I am guilty of stacking my dishes in the sink and leaving them there for hours. I fact-checked this with my boyfriend. He says it's less like hours and more like days, but that's not the point. The point is sometimes I don't finish the job until the stack has gotten high enough that it's peaking over the lip of the sink and my inner clean freak loses it. This charming habit developed when I was in college, and I had tons of excuses. "I'm running to class!" "What's one more dirty dish in the sink?" Or my favorite, "I think I can save time and water if I do them all together later.

"如果把盤子都放在洗碗池里，堆上好幾個小時我會有負罪感。我向我的男朋友確認過，他說并不是好幾個小時，而是好幾天，但這不是重點。重點在于有時候直到碗盤已經(jīng)堆積成山，超過洗碗池邊緣了，我才去清洗它們，我的潔癖在它面前敗下陣來。我在大學(xué)時期養(yǎng)成了這個“可愛的”習(xí)慣，而對此我有一大堆借口。“我急著去上課！”“池子里再多一個臟盤子有什么關(guān)系呢？”還有我最愛的借口，“如果我攢到一起洗，就可以又省時間又省水。

”?But it's not like I needed those excuses, because nobody was calling me on it. I wish they had. I look back now and realize that every time I didn't put a dish in the dishwasher and finish what I started, it became more second nature to me, and I grew less likely to question why I was doing it. Today, I'm a 30-something, certified dirty-dish leaver, and breaking this habit is hard.

但我并不是真的需要這些借口，因為沒人要求我解釋。我倒希望有。現(xiàn)在回想這些，我意識到：每當我沒有把盤子放入洗碗機中，并等待盤子變得干干凈凈時，我變得越來越習(xí)慣于此，也變得越來越不會去質(zhì)疑為什么我這么做?，F(xiàn)在，我是個30多歲的“資深不洗碗專家”，而改掉這個習(xí)慣卻很難。?

So when I'm not at home avoiding the sink, I work with large, complex organizations on leadership transformation in times of change. My job is to work with the most senior leaders to examine how they lead today and establish habits better suited for the future. But what interests me more than senior leaders these days is what's going on with the junior ones. We call them "middle managers," but it's a term I wish we could change because what they are is our pipeline of future talent for the C-suite, and they are starting to leave their dishes in the sink.

當我沒有在家里對洗碗池視而不見的時候，我與一些龐大復(fù)雜的組織一同致力于組織轉(zhuǎn)型期的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力變革工作。我的工作是與一些最高級別的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)打交道，評估他們今天是怎么領(lǐng)導(dǎo)他人的，并建立更適合未來的習(xí)慣。但最近比這些大領(lǐng)導(dǎo)更令我感興趣的，是在新晉管理者中所發(fā)生的事情。他們被稱作“中層管理者”，但這是一個我希望能夠被換掉的術(shù)語。因為他們是未來核心管理層的中堅力量，而他們的洗碗池里卻開始堆起了盤子。?

While organizations are hiring people like me to redevelop their senior leaders for the future, outdated leadership habits are forming right before our eyes among the middle managers who will one day take their place. We need middle managers and senior leaders to work together, because this is a big problem. Organizations are evolving rapidly, and they're counting on their future leaders to lead with more speed, flexibility, trust and cooperation than they do today.

在機構(gòu)雇傭像我這樣的人，為了未來改造他們的高級領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的同時，過時的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)習(xí)慣正在我們眼皮底下，在這群總有一天會取代高級領(lǐng)導(dǎo)位置的中層管理者中形成著。我們需要中層和高層管理者共同努力，因為這是一個很大的問題。組織的變化日新月異，他們指望著未來領(lǐng)袖的工作會比今日更高速、更變通，建立更多信任，促成更多合作。?

I believe there is a window of time in the formative middle-manager years when we can lay the groundwork for that kind of leadership, but we're missing it. Why? Because our future leaders are learning from senior role models who just aren't ready to role model yet, much less change the systems that made them so successful. We need middle managers and senior leaders to work together to define a new way of leading and develop each other to rise to the occasion.

