“我得到过的最好建议”精选集

美国参议院牧师，首位担任这个职位的非裔美国人

    我在美国海军服役了27年。我在为美国海军教育和培训负责人做助理牧师时，我的老板、海军中将基胡恩是一名超级领导者。有一天，我问他，他的领导理念是什么。他说：“我基本上遵循黄金原则。”换句话说，你希望别人怎么对你，你自己就要怎么对别人。随着军衔提升，后来我成了一星准将。有一次，我参加了一个有美国空军部长和其他三星中将或四星上将出席的会议。当时讨论的话题是，如何确保新兵在参加完新兵训练营后能在伦理道德上更加合乎规范。讨论集中在如何筛选出落后分子。我逐渐意识到，如果我是新兵，我不想有惩罚性的伦理道德筛选。我宁可选肯·布兰佳的1分钟经理人模型，找出做得好的人，正面强化这一点。我说：“假如你是新兵，你看到军方用这种惩罚性手段筛选新兵，你的感受是什么？”我挑战他们的假定。如今当我和议员们谈论他们在参议院内激辩的话题时，我也经常用这个办法。两边的议员们，大多数都是爱国的好人。他们只是有不同的理念，争论什么对这个国家才是最好的。我想受到怎样的对待，这就像是石蕊实验，为我提供了行动指导。

Barry Black

Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, first African American to hold the office

    I served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years. When I was the assistant chaplain for the chief of naval education and training, my boss, Vice Admiral Kihune, was a superb leader. One day I asked him what his philosophy of leadership was. He said, "I basically practice the golden rule." Which is, Treat other people like you want to be treated. As I went up through the ranks, I became a one-star admiral. I was at a meeting with the Secretary of the Air Force and other three- and four-star admirals. We were discussing how to ensure that recruits who go through boot camp are more ethically fit when they leave. The discussion centered on how we weed out the bad apples. It dawned on me that if I were a recruit, I would not want a punitive approach to ethical fitness. I would prefer the Ken Blanchard, one-minute-manager model of catching people doing something right and positively reinforcing that. I said, "How would you feel if you were a recruit and you saw people being weeded out in this punitive way?" I challenged their premise. I apply this on a regular basis when I'm talking to lawmakers about the very issues that they debate in the chamber. The lawmakers on both sides, for the most part, are good patriotic Americans. They just have different philosophies on what is best for the country. How I would want to be treated gives me a litmus test and provides me with a guide to action.