“学长脾气不好学弟懂点礼貌”

The Best Leaders Are Insatiable Learners

From HBR

By Bill Taylor

Nearly a quarter century ago, at a gathering in Phoenix, Arizona, John W. Gardner delivered a speech that may be one of the most influential speeches in the history of American business — a text that has been photocopied, passed along, underlined, and linked to by senior executives in some of the most important companies and organizations in the world. I wonder, though, how many of these leaders (and the business world more broadly) have truly embraced the lessons he shared that day.

Gardner, who died in 2002 at the age of 89, was a legendary public intellectual and civic reformer — a celebrated Stanford professor, an architect of the Great Society under Lyndon Johnson, founder of Common Cause and Independent Sector. His speech on November 10, 1990, was delivered to a meeting of McKinsey & Co., the consulting firm whose advice has shaped the fortunes of the world’s richest and most powerful companies. But his focus that day was on neither money nor power. It was on what he called “Personal Renewal,” the urgent need for leaders who wish to make a difference and stay effective to commit themselves to continue learning and growing. Gardner was so serious about this learning imperative, so determined that the message would get through, that he wrote the speech out in advance because he wanted “every sentence to hit its target.”

What was his message? “We have to face the fact that most men and women out there in the world of work are more stale than they know, more bored than they would care to admit,” he said. “Boredom is the secret ailment of large-scale organizations. Someone said to me the other day ‘How can I be so bored when I’m so busy?’ I said ‘Let me count the ways.’ Look around you. How many people whom you know well — people even younger than yourselves—are already trapped in fixed attitudes and habits?”

So what is the opposite of boredom, the personal attribute that allows individuals to keep learning, growing, and changing, to escape their fixed attitudes and habits? “Not anything as narrow as ambition,” Gardner told the ambitious McKinsey strategists. “After all, ambition eventually wears out and probably should. But you can keep your zest until the day you die.” He then offered a simple maxim to guide the accomplished leaders in the room. “Be interested,” he urged them. “Everyone wants to be interesting, but the vitalizing thing is to be interested…As the proverb says, ‘It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.’”

In these head-spinning times, even more so than when John Gardner offered his timeless advice, the challenge for leaders is not to out-hustle, out-muscle, or out-maneuver the competition. It is to out-think the competition in ways big and small, to develop a unique point of view about the future and get there before anyone else does. The best leaders I’ve gotten to know aren’t just the boldest thinkers; they are the most insatiable learners.

Roy Spence, perhaps the most interested (and interesting) advertising executive I’ve ever met, recently published a book called The 10 Essential Hugs of Life, a funny and moving take on the roots of success. Among his wise and folksy pieces of advice (“Hug your failures,” “Hug your fears,” “Hug yourself”) is a call to “Hug your firsts” — to seek out new sources of inspiration, to visit a lab whose work you don’t really understand, to attend a conference you shouldn’t be at. “When you’re a kid,” he says, “every day is full of firsts, full of new experiences. As you get older, your firsts become fewer and fewer. If you want to stay young, you have to work to keep trying new things.”

Spence cites as one of his inspirations management guru Jim Collins, who, as a young Stanford professor, sought advice and counsel from his learned colleague John Gardner. What did Spence learn from Collins? “You’re only as young as the new things you do,” he writes, “the number of ‘firsts’ in your days and weeks.” Ask any educator and they’ll agree: We learn the most when we encounter people who are the least like us. Then ask yourself: Don’t you spend most of your time with people who are exactly like you? Colleagues from the same company, peers from the same industry, friends from the same profession and neighborhood?

It takes a real sense of personal commitment, especially after you’ve arrived at a position of power and responsibility, to push yourself to grow and challenge conventional wisdom. Which is why two of the most important questions leaders face are as simple as they are profound: Are you learning, as an organization and as an individual, as fast as the world is changing? Are you as determined to stay interested as to be interesting? Remember, it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.

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注：中文文本为@delia00 翻译，仅供参考

含注释全文：

The Best Leaders Are Insatiable Learners

From HBR

By Bill Taylor

Nearly a quarter century ago, at a gathering in Phoenix, Arizona, John W. Gardner delivered a speech that may be one of the most influential speeches in the history of American business — a text that has been photocopied, passed along, underlined, and linked to by senior executives in some of the most important companies and organizations in the world. I wonder, though, how many of these leaders (and the business world more broadly) have truly embraced the lessons he shared that day.

