In my old age, I would like to believe that some of the things I have learned might help thosewho are now plowing the fields I once worked. So here are 10 suggestions I wish someone hadgiven me when I was 40 and beginning my run as an executive. I made the mistake of violatingmany of them but not all.

人到晚年，我相信我學到的某些東西能對那些正在我曾經工作過的領域中辛勤耕耘的人有所幫助。下面的10條建議，是我希望在我40歲開始做高管時就有人能告訴我的。我犯過的錯誤是，我沒能全部遵循。

1. The less you confide in others in the organization, the better it will go for you. What youintend as harmless chatter can do serious harm. Keep your speculations and worries toyourself.

在公司里跟別人吐露的心事越少，對你越好。你以為是無傷大雅的閑聊，其實有可能會造成嚴重傷害。把你的猜測和擔憂都埋在心里吧。

2. Be sure to manage down. Spend time with the lower-level employees in your company andtry to be decent to all of them. A polite greeting to the elevator operator, a thanks to the maildelivery person and a kind word to the assistants will be appreciated. The making ofreputations begins at the ground level. Similarly, keep the ugly aspects of your day to yourself.Do not shout.

務必管理好和下屬的關系。花時間和公司里的較低層員工在一起，盡量對他們友好。對電梯操作員禮貌問候，對郵遞員表示感謝，對助理說句友善的話，這些都會得到贊賞。打造名譽要從基層做起。同樣的，碰到不爽的事情，要自己消化情緒，不要在別人面前發泄。

3. Leadership is a full-time job and the duty clock is never off. Every little sign is being read andyour impatience, disappointment or insecurity will be magnified by those who pass alongtheir readings of you. There is no time for casual and unplanned candor, and messages mustbe sent only when carefully thought out. Be especially careful about what you put in writing,especially emails-they never disappear.

做領導是一份全職工作，職責的時鐘永不停止。每個微小的跡象都會被解讀，你的不耐煩、失望或不安全感都會被那些解讀你的人放大。不應做出隨意、毫無準備的坦白，信息必須經過深思熟慮才能發出。要特別小心書面的東西，尤其是電子郵件──它們永遠都不會消失。

4. Keep listening to and for advice. Have lunch at least once a week in the office cafeteria, ormake a point of dallying near the coffee station, and listen to what others are talking about. Ifsomeone wants to speak to you, there is every reason to listen. If criticism is offered, take timeto respond with care even if you don't agree with it.

保持聆聽并索取建議。每周至少在公司餐廳吃一次午飯，或者時不時在咖啡機旁逗留，聽聽其他人都在聊些什么。如果有人想跟你說話，那就沒有理由不聽。如果有人批評，即使你不贊同也要花時間仔細回應。

5. The wisecrack you believe is witty often is not. Your sense of humor is easily misread aspatronizing and clumsy. If you still think that telling a joke or relating a humorous story issomehow important to making a point, run it past your spouse or a trusted friend first. Humorcan be risky. Never joke about serious matters.

你覺得很風趣的俏皮話通常并不風趣。你的幽默感很容易被解讀為自傲和笨拙。如果你仍然以為講笑話或引用某個幽默故事對陳述觀點很重要，那么請先跟你的配偶或信任的朋友演練一遍。幽默是有風險的。千萬不要拿嚴肅的事情開玩笑。

6. The important thing is to be sure that the important thing remains the important thing.Explain your strategy frequently and then rephrase it and repeat it.

很重要的一點是，保證重要事務的重要性。應該經常解釋你的戰略，可以換個措辭，但要反復強調。

7. Never complain; never explain. No one listens. Take the blame if something goes wrong. Donot blame mistakes on prior administrations, the weather, bad luck or your competitors. Butdon't appear defensive. Look forward-unless your resignation has been requested.

絕不要抱怨和解釋，沒有人會聽。出了差錯就承擔責任。不要把錯誤怪到前幾屆管理層、天氣、運氣不好或競爭對手身上。但也不要露出防御姿態。向前看──除非上級要求你辭職。

8. Trust your professional advisers and accept their expertise. Try not to second-guess themarket. There is no such thing as perfect data about anything. Make decisions and move on.

信任你的專業顧問，接受他們的專業意見。不要對市場做過多猜測。沒有所謂的完美數據。做出決策，往前走。

9. Be careful about the use of the word 'average'-one can drown in a river the average depth ofwhich is six inches. Taking comfort in what's 'average' offers a false sense of security. Assumethat the worst might happen, because often it will.

謹慎使用“平均”這個詞──平均深度為6英寸河也可能淹死人。欣然接受“平均”，只會獲得虛假的安全感。假設最糟糕的情況會發生，因為通常就是如此。

10. It's a clicke, but true: Never do or say anything that you would be unhappy to see written about on a newspaper front page. In dealing with the media, avoid answering hypotheticalquestions, remember that the microphone is never really off, and never agree to speak 'off therecord.' The only worthwhile public response to a crisis is honesty.

最后這條是陳詞濫調，但卻是至理真言：絕不要做或說你不希望在報紙頭條看到的事情。和媒體打交道時，不要回答假設性的問題，謹記麥克風永遠不會真正關閉，絕不要同意“私下”談。對一場危機唯一值得做的公開回應是誠實。

One fascinating aspect of life for an executive in the public eye is that there are so few waysto learn the art of a graceful style. There is no privacy either. But there are rewards and oneis generally well paid for the limitations imposed. The media are always watching, and any smallmisstep in your personal life can be distorted. Those who assume a public leadership role canexpect harsh treatment when things go wrong. If things go well, the media's silence should begratefully accepted.

成為公眾關注的高管，這樣的生活有一大迷人之處，就是可以借此學會如何行事優雅得體──學習這種藝術的途徑可不多。同時伴隨這種生活的，還有隱私缺失。這些帶來的好處在于，高管通常也因為承受了這些限制而得到優厚的回報。媒體總是在關注公眾人物，私生活中的任何小過失都有可能被媒體曲解。擔任公共領導職務的人在事情出差錯時會被嚴厲地對待。如果事情順利，就應該感激地接受媒體的沉默。

If all the suggestions above were distilled into one essential message I'd offer to a personnewly arrived in public life, it would be this: Tell the truth, at work and in public. But alsoremember: One does not have to answer every question, either from a colleague or a reporter.The press will accept a demurrer, but a lie almost always is soon uncovered, and the damageto the reputation of the person who lies-and often to the organization he represents-issevere.

如果將以上所有建議濃縮成一條我會給剛踏入公眾視線新人的精華信息，那就是：無論是工作還是面對公眾都要講實話。但同時也謹記：不必每個問題都回答，無論問題是來自同事還是記者。媒體會接受異議，但謊話則遲早會被揭穿。一旦說謊，這個人的名譽以及他所代表機構都會遭遇重大損失。

If you cannot answer or choose not to, say so and move on. It may seem simple and easy todo, but notice how few manage it.

如果你無法回答或不打算回答，那就實話實說，繼續下個話題。看起來簡單，但是很少有人能做到。

（來源：愛詞霸? 編輯：Julie）