突破职场天花板的五点建议

I have watched many talented people struggle to advance beyond middle management and through the glass ceiling. Women have particular trouble making the leap: while women hold over half of the professional jobs in the U.S., they only make up 34% of middle managers, 14% of executive officers, and a mere 4% of CEOs.

曾看到很多优秀人才很难做到中层以上、突破那层玻璃天花板。女性实现这一飞跃尤其困难：女性占美国专业岗位的一半以上，但她们只占中层管理人员的34%、高层管理人员的14%，在CEO中的比例更是只有4%。

Here are five key things to do if you want to break through the glass ceiling and go to the next level:

如果你想突破玻璃天花板上升到新的级别，做到以下五件事情非常关键：

1) Learn to See the Big Picture

学会深思 In middle management and below, the job is all about execution: delivering on the ideas and strategies that others have created. In the C-Suite, the job is about determining what work needs to be done, and then leading a team to make that work happen.

中层及以下级别的岗位只关系到执行，即兑现别人制定的创意和策略。高级管理岗位的工作则是确定哪些事情要做，然后率领一支团队把事情完成。

These require very different skill sets. Doing well at execution requires specialization and focus. Doing well at the executive level requires a global understanding of the business environment and the tasks at hand.

这些工作要求的技能是非常不同的。做好执行需要专门化、需要专注。做好高管级别的工作，就需要对商业环境和手头任务有一个全局的了解。

So if you want to make the transition to the executive level, you have to first start thinking beyond specialization and your immediate workload. Be open to developmental opportunities that may be unrelated to your current job, but that will give you wider knowledge and insights. Develop great relationships with individuals outside your department and company. Read books, blogs, and newspapers to stay current on what's happening not only in your industry, but in the business community at large. That way, when leadership opportunities arise, you'll already have an informed, strategic view of what needs to happen. Then you can...

所以如果你想上升到高管级别，那么首先就得让你的思维超越专门化和手头的任务。要留意可能跟你目前岗位无关、但会让你获得更广知识与见解的锻炼机会。要与部门、公司之外的人员建立良好的关系。读书、读博客、读报纸，了解本行业以及整个业界的动态。这样，当有领导岗位的工作机会出现的时候，你就已经对需要做什么有了一套见多识广、高屋建瓴的看法。然后你就可以……

2) Take the Initiative

2）主动出击 To show you have what it takes to be in charge, you have to be willing to take charge. Too many times I've seen people sit back and wait for someone to tell them what to do. If you want to be in the top jobs, don't wait to be asked. Figure out what needs to be done and then make it happen.

要证明你拥有管事的能力，你就得拥有管事的意愿。一些人坐等别人告诉他们做什么事，这样的情形我见得太多了。如果你想进入高层，那就不要等别人来问。想清楚进入高层需要做什么，然后付诸实际行动。

3) Find Mentors and Sponsors - and Know the Difference Between the Two

3）找到导师和举荐人，并理解两者的不同 Mentors are people who can coach you in areas where you don't have deep knowledge. They provide professional and personal support as you develop your career (and you, in turn, should seek to provide similar support to them and others). They can be, but usually aren't, people in senior levels of management, as those individuals may not have the time or specific knowledge to mentor you effectively.

导师是在你了解不深的领域能够教你的人，他们在你的职业成长过程中亲身提供专业支持（你也应该为他们和其他人提供类似的支持）。他们可以是（但通常不是）高级管理层的人，因为那些人多半没有时间和专门知识来把你教好。

That's why sponsors are different from mentors, and in some ways even more critical to moving up the ladder. A sponsor is a senior-level leader, that is, someone who sits at the decision-making table, who is willing to advocate on your behalf. This is vital, since most of the decisions about the top jobs are made by a senior team. If you do not have at least one cheerleader among this group, you are not going to get the top jobs.

所以举荐人不同于导师，从某些意义上讲对于你的晋升还要更加关键。举荐人是一位高级别的领导人，是一位愿意推荐你的决策者。这是至关重要的，因为大部分有关高级管理岗位的决定都由某个元老团队做出。如果你在这个集体中没有至少一个人支持你，那么你就进不了高级管理层。

4) Be Willing to Risk, and Risk Often

4）愿意冒险，经常冒险 We all love to stay in our comfort zone. Stepping outside that zone brings the risk of failure. But it is new experiences that provide the most opportunity for personal and professional growth, and those looking to reach the next level must push themselves to take risks and be uncomfortable on a regular basis.

我们都喜欢呆在自己的舒适区不动，走出舒适区会带来失败的风险。但个人和职业成长道路上的大多数机会都是新的经历带来的，希望升到下一个级别的人必须经常性地强迫自己冒险，让自己处于不安定的状态。

To make risk-taking easier, you have to adjust your attitude towards failure. Failure happens all the time and it should not scare us. It teaches us what doesn't work so we can be more successful on the next try. We can gain a certain amount of knowledge from books, but nothing replaces on the job experience for getting you ready for the next career stage. And yet too many people, myself included, have avoided wonderful opportunities because the fear of failure was too great.

要让冒险变得容易一些，你需要调整自己面对失败的态度。胜败乃兵家常事，我们不应因为失败而惧怕。失败让我们知道什么方法行不通，这样下次尝试的时候我们就会更加成功。我们可以从书本上获得一定量的知识，但在工作中要为下一职业台阶做好准备，什么都取代不了经验。然而包括我自己在内，太多人都因为过于害怕失败而错失了大好机会。

To counteract the fear of failure, continuously nurture your abilities and self-confidence. The more confidence and expertise you have, the more you become like a bird that 'trusts not the branch, but its own wings.' Also be sure to take the time to develop your personal networks, so that if you do stumble, you'll have plenty of backers to help you get back up on your feet.

要遏制对失败的恐惧，就要持续不断地培养你的能力和自信。自信心和专业能力越强，你就越会成为一只“不靠树枝、只靠翅膀”的鸟儿。另外一定要拿出时间开发人脉，这样即便是跌倒了，也会有很多支持者帮助你站起来。

Finally, if you want to lead, you must have strong emotional intelligence. That's because the higher up the corporate ladder you climb, the less the job is about you, and the more it is about who you surround yourself with and your ability to lead and motivate others. No one can know it all, so having others who think differently and possess skills you may not have become critical to being successful in senior management.

最后，如果你想领导别人，那就必须拥有强大的情商。这是因为你在职场梯子上爬得越高，工作涉及到的就越不是你自己，而是你在自己周围安排的人员，以及你能不能领导并激励他人。没有谁什么都知道，所以依靠其他想法不同、掌握你可能不具备的技能的人员，对于在高级管理层里面成功与否就变得至关重要。

Executive-level leaders must have self-awareness and an ability to keep their emotions in check. They must listen before reacting. As Stephen Covey recommends, 'seek first to understand and then to be understood.' Above all, executives must be ethical and behave in a way that inspires trust and respect in those who work with them. People want to work for someone with integrity, who cares about and invests in others.

高管级别的领导人必须有自知之明，能够控制自己的情感。他们必须先倾听再做反应。正如史蒂芬·柯维(Stephen Covey)建议的，“先去理解别人，然后再去让别人理解”。最重要的一点是，高管必须谨守道德，在同事当中赢得信任与尊重。大家都想跟一位正直的、关心他人并舍得为他人付出的人共事。