) should not sit still. To rise up the ranks, the boring would do well to raise their profiles, whether by speaking up in meetings or talking up their accomplishments. If they bag bigger jobs they will anyway need to master show-offy things like glad-handing clients, chairing meetings and holding forth on strategy. Though Mr Judge’s analysis revealed emotional stability and general diligence were crucial to managerial effectiveness, extrovert qualities such as sociability were also telling factors.

盡管如此，那些希望獲得更大賞識(和報酬)的低調(diào)能干的人不應(yīng)該坐以待心。為了晉升，無聊的人會很好地提高自己的形象，無論是通過在會議上發(fā)言還是談?wù)撟约旱某删?。如果他們得到了更大的工作，他們無論如何都需要掌握一些炫耀的事情，比如與客戶打招呼、主持會議和闡述戰(zhàn)略。盡管賈奇的分析顯示，情緒穩(wěn)定和總體勤奮對管理效率至關(guān)重要，但社交能力等外向品質(zhì)也是有力因素。

Companies’ penchant for promoting the wrong people is deeply ingrained, despite management theorists’ admonitions. By default, many of those dishing out promotions are themselves narcissists who advanced by wowing their superiors. And showy sorts’ shameless self-aggrandisement fulfils a convenient function for bosses, giving them a shortcut—no matter how misleading—to finding candidates for elevation. Many managers are too busy to patiently unearth genuine talent. After all, they have other important things on their plates—like impressing their own bosses.

盡管有管理理論家的警告，但企業(yè)對提拔錯誤人員的偏好根深蒂固。默認情況下，許多提供晉升機會的人本身就是自戀者，他們靠討好上級來獲得晉升。愛炫耀的厚顏無恥自夸的類型為老板們提供了尋找晉升的候選人的一條便捷的捷徑，無論這條捷徑多么具有誤導(dǎo)性。許多管理者太忙了，沒有耐心挖掘真正的人才。畢竟，他們還有其他重要的事情要做——比如給自己的老板留下好印象。