时光回溯到大约四分之一个世纪前，在亚利桑那州（Arizona）凤凰城（Phoenix）里的一次集会上，约翰·W·加德纳（John W. Gardner）发表了一篇演讲，那是在美国的商业历史中最有影响力的演讲之一——这篇演讲的文本已经被影印、传播、划线强调，一些在世界上举足轻重的公司和组织的高层，也和它有所关联。但是，我不知道，这些领导者（或者更广义上，整个商业世界）中有多少人真正接受了他在那天所分享的课程。

表示“影印；复制；复印”，英文解释为“to make a photocopy of sth”如：a photocopied letter 复印的信。

表示“欣然接受；乐意采纳”，英文解释为“to accept something enthusiastically”举个🌰：

This was an opportunity that he would embrace.

这样的机会他是求之不得的。

Gardner, who died in 2002 at the age of 89, was a legendary public intellectual and civic reformer — a celebrated Stanford professor, an architect of the Great Society under Lyndon Johnson, founder of Common Cause and Independent Sector. His speech on November 10, 1990, was delivered to a meeting of McKinsey & Co., the consulting firm whose advice has shaped the fortunes of the world's richest and most powerful companies. But his focus that day was on neither money nor power. It was on what he called “Personal Renewal,” the urgent need for leaders who wish to make a difference and stay effective to commit themselves to continue learning and growing. Gardner was so serious about this learning imperative, so determined that the message would get through, that he wrote the speech out in advance because he wanted “every sentence to hit its target.”

加德纳于2002年去世，享年89岁，他是一位传奇性的公共知识分子和公民改革者——一位著名的斯坦福大学教授，是林顿·约翰逊（Lyndon Johnson）所倡导的伟大社会的一位建筑师。林顿·约翰逊是公共事业和独立部门的开创者。1990年11月10日，他在麦肯锡公司的会议上发表演讲，这家咨询公司的建议决定了世界上最富有和最强大的公司的命运。可在那一天，他关注的既不是金钱也不是权力，而是他口中的“个人成长”。这正是那些想要有所作为，并保持高效地不断学习和成长的领导者们所迫切需要的。加德纳对于学习的必要性态度十分严肃，他是如此坚决地传达这个消息，因此他提前写了演讲稿，因为他想要“每句话都能直击目标”。

legendary /ˈlɛdʒəndərɪ/ 表示“非常著名的；享有盛名的；传奇的；传说的”，英文解释为“very famous and talked about a lot by people, especially in a way that shows admiration；mentioned in stories from ancient times”，如：a legendary figure 大名鼎鼎/名扬四海的人物。

表示“著名的，闻名的，驰名的”，英文解释为“famous for some special quality or ability”如：a celebrated opera singer 著名歌剧演唱家。

1）表示“恢复；更新；重新开始”，英文解释为“a situation in which sth begins again after a pause or an interruption”如：a renewal of interest in traditional teaching methods 对传统教学法重新产生兴趣。

2）作不可数名次，还可以指“新生；复兴”，英文解释为“Renewal of something lost, dead, or destroyed is the process of it growing again or being replaced.”

1）作形容词，表示“至关重要的；紧急的；迫切的”，英文解释为“If it is imperative that something be done, that thing is extremely important and must be done.”，举个🌰：

It was imperative that he act as naturally as possible.

至关重要的是他要尽可能地自然行事。

2）作名词，表示“重要紧急的事；必要的事”，英文解释为“a thing that is very important and needs immediate attention or action”。

What was his message? “We have to face the fact that most men and women out there in the world of work are more stale than they know, more bored than they would care to admit,” he said. “Boredom is the secret ailment of large-scale organizations. Someone said to me the other day ‘How can I be so bored when I'm so busy?’ I said ‘Let me count the ways.’ Look around you. How many people whom you know well — people even younger than yourselves—are already trapped in fixed attitudes and habits?”

