想當個好老闆 做好這五點就行

Dear Annie:I’m turning to you and your readers because, frankly, I’ve been all over the Internet researching my question and now I’m totally overwhelmed. The thing is, I just graduated from college at the end of May and I’ve never even had a “real” job before (just internships). But I’m now working for a small company where they immediately put me in charge of a team of eight people.
親愛的安妮：坦白講，我之所以向您求助，是因爲我曾在網上尋找問題的答案，卻被五花八門的回答搞暈了。事情是這樣的：我在五月底剛剛從大學畢業，在此之前從來沒有從事過“真正的”工作（只做過實習生）。但現在我所在的一家小公司，卻突然讓我負責一支八個人的團隊。

The technical side of it doesn’t worry me at all—I was hired because of something I invented and patented during my senior year, which we’re now developing into a new product line—but the management part is keeping me awake nights. I’ve had no training at all in how to be a boss, and I think people can tell I’m just sort of faking it. Do you have any suggestions? — Amateur Hour
在技術方面，我一點也不擔心——這家公司之所以聘用我，是因爲我在大四的一項發明，並且獲得了專利，現在公司正在將這項專利開發成新的產品，但管理職責卻讓我徹夜難眠。我從來沒有接受過相關培訓，不知道如何給人當老闆，我覺得人們一眼就能看出來我是虛張聲勢。您有什麼好建議嗎？——A.H.

Dear A.H.:It’s no wonder the Internet has left you overwhelmed. Google “management” and, as you probably already know, you get 749,000,000 hits. Happily, that’s way more than you need. As you get further along in your career, you’ll no doubt discover the many and varied ways that managers can be terrible at their jobs but, for now, says Noelle Nelson, you really only need to do five things.
親愛的A.H.：毫不出奇網絡搜索結果讓你不堪重負。你可能已經知道了，在谷歌搜索“管理”，能找到749,000,0000條結果。而那些大部分都不是你所需要的。隨着你在職場不斷前進，你將會發現管理者們在工作中讓人討厭的行爲有很多。而，諾埃爾o尼爾森表示，你目前最需要做的，就只有五件事。

Nelson, a clinical psychologist, bases her list on the research she did for her e-book, Got a Bad Boss? Work That Boss to Get What You Want at Work. To some extent, it’s a matter of “looking at what really bad bosses do, and then doing the opposite,” Nelson says. Her five basic ways to get off to a strong start:
尼爾森是一名臨牀心理學家，她爲電子書《如何讓壞上司爲你所用》（Got a Bad Boss? Work That Boss to Get What You Want at Work）進行了一些研究，然後給出了建議行爲清單。尼爾森表示，在某種程度上，要成爲一名好的上司，其實就是“觀察糟糕的上司都做了什麼，然後反其道而行。”她給出的開創強力開局的五條基本法則如下：

Offer to help, and accept help when you need it.“A bad boss will never help others, or ask for help. He’s too insecure,” Nelson notes. “He doesn’t want to appear as if he doesn’t have all the answers or he fears that, if he helps someone to succeed, that person will get all the credit.”
提供幫助，並且在需要的時候接受幫助。尼爾森說：“糟糕的上司永遠不會幫助他人，也不會尋求幫助。他總是太缺乏安全感。他不希望讓別人認爲自己不知道所有問題的答案，或者他擔心，如果自己幫助他人取得成功，對方會把所有功勞

Do your best on your own, of course, but “when you need a hand with something, don’t hesitate to ask,” she says. “At the same time, help others willingly and graciously, with no strings attached and without making people feel indebted to you as a result. This will earn you the respect you’ll need on your way up.”
她說，你自己當然要竭盡所能，但“如果有某件事情需要援手，要毫不猶豫地尋求幫助。此外，要樂於助人，不要有任何附加條件，也不要讓對方感覺受恩於你。幫助他人會爲你贏得尊敬，進而幫助你更上一層樓。”

If you have to give negative feedback, do it inprivate.“A bad boss has no problem with yelling at someone in front of everyone,” Nelson observes. “She may think she’s showing her authority, but in fact, criticizing people publicly is a sign of an incompetent manager.” Employee evaluations, especially less-than-stellar ones, are “not a spectator sport.”
做出負面反饋時要在私下裏進行。尼爾森發現：“糟糕的上司總是喜歡當衆對某人大聲吼叫。她或許認爲這是在展示自己的權威，但事實上，公開批評下屬是無能的表現。”員工評估，尤其是對不太優秀的員工進行的評估， 不應該“在衆目睽睽下進行。”

