标题:Howtobeaninspirationalleader,accordingtoBain source:chicagotribune丨byJoseM。Osorio 翻译请保留原文链接哦 欲翻译的小伙伴,可评论领稿,并把已完成的译文发在自己的心理圈or个人主页的日志内。请领稿的小伙伴,尽量在一个星期内完成翻译,谢谢!! Whatmakesapersoninspiring?Bainsharesitssecretsauce。 AsmallclusterofstonesonMaggieBirksdeskremindtheconsultantwhatshedoesbest。 Responsibility,readsonestone。Emotionalexpression,readsanother。Balance,readsathird。 Thestones,tuckedunderBirkscomputermonitoratBainsChicagooffice,physicallyrepresenthermetaphoricalrockpile:thenaturalstrengthsBirkpossessesthatmakeherinspiringtoothers。 Feelinginspiredisoftenheldupinleadershipliteratureascriticaltoanorganizationssuccess,makingthedifferencebetweenemployeeswhopopoutofbedtopushthroughthechallengesofthedayandthosewhoburytheirheadsundertheirpillowsindread。Researchhasshownthatpeoplewhoworkforinspiringleadersaremoreproductive,committedtoandsatisfiedwiththeirjobs,andlesslikelytothinkaboutleaving。 Butwhatdoesitmeantobeinspiring?Andhowdoyouachieveit?AmongthevariousmodelsthathavetriedtocrackthecodearetherockpilesatBain,atopstrategyconsultingfirmwherebeinginspiringisasmuchapartofthecompanysproductasitisaleadershipgoal。 Aspartofitsinternalstrategicinitiatives,Bainturneditsanalyticaleyeinwardandtookabottomupapproachtofindoutwhatmakespeoplewithinitsranksfeelinspired。Theresultinginspirationalleadershipprogram,launchedamongpartnersandmanagersinspring2013andnowbeingrolledouttoall6,000globalemployees,helpsemployeesidentifyandcultivatetheirownspecialsauce。 StrengthsbasedleadershipisnotnewtoBain,noristhequesttobeinspiring。Whatisnewtothecompanyisthedeepdiveittooktosystematicallyunderstandinspirationatatimewhenthebusinessclimateincreasinglycallsforit。 Forafirmthatneedstomotivatenotjustitsownemployeesbutalsotheclientstheyshepherdthroughdifficultbusinessdecisions,beinginspiringisnotjustanicetohave,itsahavetohave,saidMarkHorwitch,theSanFranciscobasedpartnerwho,alongwithseniormanagerMeredithWhipple,sculptedBainsinspirationalleadershipprogram。 Thefirmsetdownthepathafterreviewingseveralyearsworthofthemonthlyfeedbackreportsitgathersfromconsultantsabouthowtheirprojectsaregoing。Oneattributejumpedoffthepage。 Whatmadeorbrokethevastmajorityofsituationswasiftheteammembersfeltinspiredthewholewaythrough,saidScottDuncan,apartnerinBainsChicagoofficewhocoleadstheprogramherewithcolleagueKatrinaCalihan,aseniormanagerwithanadvanceddegreeinpositivepsychology。Thatwastheepiphanymomentforus。 Severalmacrochangesaremagnifyingtheimportanceofbeinginspirational,HorwitchandWhipplewroteinawhitepaper。Theyinclude:agrowingexpectationamongcustomerstobedelightedratherthanjustserved;employeesworkingmorecollaborativelyandwithlesssupervision;andmillennialswhoaredrivenmorebyacompanysmissionandvaluesratherthansalaryandpromotion。Bainsmillennialpopulationispushing70percent。 Throughacompanywidesurveythatdrewabout4,000responses,thefirmidentified32qualitiesthatmakepeoplefeelinspired,andcalculatedthatpossessingjustfourorfiveofthosedistinguishingstrengthsyourpersonalrockpilemakesyouinspiringtothevastmajorityofpeople。Employeesareencouragedtopracticethosestrengthseveryday。 Theleverageisnotintryingtogetgoodateverything,Horwitchsaid。Youhavetounderstandthatyouhaveanintrinsicsetofstrengths。 Thestrengthbasedprogramalignswithapositivepsychologymovementintheworkplace,aswellasinschoolsandclinicalsettings,thatencouragespeopletobolstertheattributestheyarenaturallygoodatratherthanfocusingonfixingtheirweaknesses。 Oneofthethingsweknowisthatwhenthingsarenegative,peopleseefeweroptions,theyrelessabletoproblemsolve。Itshutsdownthebrain,saidbusinesspsychologistJenniferThompson,anassociateprofessorattheChicagoSchoolofProfessionalPsychology。Whenpeoplehavepositiveenvironments,theyremorecreative,theyremoreproductive。 