他要传达的是什么呢？“我们需要面对这样的现实，在世界上大多数男人和女人都比他们自己知道的更乏味，比他们愿意承认的更无趣”，他说。“无趣是大型公司的隐疾。某一天有人对我说‘我这么忙，怎么样会这么无趣？’我说‘让我来数一数。’看看你周围，有多少人是你熟知的——甚至比你年轻的人——已经陷入了固定的态度和习惯。

1）表示“不再有趣的，没有新意的，乏味的”，英文解释为“not interesting or exciting any more”，如：stale jokes 老掉牙的笑话。

2）也可以指“（面包、蛋糕）不新鲜的，变味的”，英文解释为“bread or cake that is stale is no longer fresh or good to eat”，如：stale cake 不新鲜的蛋糕；

3）表示“（空气）不新鲜的，污浊的”，英文解释为“air that is stale is not fresh or pleasant”，如：the smell of stale smoke 污浊的烟味。

表示“小病，微恙”，英文解释为“an illness”举个🌰：

Treat minor ailments yourself.

一点儿小毛病可以自己治。

So what is the opposite of boredom, the personal attribute that allows individuals to keep learning, growing, and changing, to escape their fixed attitudes and habits? “Not anything as narrow as ambition,” Gardner told the ambitious McKinsey strategists. “After all, ambition eventually wears out and probably should. But you can keep your zest until the day you die.” He then offered a simple maxim to guide the accomplished leaders in the room. “Be interested,” he urged them. “Everyone wants to be interesting, but the vitalizing thing is to be interested…As the proverb says, ‘It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.’”

那么和无趣相对的是什么呢？允许人们不断学习、成长和改变，摆脱他们固定的他对和习惯的个人态度？“不是像野心那样狭隘的东西，”加德纳告诉雄心勃勃的麦肯锡战略家们。“毕竟，雄心终会被消磨掉，并且可能应该背消磨掉，但你可以保持你的热情直到生命终结的那一天。”他接着提出了一个简单的准则来指导房间里这些成功的领导者们。“要有兴趣，”他鼓励他们。“每个人都想变得有趣，但重要的是要有兴趣…如谚语所说‘你完全了解事物后所学到的才是有价值的。’”

表示“特性，特质，属性”，英文解释为“a quality or feature, especially one that is considered to be good or useful”举个🌰：

What attributes should a good manager possess?

一名优秀的经理应该具备哪些素质？

表示“ 狂热；热情；兴致”，英文解释为“enthusiasm, eagerness, energy, and interest”举个🌰：

It's wonderful to see the children's zest for life.

很高兴看到孩子们对生活充满热情。

maxim /ˈmæksɪm/ 表示“格言；箴言；座右铭”，英文解释为“A maxim is a rule for good or sensible behaviour, especially one in the form of a saying.”举个🌰：

I believe in the maxim "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

我相信这句格言：“如果它没坏，不要去修理它。”

表示“才华高的；技艺高超的；熟练的”，英文解释为“very good at a particular thing; having a lot of skills”如：an accomplished artist 有造诣的艺术家。

In these head-spinning times, even more so than when John Gardner offered his timeless advice, the challenge for leaders is not to out-hustle, out-muscle, or out-maneuver the competition. It is to out-think the competition in ways big and small, to develop a unique point of view about the future and get there before anyone else does. The best leaders I’ve gotten to know aren't just the boldest thinkers; they are the most insatiable learners.

在这个令人头疼的时代，甚至比约翰·加德纳提出他不过时的建议时更甚，领导者们面临的挑战不是要在竞争中更快，更有力，更有策略。而是在大大小小方面在思想上超越竞争，来形成对未来独特的视角，并在其他人之前到达那儿。我所知道的最好的领导者不仅仅是最大胆的思考者，他们是最不知足的学生。

可作名词也可以作动词，动词可表示“（使）快速旋转”，英文解释为“to turn around and around very quickly, or to make something do this”，举个🌰：

The plane's propellers were spinning.

飞机的螺旋桨在快速旋转。

用于给动词加上“超越”或“胜过”之意，英文解释为“used to add the meaning "going further" or "being better than" to verbs”举个🌰：

She doesn't drink or smoke and I'm sure she'll outlive (= live longer than) us all.

她烟酒不沾，我想她肯定比我们都要活得长久。

英式 manoeuvre /məˈnuːvə/ 美式 maneuver /məˈnuːvə/，1）作名词，表示“细致巧妙的移动；机动动作”，英文解释为“a movement performed with care and skill”；也可以表示“策略；手段；花招；伎俩”，英文解释为“a clever plan, action or movement that is used to give sb an advantage“。

2）作动词，表示“（使谨慎或熟练地）移动，运动；转动”，英文解释为“to move or turn skilfully or carefully; to move or turn sth skilfully or carefully”举个🌰：

There was very little room to maneuver.

