The Key Leadership Concept That Many Chinese Professionals

Need To Understand Better

许多中国专业人士需要更好地理解关键的领导力概念

近年来，我看过许多从成熟的海外市场带到中国的领导力培训课程。培训的重点往往是有效的领导风格、技巧或个性。这些培训专注于关键领导力领域，比如如何建立团队文化、激励团队成员，以及作为领导如何明确和传达你的主要目标。

Over the years, I’ve seen the agenda for many leadership training courses and workshops that are brought here to China from more mature overseas markets.  The training emphasis is often on effective leadership styles, techniques, and characteristics.  They focus on key leaderships areas, such as how to build a team culture, motivate team members, or define and communicate your main objectives as a leader.  

但是对于大多数的中国职业人士，要想成为优秀的领导最需要明白的基本概念是——团队的成功就是自己的成功。很多像我一样在国外长大的人，在成长的过程中玩过大量的团体运动，在很小的时候团队意识就根深蒂固了。我们也参与过许多团队协作和小组活动。然而，在中国的教育体系中长大的孩子，获得成功却完全要依附于个人的努力。因此，团队的概念和意识没有得到充分的培养，也并不熟悉。

But for most Chinese professionals, the first thing they need to learn and understand to become effective leaders is the most basic concept for successfully leading others.  And that concept is, Your Team’s Success Is Your Success.  For many, like me, who were raised abroad and played a lot of team sports while growing up, the concept of team is engrained at an early age.  We participate in many team situations and group activities.  Those who come up through the education system here, however, achieve their success strictly and entirely through individual effort.  As a result, the concept and dynamics of a team are not nurtured or as familiar.

在你职业生涯开始的前几年，你可能是会计、工程师、开发者、销售等等，这种强调通过个人努力获得成就的想法会一直持续着，使你成为一个独立工作者。当你的事业到达新的阶段，开始担当管理和领导职责的时候，你必须做出从个人意识到团队意识的转变，这是非常重要的。

This emphasis on individual achievement continues during the first few years of their career as individual contributors, as accountants, engineers, developers, sales, etc.  When they reach a stage in their career to take on management and leadership responsibilities, the shift they must make from an individual to a team orientation is significant and dramatic.

领导他人的正确心态和方法

The Right Mindset And Approach For Leading Others

一位企业家曾经与我分享他获得成功的个人故事，他说他的事业开始的并不顺利。他并不是国际大公司环境下出身，早期也没有什么人去指导他的事业。相反，他通过努力工作以及抓住和应对每一次挑战这种传统的方式赢得了机会和最后的成功。

In sharing his own story of achieving his success as a leader, one executive told me that his career didn’t exactly begin on a fast track.  He wasn’t part of an international company environment, and didn’t have someone to help guide his career early on.  Instead, he earned his opportunities and success the old fashion way, through hard work and by taking on and meeting challenges.

他的第一份工作是在一个大型钢铁生产国企，他在那里待了很多年，负责控制工厂用电，进口零件和设备，安装生产线。后来，他加入了一家小型的欧洲公司，从事电力控制系统销售。在那里，他跟海外同事交流起来比较困难。但从那次经历之后，他提高了自己的交流能力和项目管理能力。

His first job was with a steel manufacturing state-owned enterprise (SOE), where he spent several years in roles that included electricity control in a plant, importing parts and equipment, and installing a production line.  Later, he joined a small European company where he sold electrical control systems and initially faced difficulties communicating with his overseas colleagues.  But from that experience, he improved his communication and project management skills.

几年后，他加入了一家设备分销公司，担任区域经理，负责零部件业务的销售和运营。这个新职位使他开始展现领导范和能力。不到六个月，他的部门的业绩就超过了公司所有其他部门。

His career took off a few years later when he joined an equipment distribution company as a regional manager looking after the sales and operations of the parts business.  The new position allowed him to show his leadership sense and capabilities.  Within six months, his division surpassed the performance of all others in the company.  

“实际上，我并不觉得自己比我这个级别的其他主管更聪明或更好，”他坦言道。“最主要的区别在于我作为经理的行事方法。例如，有一位主管只把信息和专业知识留给自己，他有着许多大陆职业人的心态，他们认为，如果帮助下属获得成功就是在为自己培养竞争对手。”

 “Actually, I don’t feel I was smarter or better than the other supervisors at my level,” he confesses.  “The difference was in my approach to my role as a manager.  For instance, there was another supervisor who kept information and his expertise to himself.  He had the mentality of many mainland professionals who believe they’re creating competition for themselves if they help those under them to improve and become successful.  

“我知道自己的目标，不是做第一的销售员，而是做优秀的销售经理。所以，团队合作对于达成目标十分重要。所以，我格外关注员工培训和发展，并让他们知道我百分百支持他们个人的成功。”

“I knew my objective, however, wasn’t to be a number one sales person, but to be an excellent sales manager.   To do this, teamwork was essential to achieving our targets.  So I focused on the training and development of my staff and letting them know I was 100% committed to their success.  

分享才能创造更大机会

Give Away What You Know To Create Bigger Opportunities For Yourself

“基于他们的早期成功经验，许多中国职场人相信拥有信息和知识便是最重要的。然而，当你需要去完成那些只有一个团队才能完成的任务时，你自己肯定不能做成所有的事。想要打造一个成功的团队或者组织，你必须要让你的下属们都迅速发展起来。所以，我会分享一切我拥有的。我告诉我的下属们，如果给予他人机会并投资训练他们，你也会拥有有更多的机会去获得职业成功。”

“Because of how they achieve success early on, many Chinese professionals believe possessing information and knowledge is power.  However, when you’re being given targets that only a team can achieve, you can’t do everything yourself.  To build a successful team or organization, your objective has to be to develop your people as fast as you can.  As a result, whatever I have I give away.  I tell my subordinates that for their own career success they’ll be given more chances to do bigger jobs if they give chances to others and invest in training up others.”

对于多数从独立工作者到团队领导进行角色转变的人来说，总体趋势还是靠自己去取得成果和控制局面。但想要发生巨大转变，实现更远目标和成功，你无法独自处理一切。相反，你必须依靠你团队成员的表现。因此，你对他们的能力发展和成功投资才是你创造自己成功的关键。

For most people who go from an individual contributor to a team leader role, the natural tendency is to continue to rely on yourself to achieve results and control situations.  But both the bigger objectives and fundamental model for success for someone who leads others shifts dramatically, where you can no longer handle everything on your own.  Instead, you have to rely on the performance of those you’re supervising.  As a result, it’s your development of their capabilities and investment in their success that’s the key to creating your own success.