Gallupresearchhasfoundthattheoddsofemployeesbeingengagedare73percentwhenanorganizationsleadershipfocusesonthestrengthsofitsemployees,versus9percentwhentheydonot。 Bainsresearchfoundthatapersonwithnoneofthe32qualitieshasa5050chanceofbeingconsideredinspirational,butwhentheyhavejustonestrengththechancejumpstonearly70percentandwhentheyhavefouritrisesintothemid80s,Horwitchsaid。Afterthattherearediminishingreturns;therateneverreaches100percent。 Tohelpemployeesdrilldowntotheirfourorfivedistinguishingstrengths,Bainputseveryonethroughadaylongtraining,aselfassessmentandpeerfeedback。Manytimespeoplemisstheirgreateststrengthortakeitforgranted,notrealizingthisthingtheydosoeffortlesslyhasapositiveeffectonothers,Duncansaid。 Oncetheyhavenarrowedtheirrockpiletosixorsevenrocks,employeesareaskedwhichskillsarethemostenergizingwhentheyusethem。 Iftheyalsogiveyouaboost,thosearethethingsyouwillfeelmostcomforusingwithhighfrequency,Duncansaid。Employeeswalkawaywithsmoothstonesthathavetheircorestrengthswrittenontheminpermanentmarker。 Birk,acaseteamleaderwiththestonesonherdesk,saidnoneofherswererevelations,butshehadntpreviouslythoughtofapplyingsomeatwork。Herrocksincluderesponsibility,meaningshetakesproactiveownership;emotionalexpression,referringtoherabilitytofreelyvoiceheropinions;andbalance,referringtoherownworklifeboundariesandherrespectforthoseofthepeoplearoundher。 Inahighperformingenvironmentwherepeopleareaccustomedtofrequentfeedbackonwheretheyfallshort,thepracticeofrecognizingyourownandothersstrengthshaspromptedpeopletotakeadvantageofthemmore,Birksaid。Shesaidthatwhenshestartsanewproject,sheletspeopleknowwhatherstrengthsareandthatsheiscommittedtomakinggoodonthem。 Yourealwaysmoreinclinedtoshineandmakeadifferenceintheplacesthatcomenaturallytoyou,saidBirk,29,whois212yearsoutofHarvardBusinessSchool。 Thoughthecompanydoesnthaveformaldatayetshowingtheefficacyoftheprogram,Horwitchsaidpeoplewhohavebeenputtingeffortintotheirselfdevelopmentareseeingimprovementsintheirupperfeedbackscores。Bainhasalsostartedtoofferthesystemtoclients。 Scalingtheinspirationaltrainingthroughouttherankandfileofthegrowingorganizationhasbeenachallenge,butitwasimportantnottolimitittoseniorleadership,Horwitchsaid。 Ifyouwaituntiltheygetintothoseroles,itstoolate,Horwitchsaid。Thentheyreplayingcatchup。 Itwasalsoimportantnottomaketherocksapartofperformancereviewsorusedasanevaluationtool。 Werethinkingaboutitasasevento10yearculturechange,Whipple,codeveloperoftheprogram,said。Weretryingtomakeitactuallybepartofeveryonesdaytoday。 Oneofthechallengesgiventoemployeesistodevotefiveminutesadaytoreflectonwhoontheirteamcoulduseaboost,trackthatpersondownanduseastrengthtobrightentheirday,Duncansaid。 Duncan,whoserocksincludestresstolerance,optimism,directionandrecognition,saidhesfoundthatthelatterrecognizingpeoplefortheircontributionsdoesthemosttochargecolleaguesup。 Ifyougojusttheextradistanceandsay,Youknowwhat,thewayyoulaidthisoutwasextremelyimpactfultotheclient,youcantellthatthispersonisnotonlyimmediatelysatisfiedandhappy,butaswitchflipsintheirhead,Duncansaid。Theyfeelbettertoknowthatthepersontheyworkedtheirbuttoffforabsolutelyrecognizesandappreciateswhattheydidforthem。 Attheintersectionofthe32inspirationalstrengthsisacoreskillBaincallscenteredness,aqualityofcalmthathelpsdefusetensesituationsandkeepstressatamanageablelevel,whicheveryoneisencouragedtoachieve。 Whataboutthe28orsoqualitiesleftoutofapersonsrockpile?Willanyonecarethatyoureagreatlistenerifyouareterribleatgivingdirection? Theideaistoensurerelativeweaknessesarenotdetractingfromthestrengths,Horwitchsaid。Hesaidhewasratedlowonfocus,andwhilehewontstrivetobethemostfocusedpersonintheroom,heneedstobeawareofit。 Ijusthavetohavethepresenceofmindtoneutralizeit,hesaid。