TED: How to Claim Your Leadership Power 《律人先律己》

Are there any other parents here who have struggled to get your kids out the door on time? So you know, right? It's like herding kittens. My wife and I would start nagging our three daughters long before it was time to leave, but that obviously wasn't working because we were always late for everything. But one day was a complete gong show.

有没有其他父母也像我一样，为了让孩子按时出门而费尽心思？你们懂的，对吧？这就像放牧一群小猫一样。我和妻子会在出门前很久就开始唠叨我们的三个女儿，但这显然没有用，因为我们总是迟到。但有一天，情况完全失控了。

So, five minutes before we needed to leave for an important event, I found my oldest daughter on the porch reading, my middle daughter was playing the piano, and my youngest daughter wasn't wearing any socks. So I told them, stop reading, stop playing the piano, put on your socks, and everybody get in the car. Five minutes later, nobody was in the car.

所以，在一个重要活动开始前五分钟，我发现我的大女儿在门廊上看书，我的二女儿在弹钢琴，我的小女儿没有穿袜子。所以我告诉她们，别看书了，别弹钢琴了，穿上袜子，每个人都上车。五分钟后，车上空无一人。

On my way to help my youngest daughter with her socks, I noticed my oldest daughter was still on the porch reading. Now I'm starting to lose it. Her response, I didn't hear you.

在我去帮我的小女儿穿袜子的路上，我注意到我的大女儿仍然在门廊上看书。现在我开始抓狂了。她的回答是，我没听见你说什么。

But before I could say a word, I heard the piano, start playing again. And that's the story of how I lost my mind, the end. I just wanted my daughters to take a little ownership for getting out the door in time.

但在我还没来得及说话之前，我又听到了钢琴声响起。这就是我如何崩溃的故事，结束。我只是希望我的女儿们能为按时出门负起一点责任。

But then I remembered something I teach management teams. You can't inspire accountability in others until you model it yourself. That's when I realized I wasn't taking any accountability for this problem, I was blaming it totally on my daughters.

但后来我想起了我教管理团队的一件事。在你以身作则之前，你无法激励他人承担责任。那时我意识到我没有为这个问题承担任何责任，我把责任完全推给了我的女儿们。

So I tried a different approach and looked in the mirror. What was I doing or not doing that may be contributing to this problem? Then it hit me. I knew when they needed to be done breakfast, dressed, groomed, and ready to leave.

所以我尝试了一种不同的方法，我照了照镜子。我做了什么或没做什么可能导致了这个问题？然后我恍然大悟。我知道她们什么时候需要吃完早餐、穿好衣服、梳洗打扮好，准备出门。

But did they? I also knew what time it was, but there were no clocks in their bathrooms. Which I discovered is like a different dimension for my girls where time ceases to exist. Solution.

但她们知道吗？我也知道现在几点了，但她们的浴室里没有钟。我发现这对我的女儿们来说就像一个不同的维度，在那里时间不复存在。解决方案。

I put big clocks everywhere and posted the schedule in a common area. And you know what? It actually worked. Now, we're not perfect at getting out the door in time, but it's much better than it was.

我在所有地方都放了大钟，并在公共区域张贴了时间表。你知道吗？这真的奏效了。现在，我们并不能每次都按时出门，但这比以前好多了。

I had fallen into the same trap that many people in leadership positions fall into, which is blaming other people for a problem without considering my part in it. While working with leadership teams, I discovered three powerful habits that elevate the performance of others. I call it the three habits of personal accountability.

我陷入了许多领导者都会陷入的同一个陷阱，那就是在没有考虑到自身责任的情况下，将问题归咎于他人。在与领导团队合作的过程中，我发现了三种能够提升他人绩效的有效习惯。我称之为个人问责的三种习惯。

Habit one, don't blame. Habit two, look in the mirror. Habit three, engineer the solution.

习惯一，不要指责。习惯二，照照镜子。习惯三，设计解决方案。

This sequence of habits has an almost magical effect on other people's behavior, and you get better results. But this isn't just for CEOs and managers. We're all trying to help others be better, right? As a parent, a coworker, or a volunteer.

这一系列的习惯对其他人的行为有着近乎神奇的影响，你会得到更好的结果。但这不仅仅适用于首席执行官和经理。我们都在努力帮助别人变得更好，对吧？作为父母、同事或志愿者。

Here's why these habits work. Habit one, don't blame. Think about the last time you blamed someone for something.

这就是为什么这些习惯会奏效。习惯一，不要指责。想想你上次因为某件事责备别人的时候。

How did it turn out? Probably not well. That's because our brains interpret blame the same way they interpret a physical attack. Blame triggers the fight or flight response, which effectively shuts down our prefrontal cortex, which is the problem-solving part of our brain.

