職場新概念英語：反復(fù)無常的老板最可怕

1、職場新概念英語：反復(fù)無常的老板最可怕By far the most difficult boss I' ve ever had was aninspiring, morally upstanding man. I respected him and learnt a lot from him. The problem was that I could never predict how he would respond to anything.迄今為止，我遇到過的最難相處的老板是一位能夠啟發(fā)他人、為人正 直的男士。我很尊敬他，也從他那里學(xué)到了很多。問題在于我永遠沒 有辦法預(yù)測他對任何事

2、情的反應(yīng)。Sometimes he would sidle past and say something sarcastic about a piece I 'd written. At other times he would bound up, full of praise. Occasionally he would perch on the edge of my desk and talk as if he valued my opinion. The following day he would revert to glowering and ignore me entire

3、ly.有時候他會悄悄經(jīng)過，對我寫的某篇文章挖苦幾句。有時候他會跳起 來，對我贊不絕口。偶爾他會坐在我的辦公桌沿和我聊天，話里話外 好像很看重我的觀點似的。第二天他又回到怒目而視的狀態(tài)，完全無 視我的存有。The very sight of him advancing down the corridor was enough to make me feel anxious. When he was being nice, his face looked the same as when he was horrid and so I started to wonder if his praise

4、was ironic. It was most disconcerting.僅僅看到他從走廊上走過來我就會緊張。他友好的時候和兇惡的時候 臉上的表情是一模一樣的，這讓我開始懷疑他的稱贊其實是諷刺。這 是最讓人難堪的。I thought of him the other day when I read a piece of research from the University of Michigan suggesting we would far rather have a manager who was horrible all of the time, than one who was

5、horrible only some of it. When it comes to our bosses, it seems we can cope with more or less anything save unpredictability.不久前，當(dāng)我讀到密歇根大學(xué) (University of Michigan) 的一篇研究 論文時，我又想起了他。這篇論文認為，比起一個在某些時候很可怕 的管理者，我們寧愿要一個總是很可怕的管理者。對于老板，不論什 么事情我們似乎多多少少總能應(yīng)付除了反復(fù)無常。The researchers conducted a series of experime

6、nts in which they divided students into three groups and gave them all a job to do. The first group was subjected to constant compliments; the second to constant abuse and the third to a mix of the two. The first group wasn't stressed at all; thesecond was mildly so, while the third the group th

7、atdidn 't know if they were going to get sticks or carrotswas by far the most stressed and least happy.研究人員實行了一系列實驗，他們將學(xué)生分成三組并指派所有人做一 項工作。第一組持續(xù)地受到表揚；第二組持續(xù)地受到責(zé)罵；第三組表 揚和責(zé)罵兼而有之。第一組完全沒有壓力；第二組感到一點壓力；不 知道自己接下來得到的是大棒還是胡蘿卜的第三組則是壓力、最不快 樂的一組。This experiment, written up in the American Academy of Managemen

8、t, reminds me of an earlier study in which rats were given electric shocks. One group heard a bell ring to herald each shock; a second group had shocks with no warning. The first group of rats fared more or less fine. The second group, who could not predict the timing of the shocks, developed stomac

9、h ulcers. Workers and rats have a lot in common.這篇由美國管理學(xué)會 (American Academy of Management) 發(fā)表的實驗 報告讓我想起了一個更早的實驗，那是一個大鼠受到電擊的實驗。第 一組大鼠每次受到電擊前都會聽到一聲鈴響；第二組受到電擊前則沒 有任何警示。第一組大鼠的狀況總的來講還好。而那些無法預(yù)測電擊 時機的第二組大鼠則患上了胃潰瘍。員工與大鼠有很多相似之處。Yet this idea that consistency is important is nowhere in the leadership literatu

10、re. Predictability is considered boring and unglamorous, in a world that reveres creativity and disruption.但在相關(guān)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的文獻中，相關(guān)行為一致性很重要的觀點無處可尋。 在這個崇尚創(chuàng)造力和 * 的世界，可預(yù)測性被視為一種無趣和缺乏魅力的 特質(zhì)。A couple of weeks ago the Harvard Business Review published a blog about the most important traits of leaders, as reported by

11、 195 global leaders themselves. These turned out to be a more or less soppy list of“competencies ” including“strong ethics ”, “nurtures growth ”, “has the flexibility to change opinions ” and “is committed to ongoing training”And so on. Predictability was nowhere on the list.幾周前，哈佛商業(yè)評論 (Harvard Business Review) 發(fā)布了一篇 博文，內(nèi)容是 195 名世界自己提出的最重要的特質(zhì)。這是一張多少有 點乏味的“素質(zhì)”列表，包括“道德觀點強”、“注重增長”、“能 夠靈活改變觀點”和“致力于持續(xù)培訓(xùn)”等等。可預(yù)測性并不在這份 列表上。