我相信在中層管理者的培養(yǎng)階段，有一段時間是可以用來培養(yǎng)這種領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的，但我們錯過了。為什么呢？因為我們的未來領(lǐng)袖正在以高層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)為榜樣，而這些高層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)并沒有準備好成為榜樣，更不用說改革幫助他們實現(xiàn)今天的成就的整套系統(tǒng)了。我們需要中層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和高層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)攜手共進，定義新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)方式，互相促進以更好地應(yīng)對挑戰(zhàn)。?

One of my favorite senior clients -- we'll call her Jane -- is a poster child for what's old-fashioned in leadership today. She rose to her C-level position based on exceptional individual performance. Come hell or high water, Jane got the job done, and today, she leads like it. She is tough to please, she doesn't have a lot of time for things that's aren't mission-critical, and she really doesn't trust anyone's judgment more than her own.

我最喜歡的高級客戶之一，我們叫她Jane，是今天被定義成過時領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的典型代表。她爬到現(xiàn)在的核心領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層位置，靠的是出色的個人表現(xiàn)。哪怕赴湯蹈火，她也能完成工作，現(xiàn)在，她也在沿用這種方式領(lǐng)導(dǎo)別人。她很難取悅，沒有時間分給那些“非關(guān)鍵任務(wù)”，而且她通常最相信自己的判斷。

?Needless to say, Jane's in behavior boot camp. Those deeply ingrained habits are deeply inconsistent with where her organization is heading. The command-and-control behavior that she was once rewarded for just isn't going to work in a faster-moving, flatter, more digitally interconnected organization. What got her here won't get her there.

毫無疑問，她正處于“行為訓(xùn)練營”中。這些根深蒂固的習(xí)慣，幾乎與她公司的發(fā)展方向背道而馳。她曾經(jīng)受到贊賞的高要求強控制型模式，在一個更多變、更扁平化、更數(shù)字化連接的公司里，已經(jīng)不適用了。讓她成功走到今天的方法，無法讓她走得更遠。

?But I want to talk about John, a supertalented, up-and-coming manager who works for Jane, because her habits are rubbing off on him. Recently, he and I were strategizing about a decision we needed to put in front of the CEO, Jane's boss, and the rest of Jane's peers. He said to me, "Liz, you're not going to like this, but the way decisions get made around here is with a bunch of meetings before the meeting." I counted. That was going to mean eight one-on-ones, exec by exec, to make sure each one of them was individually on board enough that things would go smoothly in the actual meeting. He promised, "It's not how we'll do things in the future, but it's how we have to do them today.

"但我想談?wù)凧ohn，他在Jane手下工作，是一位極具天賦、前途無量的主管，因為Jane的習(xí)慣會影響到他。最近，我們倆在為一個決策制定計劃，這個決策是要交給Jane的上級，即CEO，以及其他Jane的同僚的。他對我說：“Liz，你肯定不會喜歡這種工作方式，但在我們這里做出決策，是通過開大會和大會之前的無數(shù)小會?！蔽宜懔艘幌?，這意味著八場一對一會議，一個主管接著一個主管，來確保每個人都有參與其中。從而使得在最終的大會上事情能進展順利。他向我保證道，“這絕不會是我們未來做事的方式，但目前我們不得不這么做。

”?John wasn't wrong on either count. Meetings before the meeting are a necessary evil in his company today, and I didn't like it at all. Sure, it was going to be inefficient and annoying, but what bothered me most was his confidence that it's not how they'll do things in the future. How could he be sure? Who was going to change it and when, if it wasn't him and now? What would the trigger be? And when it happened, would he even know how to have effective meetings without pre-meetings? He was confidently implying that when he's the boss, he'll change the rules and do things differently, but all I could see were dishes stacking in the sink and a guy with a lot of good excuses. Worse, a guy who might be out of a job one day because he learned too late how to lead in the organizations of tomorrow.John