Take criticism as an opportunity to learn.Because bad bosses are insecure, they aren’t open to suggestions about how to do things smarter, faster, or cheaper. But a “my way or the highway” attitude will usually discourage people from telling you about problems and setbacks, until it’s too late to fix them and you’re up to your elbows in alligators.
將批評當作學習的機會。由於糟糕的老闆缺乏安全感，因此，他們不願意聽從別人的建議，從而更明智、更迅速或以更低成本完成工作。但這種“要麼聽我的，要麼滾蛋”的態度，通常會阻礙下屬提出問題和反饋其遇到的困難，等到局面無法控制時已經爲時已晚。那時，你會焦頭爛額，疲於應付。

Avoid that. “There will be times, no matter how well you think things are going, that someone will tell you they’re not,” notes Nelson. “Listen up, glean as much useful information as you can, and then put your entire focus on doing better.”
要避免發生這種情況。尼爾森表示：“不論你認爲事情進行得多麼順利，肯定會有人告訴你事實並非如此。要認真聽取他人的反饋，儘可能收集有用的信息，然後集中精力將工作做得更好。”

Leave your personal life at home.“A bad boss will often inject way too many details of his or her private life into the workplace. But the office isn’t the place for group therapy,” Nelson says. “It’s important to set boundaries, so that everyone’s attention is where it belongs—on the task at hand.”
不要把個人生活帶到工作當中。尼爾森說道：“糟糕的老闆，通常會將私人生活中的太多細節帶入到職場。但辦公室不是用於集體治療的場所。設定界限非常重要，這樣所有人才能盡職盡責，把全部精力投入到手頭的任務上。”

If someone on your team is distracted by a personal problem, “you need to have an open-door policy, where people feel they can talk to you, and to be compassionate,” she adds. “But your role should be to refer team members to professional help, and not to get personally involved. If you become everyone’s buddy and confidant, your authority as the boss is undermined.”
她補充道，如果團隊中有人爲個人問題所困擾，“你需要制定一項開放政策，讓下屬感覺他們可以與你交流自己的個人問題，此外，你要表現出同情。但你的職責應該是爲團隊成員推薦專業幫助，而不是親自介入對方的問題。一旦你成爲所有人的好友閨蜜，你作爲上司的權威便會大打折扣。”

Don’t gossip. Ever.“Bad bosses never think twice about spreading rumors, especially nasty ones, if that’s advantageous to them,” Nelson observes. “But gossip is not only hurtful and destructive, it’s a waste of your time and energy—and the company’s—and does nothing to accomplish your goals.”
永遠不要散佈流言蜚語。尼爾森表示：“對於有利於自己的流言蜚語，糟糕的上司在傳播的時候從來不會三思。但謠言不僅是消極有害的，也會浪費你自己及公司的時間與精力，對於實現自己的目標也是毫無用處。”

One more thought that might help: You mention that you think your team members can tell you’re “kind of faking it.” That’s not necessarily bad. A new survey of 1,010 employees by Sandler Training, whose coaches work mainly with small-to-medium-sized companies (like yours), says 80% agreed with the following statement: “My company expects managers to know how to lead and manage without providing them any formal training.”
還有一點或許會對你有幫助：你提到，你認爲團隊成員能看出你是在“虛張聲勢”。這不見得是壞事。桑德勒培訓公司（Sandler Training）對1,010名員工進行的最新調查顯示，有80%的員工同意下面這種說法：“我們公司期望在沒有正式培訓的情況下，公司管理層仍然知道如何進行領導和管理。”桑德勒培訓公司主要爲中小型公司（與你所在的公司一樣）提供培訓服務。

In other words, a sink-or-swim approach to putting people in charge is more the norm than the exception, and most people apparently know that. Even so, over 70% of those surveyed said they “like” or “love” their boss, which suggests that, ready or not, it’s possible to be pretty good at this. Good luck.
換言之，把一個人突然放到管理崗位上這種“不遊則沉”的方式，是一種常見做法，而不是例外情況，而且很明顯，大多數人都清楚這一點。此外，有超過70%的受訪者表示，他們“喜歡”或“愛戴”他們的上司，這表明，不論是否已經做好準備，你都有可能成爲一位好上司。祝你好運。