有效的领导者需要的不只是权力

传统智慧告诉我们，权力具有诱惑性。越来越多的心理学研究也证实了这一点。权力会改变大脑处理信息的方式。在我的职业生涯中，我注意到，一旦大权在握，人们就会更加审慎地监控他们自己的行为，而不大重视其他人的行为和反应。他们会变得不太关心别人的言行。另外，他们常常会想方设法地获得一些能彰显和强化自我身份的东西，比如称心如意的伴侣、昂贵的房子、稀罕的饰物等等。

很多心理学家仍然不能从进化的角度给出“权力改变意识”这种现象的成因。但权力对于人类意识的影响，显然是根深蒂固，而且很难改变的。或许在人类更注重生存（而不是进步）的年代，权力对领导者意识的这种影响是有益的。但在当代社会，这种影响已经失去了意义。对于领导者来说，灌输一种真实的宗旨和使命感，要比单纯强调主宰权更加重要。

在当今时代，大多数领导者获得成功的原因在于，他们能够对其他人，即员工、消费者、客户、投资人甚至供应商，产生正面的影响。而他们之所以能产生这种影响，则是因为他们能够成功地搞好与这些人的关系，并且能够不断改善大企业复杂的组织架构。这表明，在某种程度上，21世纪的领导者要想取得成功，就需要向你身边的人投入大量的关注，关注他们的所思、所感、所说。同时这也意味着，你要经常舍弃你自身的欲望和需求，以换取更大的目标。

举一个简单但重要的例子：领导者应该怎样安排他们的时间。在当今时代，一旦你在企业或组织中担当了重要的领导职位，你就不会像过去那样，能充分掌控自己的时间了。就我个人而言，自从我早些年担任纽约大学一名院长开始，我已经有12年不能完全“控制”我自己的时间了。这些日子，我基本上是一个会接一个会地开，有时还会挤占掉吃饭的时间。当然，每天还会难以避免地出现各种重要的问题和会谈，这些都会额外地占用你的时间。

要把这样满满当当的，而且不固定的日程组织和协调好，就需要很多的支持。（事实上，这也就是我的助理的全职工作。）这也意味着，我总是难以自行决定在什么时候、去哪里、与哪些人会面（或者吃饭），我甚至经常难以决定应该解决什么样的问题或任务，或者按照什么样的顺序去攻克它们。同样的情况也发生在我认识的每一位院长、校长和CEO身上。这种生活是非常疲劳的。成为一名领导者之后，你必须在团队需要你的时候，出现在你需要出现的地方，不管你个人那时是否方便。

因此，在我看来，领导者面临的最大挑战，就是如何应对伴随权力而来的永不停歇的各种需求。这些需求是不是使你变得更加关注自我，更加在乎荣誉，而不善于自省了？面临权力衍生的特殊待遇、资格和薪酬时，领导者是否让脑中“我工作得很努力，这是我应得的”和“我的时间非常宝贵”这种诱惑性的想法左右了自己的选择？他们是否警醒自己，领导力是一种特权，而权力必然带有引诱性？他们是否深入思考了每一个选择，并对企业和利益相关方产生了积极的影响？

几年前，我曾听一位银行家说道：“私人飞机就是一剂毒品，一旦尝试后，就很难戒掉这个习惯。”坐过几次私人飞机后，我也明白了他的意思。这番话一直提醒着我，领导者面临的真正挑战在于如何抵制内心的欲望，不让你自己、你的舒适程度和你自身的看法在你的眼中变得越来越重要。

优秀的领导者需要克服权力对认知的扭曲，包括克服在会议中说大量废话的倾向。在你张口说话的时候，不要急于发表你自己的观点和见解，而是要先问一些问题，了解其他人的观点和经验。另外，领导者们还要避免一种倾向：花费时间和公款做一些旨在彰显和强化自身地位，而不是影响力的事情。简言之，衡量一个领导者是否成功，要看员工和企业的绩效怎样，而不是看你拿多少薪水、说了什么话或坐什么飞机。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

Power is seductive–folk wisdom tells us so, as does a growing body of psychological research. The experience of having power changes how the brain processes information. Over the course of my career I’ve noticed when people are in positions of power, they tend to monitor their own behavior more closely and become less vigilant to the behavior and reactions of others; they listen less carefully and consider less deeply what other people think and say. They also often look to acquire things that convey and reinforce their status (i.e. desirable mates, expensive homes, and rare baubles).

Many psychologists don’t yet understand from an evolutionary perspective why this cognitive “power shift” occurs. But it’s pretty clear that the shift is hardwired and difficult to counter. It may be that when our needs were more about human survival–and less about human progress–the shift worked well for leaders. But it doesn’t serve us well in the modern world, where instilling a sense of authentic purpose and mission is more important than asserting dominance.

Today, most leaders excel when they generate positive impact for others–be it employees, customers, clients, investors, or even suppliers. They do this by successfully navigating relationships and the constantly evolving politics of large, complex organizational structures. This means that at some level, leadership in the 21st century requires paying a lot of attention to the people around you — what they are thinking, feeling, and saying. It also often means surrendering your own desires and needs for the greater good.

Consider just one simple, but important example: how leaders spend their time. When you accept a significant leadership role in today’s organizations, you no longer have the same control over your calendar that you had earlier in your career. Personally, I haven’t fully “owned” my calendar for 12 years, ever since I first became a dean at NYU. These days I generally have back-to-back meetings scheduled, often through lunch and dinner. And then of course there are always the important issues and conversations you can’t plan that inevitably come up each day as well.

Keeping such a packed, fluid schedule organized and coordinated requires a lot of support. (In fact, it’s my assistant’s full time job.) And making it work means that I don’t always get to decide when, what, and with whom I meet (or eat) or even which problems or tasks I work on or in what order I attack them. The same is true for every dean, president, and CEO whom I know. It can be exhausting. But when you are a leader, you have to be where and when your team needs you, whether it’s highly convenient for you personally or not.

So, in my mind, the biggest challenge of leadership lies in how leaders react to the never-ending demands of having power. Do they go with the hard-wiring of the power shift and become more self-focused, entitled, and less reflective? Do they allow the seductive “I deserve it because I work so hard” and “my time is so valuable” voices in their heads to guide their choices as they readily gather the perks, access, and pay that often accrue with power? Or do they remind themselves that leadership is a privilege and that power can be seductive? Do they constantly push themselves to be thoughtful about their choices and impact on their organization and stakeholders?

A couple years ago, I heard a banker say that “private jets are a drug; once you try them, it’s a hard habit to kick.” Having had the privilege of flying in one a few times, I get it. But, the private jet comment always reminds me that the true challenge of leadership lies in resisting the urge to let yourself, your comfort, your status, and your ideas become increasingly important in your own eyes.

Great leadership requires overcoming the power shift–overcoming the hardwired tendency to take up disproportionate amounts of airtime in meetings. And when you do talk, it means resisting the urge to offer your views and opinions first rather than asking questions to probe and better understand the perspectives and experiences of the other people in the conversation. It means overcoming the compulsion to spend your time and your organization’s money in ways that convey or reinforce your status, rather than your impact. In short, it means measuring your success by how your people and your organization performs, not by your pay, your words, or how you fly.