在這兩件事上都沒有說錯。大會前的小會，是他公司目前“無法避開的毒瘤”。而我一點也不喜歡。確實，這又低效又惹人生厭。但最讓我擔(dān)心的是他的自信，他對于以后他們不會這么做事的自信。他怎么能如此斷定呢？如果不是此刻不是此人，誰又會在何時來改變這一切？誰會成為那個導(dǎo)火索呢？而當它真的發(fā)生時，他真的會知道怎么能不通過一堆小會來保證大會的效率嗎？他自信滿滿地暗示當他成為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)時，他會改變規(guī)則，用不一樣的方式做事。但我能看見的，只有堆在洗碗池的盤子，和一個有很多好借口的家伙?；蛘吒愀猓粋€可能有天會丟掉工作的家伙，因為他太晚才學(xué)會要如何領(lǐng)導(dǎo)未來的公司。?

These stories really get to me when it's the fast-track, high-potential managers like John because they're probably the most capable of making waves and redefining how leaders lead from the inside. But what we find is that they're often doing the best job at not rocking the boat and challenging the system because they're trying to impress and make life easier on the senior leaders who will promote them.

這些故事讓我真正受到觸動的是像John一樣的平步青云、潛力無限的管理人員。因為他們或許是最有能力掀起風(fēng)浪，重新從內(nèi)部定義領(lǐng)袖應(yīng)如何領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的一群人。但我們卻發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們往往在穩(wěn)定船舵固定系統(tǒng)上做得最好。因為他們想給能讓他們晉升的高層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)留下好印象，讓生活更輕松一點。

?As someone who also likes to get promoted, I can hardly blame him. It's a catch-22. But they're also so self-assured that they'll be able to change their behavior once they've earned the authority to do things differently, and that is a trap. Because if I've learned anything from working with Jane, it's that when that day comes, John will wonder how he could possibly do anything differently in his high-stakes, high-pressure executive job without risking his own success and the organization's, and he'll wish it didn't feel so safe and so easy to keep doing things the way they've always been done.

作為一個也想升職的人，我很難去指責(zé)他們。這是個進退兩難的局面。但他們同時又如此信心滿滿，相信一旦他們得到權(quán)力，就可以挑戰(zhàn)權(quán)威，用不同的方式做事，而這是一個陷阱。因為如果要說我從和Jane共事中學(xué)到了什么，那就是當那天來臨時，John會訝異于在他這樣一個 高風(fēng)險、高壓力的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)崗位上，如果不賭上自己和整個公司的前途，又怎么可能用不同的方法做事。然后他會慶幸，繼續(xù)維持原來做事的方法，感覺是如此安心又輕松。

?So the leadership development expert in me asks: How can we better intervene in the formative years of our soon-to-be senior leaders? How can we use the fact that John and his peers want to take charge of their professional destinies and get them ready to lead the organizations of the future, rather than let them succumb to the catch-22 that will perfectly prepare them to lead the organizations of the past? We'll have to start by coming to terms with a very real paradox, which is this: the best form of learning happens on the job -- not in a classroom, not via e-modules.

因此，我心中的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力培養(yǎng)專家問道：我們怎樣才能在即將成為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的中年管理層形成期，更好地加以干預(yù)？我們怎樣才能利用John和他的同僚希望能主導(dǎo)自己職業(yè)命運這一點，使他們準備好領(lǐng)導(dǎo)未來的公司，而不是陷入一個進退兩難的困境。一個只能讓他們準備好領(lǐng)導(dǎo)過去的公司的困境。首先，我們必須接受一個現(xiàn)實中的兩難局面。那就是：最好的學(xué)習(xí)方法是在工作中學(xué)習(xí)，而不是在教室或是虛擬課堂中。?

And the two things we rely on to shape on-the-job learning are role models and work environments. And as we just talked about, our role models are in behavior boot camp right now, and our work environments are undergoing unprecedented disruption. We are systematically changing just about everything about how organizations work, but by and large, still measuring and rewarding behavior based on old metrics, because changing those systems takes time. So, if we can't fully count on role models or the system right now, it's on John to not miss this critical development window. Yes, he'll need Jane's help to do it, but the responsibility is his because the risks are actually his. Either he inherits an organization that is failing because of stubbornly old-fashioned leadership, or he himself fails to build the capabilities to lead one that transformed while he was playing it safe.

