One of the cool things about writing books is that you get to do interviews. It’s oddly fun to have strangers ask you questions that you have to then respond to off the top of your head. Kind of like business improv.
关于写书的绝妙之事就是你能做采访。奇怪的是，让陌生人问你一些你即时必须不加思索地回答的问题，有点像商业即兴表演，这很有乐趣。
What makes it easier is that people tend to ask me a few questions over and over. By far the most common (in fact, I have yet to do an interview where this question wasn’t asked) is “Are leaders born or made?” Interestingly, I’ve noticed that most interviewers think they already know the correct answer:
什么东西使采访更易进行的是，人们往往反复问我几个问题。到目前为止，最常见的（事实上，我还没有接受过一个问到这个问题的采访）问题是“领导特质是天生的，还是后天养成的？” 有趣的是，我已注意到，大多采访者认为他们已经知道正确答案：他们认为领导特质是天生的。即他们认为有些人来到这相世界就具有领导能力，其他人则没有，而且你对领导特质的养成无法为力。
What I’ve learned by observing thousands of people in business over the past 30 years, though, is that – like most things – leadership capability falls along a bell curve. Some people are, indeed, born leaders. These folks at the top of the leadership bell curve start out very good, and tend to get even better as they go along. Then there are the folks at the bottom of the curve: that bottom 10-15% of people who, no matter how hard they try, simply aren’t ever going to be very good leaders. They just don’t have the innate wiring.
然而，在过去三十多年，我通过观察商界中数以千计的人已经了解的是，像大多事情一样，领导能力沿着钟形曲线下降。确实有些人天生就具有领导特质。那些处在钟形领导曲线顶部的人起始点相当好，而且在成长过程中，往往甚至变得更好。然而处于曲线低端的：即在底端的10—15%的人，无论他们多么努力，他们也无法成为非常好的领导。他们只是没有天生的领导特质。
Then there’s the big middle of the curve, where the vast majority of us live. And that’s where the real potential for “made” leaders lies. It’s what most of my interviewers assume isn’t true – when, in fact, it is: most folks who start out with a modicum of innate leadership capability can actually become very good, even great leaders.
而在曲线中间占较大部分的人，即我们大多数人处在的地方，这是存在潜在的后天养成领导特质的地方。这是大多数采访者认不这并不是事实——事实上，这是“后天培养的领导”真正有潜在挖掘的地方。这是大多数采访者认为不是事实的东西——事实上，当这是：大多数一开始就具有天生领导能力的人实际能变成非常好、甚至伟大的领导人。因此，需要什么样的素质？如果我是一名很好领导，而且我希望成为一名伟大的领导，我如何做？
The single most powerful way to grow as a leader: Become truly self-aware .
要成为领导的最强有力的方式就是：要有真正的自我意识。
This is, hands down, your biggest secret weapon in making yourself a great leader. Before I go on, please understand: I don’t mean self-involved. There are lots of “leaders” who are way, way too focused on themselves, their evolution, their drama, etc. etc. Becoming truly self-aware means to cultivate, on a daily basis, an accurate sense of how you show up in the world and what motivates you. For instance: What are your actual strengths and weaknesses as a leader and as a person? What impact do you have on others? What do you care most about? What’s your moral compass, and do you use it as a guidance system? How closely do your actions line up with your promises?
这是轻而易举让你自己成为伟大领导的最大秘密武器。在我继续解释之前，请明白：我不是指以自我为中心。有很多“领导人”过于关注自己、自己的成长、自己的苦难等等。要有真正自我意识意味着每天都在培养一种在人世间如何展示自我的准确意识和你的动机是什么。比如：作为一名领导、一个人，你的实际优点和缺点？你对其他人有何影响？你最关心的是什么？你的道德指针是什么？你把它当作一种引导系统吗？你的行动如何紧密地与你的承诺一致？
Of the executives I’ve coached over the past two decades, I’d say that only about 25% of them are genuinely self-aware. The rest do not see themselves accurately – sometimes to an astonishing degree. Without exception, the more self-aware someone is, the easier he or she is to coach; the more improvable and better able to accept what they need in order to improve. When people who have
在过去二十年我执教的高管中，我想说，他们中只有20%具有真正的自我意识。其余的人并没有准确地看待自己——有时达到惊人的程度。毫无例外，更有自知之明的人更易指导；更易改进的人，为了改善自己，能更好地接受自己需要的东西。要是自我意识的人希望成长，这就像想去纽约的人，认为自己在费城出发——但实际其在博茨瓦纳。其边认为自己在费城，边采取一些措施到达纽约，这肯定对他毫无用处。（那可怕的海洋将要一个巨大冲击。）
To translate this into leadership development: let’s say that I think I have great relationship-building skills, when the truth of the matter is that people find me overbearing and insensitive. When someone suggests that I need to make real changes in this area in order to be a more effective leader, I’m unlikely to be open to that counsel.