结果如何？可能不太好。这是因为我们的大脑对指责的解读方式与对身体攻击的解读方式相同。指责会触发战斗或逃跑反应，这会有效地关闭我们的大脑前额叶皮层，而大脑前额叶皮层是我们大脑中解决问题的部分。

So when I was getting angry at my daughters, it wasn't motivating them. It was actually impairing their brain function. Researcher Dr. Amy Edmondson studied hospital teams to see how culture affects people's willingness to report medical errors.

所以，当我冲我的女儿们发火时，这并没有激励她们。这实际上是在损害她们的脑功能。研究员艾米·埃德蒙森博士研究了医院团队，以了解文化如何影响人们报告医疗错误的意愿。

She expected that the high-performing teams would make fewer mistakes, but to her surprise, they reported more errors. Why? Because when people aren't blamed for problems, they're more willing to admit their mistakes and learn from them. But in cultures of blame, people hide problems.

她预计，表现优异的团队犯的错误会更少，但令她惊讶的是，他们报告的错误更多。为什么？因为当人们没有因为问题而受到指责时，他们更愿意承认自己的错误并从中吸取教训。但在指责的文化中，人们会隐瞒问题。

Or point their finger at someone else. No one is going to take accountability if they think they're going to be blamed for doing so. Blame destroys teamwork, problem-solving, learning, and initiative.

或者把矛头指向别人。没有人愿意承担责任，如果他们认为这样做会受到指责。指责会破坏团队合作、问题解决、学习和主动性。

In other words, blame kills accountability. So what should we do instead? Habit two, look in the mirror. Most of us are really good at noticing other people's mistakes, but we're not so good at noticing how we contribute to problems.

换句话说，指责会扼杀责任感。那么我们应该怎么做呢？习惯二，照照镜子。我们大多数人都很善于发现别人的错误，但我们不善于发现自己是如何导致问题的。

One time, my assistant helped me mail out hundreds of expensive marketing packages to prospective clients. Three weeks later, no responses. So I checked one of the cover letters.

有一次，我的助理帮我给数百位潜在客户寄出了数百份昂贵的营销资料。三周后，没有任何回复。所以我查看了其中一封求职信。

It read, Dear Mr. Smith, insert company name here. She missed one of the variable fields in every letter. Thousands of dollars down the drain.

上面写着，亲爱的史密斯先生，请在此插入公司名称。她在每封信中都漏掉了一个变量字段。数千美元打了水漂。

Now, she felt awful and said, this is totally my fault. I was thinking, you are darn right this is totally your fault. But then I looked in the mirror, and I realized I didn't highlight any of the variable fields in yellow, like they are in all our other templates.

现在，她感到很难过，说，这完全是我的错。我在想，你说得太对了，这完全是你的错。但后来我照了照镜子，我意识到我没有像在所有其他模板中那样，用黄色突出显示任何变量字段。

If I had, she couldn't have missed it. Now, I'm not saying that every problem is my fault, but if I look closely enough at my problems, I can usually discover how my actions or inactions contributed to them in some way. This is a profound insight.

如果我这样做了，她就不会错过了。现在，我并不是说每个问题都是我的错，但如果我足够仔细地审视我的问题，我通常会发现我的行为或不作为在某种程度上是如何导致这些问题的。这是一个深刻的见解。

Because if I can see my part in a problem, I can do something about it. The next time you encounter a problem, try this. Ask yourself, how may I have contributed to this problem? I taught these principles to a construction company and followed up a few weeks later to see how things had changed.

因为如果我能看到自己在问题中所起的作用，我就能做些什么。下次你遇到问题时，试试这个。问问自己，我可能是如何导致这个问题的？我将这些原则教给了一家建筑公司，并在几周后进行了回访，看看情况发生了怎样的变化。

A project manager told me the following story. Our general manager is a total blamer. And team meetings usually turn into blame sessions.

一位项目经理给我讲了这样一个故事。我们的总经理是一个彻头彻尾的指责者。团队会议通常会变成指责大会。

But the week after you taught us these principles, that meeting went very differently. When our general manager identified a problem, he was about to lay into the person who he thought was responsible, but then he stopped. Put his head in his hand for a moment, then looked up and said, this is how I think I contributed to the problem.

但在你教给我们这些原则后的那周，那次会议就大不一样了。当我们的总经理发现一个问题时，他正要斥责他认为应该负责的人，但他停了下来。他用手捂了一会儿头，然后抬起头说，我认为我是这样导致这个问题的。

The mood in that meeting changed instantly. And then I saw something I have never seen before. Other people began raising their hands, saying, no, boss, it wasn't just your fault.

会议的气氛顿时变了。然后我看到了我以前从未见过的事情。其他人开始举手说，不，老板，这不仅仅是你的错。

This is how I think I contributed to the problem. When leaders acknowledge their part in problems first, it makes it safe for everybody else to do the same. And if nobody else follows suit, then you've earned the moral authority to ask, and how may you have contributed to this problem? Before others will allow us to hold them accountable, they must first see us hold ourselves accountable.

