新官上任不好做 你如何避免失敗

At least 50% executives fail within the first 18 months of taking a new job, research shows.

研究顯示，至少有50%的高管在新工作開始後的18個月內會遭遇失敗。

How do you avoid the failure trap?

如何才能避免陷入這一困境？

This is the question that Ron Carucci and Eric Hansen, partners in a consultancy called Navalent, sought to answer by interviewing 2,600 executives—most of them at Fortune 1000 companies—over a 10-year span.

諮詢公司Navalent的合夥人羅恩o卡魯奇和埃裏克o漢森也在尋找答案。爲此，他們用了10年時間，採訪了2,600名高管，其中大多數來自《財富》（Fortune）排行榜前1,000名的公司。

The consultants discovered plenty of handicaps to success: 67% of executives struggle to let go of work they did in their previous job. There’s also that debilitating time suck: 61% said that people want more of their time than they have available. And the imposter factor: 60% of executives said that others ascribe more power to them than they believe they have.

他們發現，高管跳槽到新公司後會面臨許多障礙：67%的高管很難真正放下前一份崗位的工作。此外還有令人疲憊不堪的時間壓榨：61%的高管表示，人們希望他們付出的時間超出了自己的承受範圍。還有與身份不符的因素：60%的高管表示，其他人會認爲他們掌握着無上的權力，而他們其實沒有那麼大的權力。

1. Diagnose, don’t indict.

1. 要診斷，不要譴責

（Rising to Power: The Journey of Exceptional Executives）將在本月出版。他們在書中給出了以下三條建議：

Executives new to an organization often turn over rocks to discover what they’ve gotten themselves into—and fail to manage their shock. Saying “How have you people survived this long?” is the worst reaction. “Actively solicit feedback about how you and your actions are being perceived,” Carucci advises. “And find ways to honor the heritage of long-standing employees.”

來到新公司後，高管們往往會想方設法弄清楚新公司的狀況——而且往往控制不住自己的震驚。最糟糕的反應是說：“你們怎麼能忍受這麼久？”卡魯奇建議：“主動尋求其他人的反饋，瞭解他們如何看待你和你的行爲。找到適當方法，尊重元老級員工留下的傳統。”

2. Decide, don’t defer.

2. 要決斷，不要推遲

“Leaders begin their role in the relational red,” says Carucci, noting that leaders in general are less trusted today than in the past before social media empowered everybody. Making employees feel valuable and part of decision-making is crucial, but here’s the hitch: Decisiveness is more critical than ever. Make tough choices for the good of the organization without getting handicapped by inordinate worry about how employees feel.

卡魯奇認爲：“剛上任的領導者往往很難處理好跟員工的關係。”他表示，由於社交媒體賦予所有人的權利，如今，領導者得到的信任大不如前。要讓員工感覺有價值，並感覺自己是決策過程的一部分，這一點非常重要，但問題在於：如今，決斷力也變得更加關鍵。領導者應該做出有利於公司的艱難選擇，而不是因爲過於擔心員工的感受而畏手畏腳。

3. Embrace power, don’t abdicate.

3. 要駕馭權力，不要放棄權力。

Newly promoted executives, especially CEOs, are ever more fearful about being viewed as indulgent—since brash displays of power and privilege are so not cool today. “Don’t abdicate the good you can do with your new power,” says Hansen. “Learn to harness it.”

新上任的高管，尤其是CEO，比以往更擔心給人留下恣意妄爲的印象——因爲自以爲是的炫耀權力和特權，在今天已經不合時宜。漢森表示：“不要放棄新得到的權力能夠帶來的好處。要學會駕馭它。”

The interviews with the 2,600 executives revealed only slight differences between male and female leaders. Women bosses felt less isolated than men did, perhaps because women build support networks early on in their transitions. But female leaders also seemed to enjoy being executives less than the men did, Hansen and Carucci found..

對2,600名高管的談話，顯示出男性與女性領導者之間只存在細微的差別。女性老闆感覺被孤立的情況少於男性，或許因爲女性能夠在角色轉變的初期便建立起支持網絡。但卡魯奇也發現，女性領導者似乎並不像男性那麼享受擔任高管職務。