几乎没有什么活动空间。

insatiable /ɪnˈseɪʃəbəl, -ʃɪə-/ 表示“（尤指欲望或需求）无法满足的，贪得无厌的”，英文解释为“(especially of a desire or need) too great to be satisfied”举个🌰：

Like so many politicians, he had an insatiable appetite/desire/hunger for power.

同许多政客一样，他对权力贪得无厌。

Roy Spence, perhaps the most interested (and interesting) advertising executive I've ever met, recently published a book called The 10 Essential Hugs of Life, a funny and moving take on the roots of success. Among his wise and folksy pieces of advice (“Hug your failures,” “Hug your fears,” “Hug yourself”) is a call to “Hug your firsts” — to seek out new sources of inspiration, to visit a lab whose work you don’t really understand, to attend a conference you shouldn't be at. “When you're a kid,” he says, “every day is full of firsts, full of new experiences. As you get older, your firsts become fewer and fewer. If you want to stay young, you have to work to keep trying new things.”

罗伊·斯宾塞（Roy Spence），可能是我曾见过的最有兴趣（和趣味）的广告经理人。他最近出了一本书，书名是《人生中十个基本拥抱》，对成功的根源进行了有趣而感人的阐述。在他睿智和友好的建议中（“拥抱你的失败”，“拥抱你的恐惧”“拥抱你自己”），有一个叫做“拥抱你的第一次”——找寻新的灵感来源，参观一个你并不真正了解其工作的实验室，参加一场你不必参加的会议。“当你还是个孩子时”，他说“每天都充满了第一次，充满了新的体验。随着你年龄的增长，你的第一次变得越来越少。如果你想要保持年轻，你必须努力不断尝试新事物。”

表示“有民间艺术风味的；有民间音乐风情的；（故作）简朴随意的”，英文解释为“having a traditional, simple artistic or musical style, or pretending to have such a style”举个🌰：

The book has a certain folksy charm.

这本书中有某种迷人的乡土气息。

Spence cites as one of his inspirations management guru Jim Collins, who, as a young Stanford professor, sought advice and counsel from his learned colleague John Gardner. What did Spence learn from Collins? “You’re only as young as the new things you do,” he writes, “the number of ‘firsts’ in your days and weeks.” Ask any educator and they'll agree: We learn the most when we encounter people who are the least like us. Then ask yourself: Don't you spend most of your time with people who are exactly like you? Colleagues from the same company, peers from the same industry, friends from the same profession and neighborhood?

斯宾塞将管理大师吉姆·柯林斯（Jim Collins）作为他的灵感来源之一，柯林斯是一位年轻的斯坦福大学教授，向他博学的同事约翰·加德纳寻求意见和建议。斯宾塞从柯林斯那里学到了什么？“你是否年轻，取决于你所做的新事物，”他写道，“你每日每周里‘第一次’的数量。”问任何一位教育家，他们都会同意：在遇到和我们最不同的人时，我们能够学到最多。然后问你自己：你的大部分时间不都是和那些和你非常相像的人在一起吗？同一家公司的同事，从业于同一行业的同行，同一职业或者附近的朋友？

表示“（精通某一领域并给出专业建议的）专家，权威，大师”，英文解释为“a person skilled in something who gives advice”如：a management guru 管理界泰斗。

It takes a real sense of personal commitment, especially after you’ve arrived at a position of power and responsibility, to push yourself to grow and challenge conventional wisdom. Which is why two of the most important questions leaders face are as simple as they are profound: Are you learning, as an organization and as an individual, as fast as the world is changing? Are you as determined to stay interested as to be interesting? Remember, it's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

它需要一个真正意义上的个人诺言，特别是当你已经达到一个有一定权力和责任的时候，驱使你自己去成长，挑战传统的智慧。这就是为什么领导者面临的两个最重要的问题既简单又深刻：作为一个组织和个人，你的学习速度是否与世界的变化速度一样快？你是否有决心像保持兴趣一样，成为有趣的人？记住，你完全了解事物后所学到的才是有价值的。

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