而我們打造這種“工作中學(xué)習(xí)”模式所依靠的兩樣?xùn)|西，是榜樣和工作環(huán)境。正如之前所談到的，我們的榜樣現(xiàn)在正處于“行為訓(xùn)練營”里。而我們的工作環(huán)境正經(jīng)歷著前所未有的瓦解。我們幾乎在系統(tǒng)地改變所有事情，改變公司如何運轉(zhuǎn)。但是大體上看，仍然是基于舊制度對行為進行獎懲。因為改變制度需要時間。所以，如果我們現(xiàn)在不能完全依賴于榜樣或制度，就只能指望John不要錯過這扇發(fā)展之窗了。誠然，他會需要Jane的幫助來完成，但他必須承擔(dān)責(zé)任，因為風(fēng)險實際上是由他來面對的。他要么繼承一個執(zhí)著于過時的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力而走下坡路的公司。要么他會因為打安全牌而無法掌握能夠領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一個轉(zhuǎn)型成功的公司的能力。

?So now the question is, where does John start? If I were John, I'd ask to start flying the plane. For my 13th birthday, my grandpa, a former Navy pilot, gave me the gift of being able to fly a very small plane. Once we were safely airborne, the pilot turned over the controls, folded his hands, and he let me fly. It was totally terrifying. It was exhilarating, but it was also on-the-job learning with a safety net. And because it was real, I really learned how to do it myself. Likewise, in the workplace, every meeting to be led, every decision to be made can be a practice flight for someone who could really use the learning experience and the chance to figure out how to do it their own way. So instead of caving, John needs to knock on Jane's door, propose a creative strategy for having the meeting without the eight pre-meetings, show her he's thought through the trade-offs and ask for her support to do it differently.

所以問題是：John要從何入手呢？如果我是John，我會先要求開始自己駕駛飛機。在我13歲生日時，我外公，一位前海軍飛行員給我的禮物是，讓我駕駛一架很小的飛機。一旦我們安全升空，他就交出大權(quán)，完全放手讓我來駕駛。那真的很恐怖，很令人興奮，但同時也是在安全網(wǎng)中進行的“在工作中學(xué)習(xí)”。因為它是真實的，我真的學(xué)會了怎么自己操作。同理，在工作中，每場要主持的會議、每個要做出的決定，都可以是一次飛行訓(xùn)練。讓某人能真的用到學(xué)習(xí)中的經(jīng)驗，抓住機會來找尋他們?nèi)绾斡米约旱姆椒üぷ鳌Ｋ员绕鹞房s不前，John需要的是敲開Jane的門，提出一個有創(chuàng)意的策略，能夠不用開八次小會而直接開大會。在協(xié)調(diào)和平衡過程中向Jane展示出他的思考，并向她尋求支持，用不同方式做事。

?This isn't going to be easy for Jane. Not only does she need to trust John, she needs to accept that with a little bit of room to try his hand at leading, John will inevitably start leading in some ways that are far more John than Jane. And this won't be an indictment of her. Rather, it will be individualism. It will be progress. And it might even be a chance for Jane to learn a thing or two to take her own leadership game to the next level.

這對Jane來說并不簡單，她不僅需要信任John，還需要接受，如果給他一點點空間來嘗試去領(lǐng)導(dǎo)，John會自然地開始用更帶有個人特色，而非Jane特色的方式來進行領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。這不是在譴責(zé)Jane，恰恰相反，這會成為個人特色，會是一個進步。也許還會成為Jane從中學(xué)習(xí)，并提高自己領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的機會。?

I work with another senior client who summed up this dilemma beautifully when we were talking about why he and his peers haven't empowered the folks below them with more decision rights. He said, "We haven't done it because we just don't trust that they're going to make the right decisions. But then again, how could they? We've just never given them decisions to practice with." So I'm not advocating that Jane hands over the controls and folds her hands indefinitely, but what I am saying is that if she doesn't engineer learning and practice right into John's day today, he'll never be able to do what she does, much less do it any differently than she does it.

