Being YOU Makes You a Better Leader
成為絕佳的領導者
分享者 / 李佳穎
原文網址：Link
毫無疑問的，「領導」是個熱門話題。在亞馬遜書店搜尋，令人難以置信的有167,396關於此一主題的書籍
常常，這類偉大人物的故事(如Richard Branson或 Jack Welch)驅策我們改變自我並成為優秀的領導者。相似的過程也發生於公司內部檢視績效時，焦點多半集中在「可改善的空間」與待改進處上。
這個方法的問題在於忽略了在現實中，一旦到達成年階段，大多數人無法從根本上改變。當然，我們可以學習新的技術，但是我們的人格特質維持不變。如果你20年前是位堅強但不獨裁的領導者，那麼現在的你應該仍然是。來試個有趣的方法，找出你的第一份工作的績效評估，或者去閣樓、地窖翻找一份中學時代的報告，你可能會發現一些意見、評論，其中不少至今仍適用；另外，從我們的劣勢便能觀察出優勢，因為兩者往往是一體兩面的並存。我有一個商業夥伴，他非常有創意，但經常雜亂無章，試著讓他變整潔反而會產生反效果，因為他不太可能產生根本的改變，並且這些舉動也許會損害他的創造力。
另一種邁向領導的方法是加倍表達個人優勢並直接創造屬於自己的特殊領導風格，而並非試圖從根本做改變。這方法的優點在於你的領導風格將會更貼近自我並易取信於人。如此，你不再需要因無法成為千篇一律的經理人書籍中所描述的完美領導者而自責，並且你的言行會是更一致的。
在現實中，許多成功的商業領導者離他們被描寫的完美尚有距離。引用一段關於某位知名CEO的話：「他的管理風格趨於向不同意他的想法的員工發怒和嚴責，他的善變習性使下屬難以應對。」這描述的正是蘋果電腦的賈伯斯。雖離完美十萬八千里，但他的創造力、激發性和直覺在在幫助他成為全球最具效益的商業領導者之一。
如何處理劣勢呢？屏除忽略它們的這種做法，有另外兩件事情可以做：首先，你可以試著去極小化它們；可能你永遠無法在台上展現迷人魅力，但至少透過練習與進步，你不再需要過度擔憂懼怕。其次，徵用一個夥伴吧，我的合夥人有一個極好的個人助理，負責管理他的日常行程和瑣碎行政事務，讓他能夠集中精神於領導創新專案。
做一位更貼近自我的領導者雖然不在典型的成功致勝教課書裡。但是我相信這不僅僅會使你更具有效益，並且也為了個人自尊好。
There is no doubt that leadership is a red-hot topic. A search using the term on Amazon.co.uk returns a mind-boggling 167,396 books on the subject.
Most of this leadership advice urges us to change who we are and how we behave to be a better leader, often by telling the story of inspirational people, such as Richard Branson or Jack Welch. A similar approach happens in the performance review processes of many companies. The tendency is to focus on “areas for improvement” and the things you need to fix.
The problem with this approach is that it ignores the fact that most of us don’t fundamentally change once we’ve hit adulthood. Sure, we might learn new skills. But our character traits remain the same. If you were a strong but rather dictatorial leader 20 years ago, chance are you still will be today. One way to try this out for fun is to dig out a performance evaluation from your first job. Or go back even further and rummage in the loft or cellar to find a secondary school report. Chances are you’ll find comments describing how you were then that still ring true. Another issue is that our weaknesses are often flip-sides of our strengths. I have a business partner who is highly creative, but a bit disorganised. Trying to get him to be neat and tidy would be counter-productive, as he’s unlikely to change fundamentally and this move could even undermine his inventiveness.
An alternative leadership approach is to focus on the good stuff. Rather than trying to change fundamentally who you are, you celebrate your strengths, and use them to create your own distinctive leadership style. The power of this approach is that your leadership will be more authentic and so more believable. You’ll stop beating yourself up for failing to be the perfect, cookie-cutter leader from the management books. And there will be much better alignment between your words and your actions.
In reality, many successful business leaders who are portrayed as perfect role models are far from perfect. Take this quote about one famous CEO. “His management style tended toward throwing tantrums and to berating employees who disagreed with his ideas. His habit of suddenly changing his mind has also been given as part of the reason he is difficult to work for.” The leader in question is Steve Jobs of Apple. Not perfect by any means, but his strengths in creativity, inspiration and intuition have helped him be one of the world’s most effective business leaders.
And what about those weaknesses? Rather than just ignore them altogether there are two things you can do. First, you can try to minimize them. You might never be the most confident public speaker, but you can improve so you don’t lose sleep over doing a talk. Second, you can get a buddy. The business partner I mentioned has a great PA who manages his diary and admin, leaving him free to concentrate on leading innovation projects.
Being a more authentic leader might not be a text-book route to success. But I believe it will not only make your more effective, it will make do no end of good for your self-esteem.