我认为我是这样导致这个问题的。当领导者首先承认自己在问题中的责任时，其他人也会放心地这样做。如果没有人效仿，那么你就赢得了道德上的权威，可以问，你可能是如何导致这个问题的？在我们要求他人承担责任之前，他们必须首先看到我们对自己负责。

Now, what if the cause of your problem isn't what you think it is? Habit three, engineer the solution. When bad things happen, our brains are hardwired to blame the person closest to the mess and ignore other causes. Fortunately, there's a fix.

现在，如果你的问题的原因不是你认为的那样呢？习惯三，设计解决方案。当坏事发生时，我们的大脑天生就会责备离混乱最近的人，而忽略其他原因。幸运的是，有一个解决办法。

It's called systems thinking, which is noticing how environment and processes influence behavior. Systems thinking emerged toward the end of World War II, when the U.S. Air Force noticed that a lot of their planes were crashing without any mechanical problems. Their conclusion? Our pilots are idiots.

这叫做系统思维，即注意到环境和流程是如何影响行为的。系统思维出现在第二次世界大战末期，当时美国空军注意到他们的很多飞机在没有任何机械故障的情况下坠毁。他们的结论是？我们的飞行员都是白痴。

So they engaged some consultants to help them select less error-prone pilots. When the consultants investigated, they discovered they didn't have a pilot problem. They had a cockpit problem.

所以他们聘请了一些顾问来帮助他们挑选不容易出错的飞行员。当顾问们进行调查时，他们发现这不是飞行员的问题。而是驾驶舱的问题。

For instance, pilots confused gear handles that looked and felt the same if they were located right beside each other. Or they mixed up controls if they were in a different position in a different model of plane. Design better cockpits, the consultants concluded, and you'll have fewer crashes.

例如，如果齿轮操纵杆的外观和感觉相同，并且彼此靠近，飞行员就会混淆。或者，如果他们在不同型号的飞机上的位置不同，他们就会混淆控制装置。顾问们的结论是，设计更好的驾驶舱，坠机事故就会减少。

So the U.S. Air Force engineered the solution by simplifying cockpit design. Similarly, when I stopped blaming my daughters, I noticed the environmental factors that were influencing their behavior. I engineered the solution by putting up clocks and a schedule so they had the information they needed to take the initiative.

因此，美国空军通过简化驾驶舱设计来设计解决方案。同样，当我停止责备我的女儿们时，我注意到了一些影响她们行为的环境因素。我通过设置时钟和时间表来设计解决方案，这样她们就有了采取主动所需的信息。

Instead of asking, whose fault is this? Ask, where did the process break down? This question is your secret weapon to short circuit the blame game and find sustainable solutions to your problems. Remember, you can't inspire accountability in others until you model it yourself. The next time you encounter a problem, test this sequence of habits and watch it change your outcomes.

与其问，这是谁的错？不如问，流程是在哪里出问题的？这个问题是你的秘密武器，可以让你避开指责游戏，找到可持续解决问题的方法。记住，在你以身作则之前，你无法激励他人承担责任。下次你遇到问题时，试试这一系列的习惯，看看它如何改变你的结果。

Don't blame. Look in the mirror and engineer the solution. Be the change that you want to see in others.

不要指责。照照镜子，设计解决方案。成为你想在别人身上看到的改变。

Our world is in desperate need of more people who take ownership of problems and solutions. In our workplaces, our homes, and in our society. And the secret is, as you model these behaviors, so will those around you.

我们的世界迫切需要更多的人来承担问题和解决方案的责任。在我们的工作场所、我们的家庭和我们的社会中。秘诀在于，当你以身作则时，你周围的人也会这样做。

It's kind of magic. Thank you.

这有点神奇。谢谢大家。

Nagging – adjective. constantly complaining or criticizing. 总是唠叨的

Gong show – noun. a chaotic or disorganized situation. 一团糟

Groom – verb. to make yourself clean and neat. 打扮整洁

Cease – verb. to stop happening or existing. 停止

Accountability – noun. the state of being responsible for something. 责任

Model – verb. to show others the right way to do something by doing it yourself. 以身作则

Impair – verb. to damage something or make it weaker. 损害

Prefrontal cortex – noun. the part of the brain responsible for planning and decision-making. 前额叶皮层

Prospective – adjective. likely to become or do something in the future. 潜在的

Variable field – noun. a placeholder in a document that can be filled with different information. 可变字段

Darn – adjective. used to emphasize how bad something is (mild swear word). 该死的

Profound – adjective. very great or intense. 深刻的

Lay into – phrasal verb. to criticize someone strongly. 严厉批评

Moral authority – noun. the right to tell people what to do because you are respected and have good judgment. 道德权威

Hardwired – adjective. automatically thinking or behaving in a particular way. 根深蒂固的

Short circuit – verb. to prevent something from happening in the usual way. 阻止

Sustainable – adjective. able to continue for a long time. 可持续的