在我與另一位高級領(lǐng)導(dǎo)共事時，他用一種優(yōu)雅的方式總結(jié)了這個困境。當我們談?wù)摰綖槭裁此退耐?，不給下屬更多的決策權(quán)時，他說，“我們不這么做是因為我們不相信他們會作出正確的決定。但他們又怎么可能做出呢？我們從來沒有給過他們練習(xí)的機會?！彼晕也皇窃谔岢?Jane應(yīng)該交出領(lǐng)導(dǎo)權(quán)，然后無條件放手。我想說的是：如果她在今日John的工作中，不給他學(xué)習(xí)和練習(xí)的機會，他永遠都做不到她所做的，更別說用不同的方法做了。

?Finally, since we're going to be pushing both of them outside their comfort zones, we need some outside coaches to make sure this isn't a case of the blind leading the blind. But what if instead of using coaches to coach each one of them to individually be more effective, we started coaching the interactions between them? If I could wave my magic wand, I would have coaches sitting in the occasional team meeting of Jane and her direct reports, debriefing solely on how well they cooperated that day.

最后，因為我們要求雙方都跨出各自的舒適區(qū)，我們需要一些“外圍教練”，來確保不會變成 雙方都茫然不知所措的狀況。但如果我們的教練不是用來指導(dǎo)他們各自應(yīng)如何更高效，而是指導(dǎo)他們?nèi)绾位幽兀咳绻軗]動我的魔法棒，我會讓教練偶爾出席Jane和她下屬之間的團隊會議。會議上只是單純匯報他們那天的合作情況有多好。

?I would put a coach in the periodic feedback session between Jane and John, and just like a couples' therapist coaches on communication, they would offer advice and observations on how that conversation can go better in the future. Was Jane simply reinforcing what Jane would have done? Or was Jane really helping John think through what to do for the organization? That is seriously hard mentorship to provide, and even the best leaders need help doing it, which is why we need more coaches coaching more leaders, more in real time versus any one leader behind closed doors.

我會在Jane和John的定期 反饋會議中插入一個教練，就如同戀人之間的溝通治療師一樣。他們會對于在未來如何更好地進行對話，給出建議和觀察。到底Jane僅僅是在強化她自己會怎么做？還是真的為了公司，而幫助John思考要做什么。要提供這種指導(dǎo)確實很難，甚至連最好的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)也需要幫助才能做到。這就是為什么我們需要更多的教練來指導(dǎo)更多的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)，更多地切合實際，而非閉門造車

?Around 20 years ago, Warren Buffet gave a school lecture in which he said, "The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they're too heavy to be broken." I couldn't agree more, and I see it happening with our future leaders in training. Can we and they be doing more to build their leadership capabilities while they're still open, eager and not too far gone down a path of bad habits we totally saw coming?

大約二十年前，沃倫 · 巴菲特在一所學(xué)校演講時，他說到：“習(xí)慣的鎖鏈是如此之輕，“以至于直到它沉重得無法被打破之前，都不會被發(fā)覺?！蔽覠o比認可這句話，也看到了它出現(xiàn)在我們 對未來領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的培養(yǎng)中。在他們?nèi)匀槐３种_放的心態(tài)、充滿熱情，還沒在那條我們早已預(yù)見到的滿布陋習(xí)的路上走太遠時，我們是否能一起幫助他們打造領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力呢？

?I wish my college roommates and I called each other out back then for the dishes. It would have been so much easier to nip that habit in the bud than it is to change it today. But I still believe in a future for myself full of gleaming sinks and busy dishwashers, and so we're working on it, every day, together, moment to moment, one dirty dish at a time.

我真希望我和大學(xué)室友當時有互相提醒對方那堆臟盤子的存在。比起今天再來改，把壞習(xí)慣扼殺在萌芽階段要容易得多。但我仍然相信我的未來能有無數(shù)光潔閃亮的洗碗池和忙碌的洗碗工。我們現(xiàn)在正為之努力著，每一天，每一刻，共同攜手，一次洗一個臟盤子。?