穆泰康：担任可口可乐CEO让我学到了什么

多年来，我对领导力这一主题作了很多思考，并尽我所能建立一种领导力文化，从而为可口可乐公司（Coca-Cola）带来长久而可持续的竞争优势。

于我而言，领导力即是为你所做的任何事情（无论你在其中发挥什么样的作用）创造价值，并获得比你想象中更好的结果。

最卓越的领导者也在不断学习中。他们从错误和成功中学习——学习不仅是年轻时的任务，而是贯穿他们的整个职业生涯。

当然，我也一直在努力做到这一点。在此过程中，倾听他人意见也是非常重要的。无论你处于什么样的领导地位，你都必须不断寻求良好的建议和忠告。

在职业生涯的每个阶段，我都获得了关于领导力的新的领悟。早期，我学到了两个重要经验，即培养同理心并重视金钱。后来，我学会了如何与他人协作、建立信任网络。

而最近，我的注意力则聚焦于对未来的展望、沟通重点上面，利用可信度和各种关系来促进公司与瓶装厂作为一个齐心协力的团队并肩战斗。

我一直都十分看重如何从长远角度考虑为公司的利益相关者创造价值，也许很多人认为，这对于一家拥有130年历史的老牌企业是自然而然的。然而，并没有什么事是自然而然就能发生的。

在去年的股东大会发言上，我说我们的经营不是只关注下一个季度，而是下一个25年。

在我看来，归根结底这意味着我们要做现在应该并且必须要做的事，以此来强化我们的发展前景，而非削弱它。

其核心在于，可口可乐是一个品牌企业，而我们的品牌无非就是我们的承诺。如果说一个良好的品牌就是一个承诺，那么一个卓越的品牌便是坚持这个承诺。坚持我们的承诺意味着我们永远不能陷入自鸣得意或是骄傲自满，而是需要敞开胸怀，时刻拥抱改变和进步。

过去几年里，我们向后退了一步来反思我们的业务，并思考如何才能够走得更快、发展更高效、且更具创业精神。

在一点上我们也已经取得了进展。我们拓宽了我们产品组合和包装选择，以满足不断变化的消费者口味，重振品牌市场，进一步改善我们的全球生产系统，转变在北美市场的业务，我们的营收增长在消费包装品公司中也使数一数二的。然而，精益求精之路永无止境。

在过去近四十年的商业生涯中，我常常讲，做好工作只是一个起点——打好基础。是为持续性地重复成功创造条件。因而，成功便是关于向一个没有确定性结果的未来作出承诺，然后采取行动兑现这一承诺。

今年五月，我将把可口可乐（ko）首席执行官这根指挥棒交接给詹姆斯·昆西（James Quincey）——一位合适的领导人，在合适的时机带领公司进入下一个征途。而我将继续担任公司董事长，并全力支持詹姆斯的工作。

詹姆斯和他的团队将为可口可乐书写新的篇章——不仅应对并解决我们所面临的挑战，而且将进一步发挥我们品牌、人员和系统的潜力。

对领导的评判终究是通过他们的成绩来作出的。我非常看好可口可乐的前景，在未来十年甚至更久，它将会获得前所未有的蓬勃发展。

对我而言，这也将是我的职业生涯，以及领导这一伟大公司所做出的努力的最终评判。（财富中文网）

作者：穆泰康（可口可乐公司的董事长兼首席执行官）

译者：司慧杰/汪皓

Over the years, I’ve given a lot of thought to the topic of leadership and doing what I can to build a culture of leadership that gives The Coca-Cola Company a sustainable, long-term advantage.

To me, leadership is all about creating value in whatever you do—and whatever role you are in—and leaving something better than you found it.

The best leaders keep learning, too. They learn from their mistakes and their successes—not only when they’re young, but throughout their careers.

I’ve certainly tried to do this. And listening to others has been absolutely essential to this process. No matter how far you go as a leader, you have to keep seeking advice and good counsel.

At every career stage, I’ve picked up new leadership insights. Early on, I learned vital lessons about developing empathy and respecting cash. Later, I worked on collaborating with others and building networks of trust.

More recently, it has been about setting a vision for the future, communicating priorities, and leveraging credibility and relationships to help our company and bottling system work together as one united team.

It has also been important for me to maintain a long-term perspective on creating value for stakeholders, something many might think would come naturally in a business with 130 years of history. But nothing is automatic.

When I spoke during our shareowners meeting last year, I explained that we’re building this business not only for the next quarter, but also for the next quarter of a century.

To me, making such a statement really comes down to doing what’s right and necessary now so that our future prospects are not harmed, but enhanced.

At its heart, Coca-Cola is a brand business, and our brands are nothing more than promises. If a good brand is a promise, then a great brand is a promise kept. Keeping our promises means never falling into the traps of complacency and arrogance while always being open to change and improvement.

In the last few years, we’ve taken a step back to look at our business and examine how we can become faster, more entrepreneurial, and more efficient.

And we’ve made progress. We’ve broadened our portfolio and packaging choices to serve evolving consumer tastes, revitalized our marketing, facilitated the improvement of our global bottling system, transformed our business in North America, and achieved some of the strongest revenue growth among consumer packaged goods companies. But getting better remains a never-ending journey.

Over nearly 40 years in business, I’ve often said that doing an excellent job is only the starting point—the foundation. It’s about creating the conditions to sustainably repeat success. And, in this case, success is connected to making a promise into the future without a pre-determined outcome—and then taking action to deliver on that promise.

In May, I’ll pass the baton of Coca-Cola (ko) CEO to James Quincey, the right leader at the right time to take our business forward. I’ll continue to serve as chairman of our board, and James will have my full and vigorous support.

James and his team will write the next chapter in Coca-Cola’s story—one that not only addresses the challenges we face, but also further unlocks the potential in our brands, our people, and our system.

Ultimately, leaders are judged by what they leave behind. And I feel very good about Coca-Cola’s prospects to flourish as never before during the balance of this decade and beyond.

For me, this will be the ultimate measure of my career—and my leadership of this great business of refreshing the world.