把这译成领导能力的发展：比方说，我认为自己具有很棒建立人际关系的能力，但事实上，人们觉得我傲慢、反应迟钝。当有人建议，为了成为一个更有效率的领导，我需要在这方面作出真正的改变，我极有可能拒绝这个建议。我知道三种简单（不易但简单）的方法来极大地提高你的自我意识:
1) Become a fair witness. I’ve talked about this often in past posts. To be a fair witness means to report your experience as accurately and neutrally as possible. The more emotional attachment you have to something, the more challenging it is to be a fair witness of that thing; most of us are very emotionally attached to ourselves and our own success. “Fair witnessing” yourself is easiest if you take a mental step back and imagine that you are another person observing you: someone who sees you very clearly. Reflect on your actions, your strengths and weaknesses, your mistakes and successes, as
1）成为一个公平的目击者。在过去贴中，我已经常谈论这个问题。成为一个公平的目击者就意味着尽可能准确、中立地报告自己的体验。你把感情更依恋于某些东西，则成为该事物公平目击者的挑战就越大；我们很多人在感情方面非常依恋自己，我们自己的成功。要是你在心理上退一步，想像你是另一个正在观察自己的人（一个把你看得极其清楚的人），就最易“公平地目击”自己。反思自己的行动、自己的长处和短处、自已的错误和成功，好像你是这个公正的第三方。他或她会对你如何展示自己说些什么？
2) Invite feedback . People who want to be fully self-aware know that none of us can see ourselves entirely clearly without the aid of others. It’s like trying to know what you look like without having a
2）邀请反馈。希望具有完全自我意识的人懂得，没有别人的帮助，我们任何人都不能完全清楚地看待自己。这就好像你想看自己是什么样子而没有镜子的道理一样。如果你想更准确地感受自己在人世间如何行动，就需要建立一小群非常了解你、清楚地看清自己、希望为提供最好建议的人——并且他们愿意在这服务中对你非常坦诚。我也建议你看一看一些可用的全方位领导能力评估内容。根据《 带头，所以人们就会跟随》所述，我更偏爱大家公认的领导评估标准，不过那里肯定也有其他好的评估标准。
3) Listen . I am a huge fan of the power of listening. I believe it’s foundational to success as a manager, as a leader, as a parent, spouse, colleague, human being. And it’s essential to true self-awareness. If you can learn to listen fully, without filtering what you hear through your pre-existing notions, you will find that everyone around you is continually giving you clues – both subtle and overt – about how you’re showing up, what they think of you, and how you’re impacting them.
3）倾听。我非常喜欢倾听的力量。我相信这是成功地成为经理、领导、父母、配偶、同事和人类的基石。因此这是真正自我意识的根本前提。要是学会充分地倾听，而没有通过自己预先存在的观念来过滤你听到的内容，那么你就会发现你周围的人源源不断地给你提供这些线索（微妙又公开的）：你是如何表现自己？他们如何看待你？你如何影响他们？
As you become more self-aware, you’ll start to be able to to hone in on both your strengths as a leader (so you can make best use of them) and those areas where you can improve….and move yourself up the bell curve to great.
当你变得更有自我意识时，你就会开始研究你作为领导的优点（这样你更充分地利用它们）和你可以改进的地方......并且让自己上升到种形领导曲线，达到伟大。
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