巴菲特、布兰森及世界级教练的6个职业建议

It’s that time of year when your boss will judge whether you’re likely to hit or miss your annual goals, and undoubtedly you’re being pushed to commit to even more ambitious plans for next year. Before you dive in, consider these questions from Warren Buffett, Richard Branson and the world’s top executive coaches that could make all the difference in your career.

1.Why are you here?

Before you bury yourself in all the minutiae of planning for the business year ahead, ask an existential question about why you’re doing this. Just three years after arriving at eBay, Devin Wenig has been promoted to CEO to lead a historic new chapter for that company.

His advice for those facing big transformations this year: “As you plunge into all the important issues of administration, capital and systems necessary to keep your business running, you have to stay grounded in the only major reason you and your company exist: To deliver better experiences for your customers than your competitors!”

Wenig smiled and leaned on the conference table in his scrappy Silicon Valley office. “You have to start and finish every day focused on how you’re creating greater engagement in a world where people have endless choices and distractions.”

2.What are you passionate about?

It’s common for aspiring managers to seek Warren Buffett’s advice as a career coach rather than an investment guru whenever I’ve met with him during our trips to Omaha from Stanford University.

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, famous for his claim that he “tap dances to work,” told us that the difference between becoming a good leader and a great one is a matter of finding your mojo. Everyone around you can tell if you’re “happy where you’re working,” Buffett smirked.

“I always worry about people who say, ‘I’m going to do this for 10 years and I don’t like it very well.’” How does that make everyone around you feel? The legendary investor thinks that your sour attitude is not only bad for the culture, it undermines your creative energy and enthusiasm. Putting off your passions is “a little like saving up sex for your old age. Not a good idea!”

3.How can you add more value?

Tony Robbins and his wife, Sage, strolled the beach at sunset past their West Palm Beach home, where over a dozen sea turtles were nesting a few yards from their patio and pool.

“It’s hard, unglamorous work digging day and night, watching for predators and other risks, and managing your nest egg every day,” Robbins observed metaphorically. “But that’s exactly the kind of grit every one of the world’s greatest investors has demonstrated to get where they are today.” Robbins was referring to his newly released book, Money: Master the Game, which Steve Forbes called “a goldmine of moneymaking information.” Robbins said that if you want to build your wealth overall, or just get paid more in the coming year, “you have to learn what other people value before expecting to be valued by them.” At age 17, he realized “the secret to success is to do more for others than anyone else does,” Robbins boomed in this trademark baritone, then whispered as a turtle scurried past. “Author Jim Rohn taught me that life’s biggest secret is to add more value than anyone else no matter what it takes.”

4.Do you have the right team?

The irrepressible SirRichard Branson has enjoyed many successes with more than 300 companies in the Virgin Group, but he recently endured his most painful setback. Following the explosion of SpaceShipTwo, Branson’s first instinct was to show support for Virgin Galactic and his partners, drawing his team closer to each other to “get to the bottom of the disaster, and to keep everyone constructively engaged in the long-term mission,” he said. “You have to surround yourself with people who really care about people...who own the vision as much as you do.” When the going gets tough, do you have the right team?

5.What will you stop doing?

Companies spend “too much time helping leaders learn what to do and not enough time helping them learn what to stop,” according to executive coach Marshall Goldsmith. During my interview with the “world’s best coaches” for the American Management Association, Goldsmith insisted that it’s typical for successful executives to be excessively competitive even when it doesn’t serve their best interests.

“If something is important, you want to win. If it’s meaningful, you want to win. If it’s trivial and unimportant, you still want to win anyway!” Goldsmith slapped his hand on the marble countertop in his stylish Hell’s Kitchen Manhattan apartment. “Winners love winning for its own sake,” he laughed. “It’s incredibly difficult for smart successful people to go through life not winning.”

He suggests that you pick fewer battles in the new year. “Here’s a classic case in point: You have a hard day at work. You go home to your husband, wife or partner who says, ‘I had such a hard day;’ and we reply, ‘You had a hard day? Do you have any idea what I had to put up with today?’ We are so competitive we have to prove that we are more miserable than the people we live with,” he guffawed.

Goldsmith shared that example in his class at Dartmouth’s Tuck School and “a young man in back raised his hand and said, ‘I did that last week.’ I asked him, ‘What happened?’ He said his wife replied, ‘Honey you just think you had a hard day. It’s not over!’ The next time you try to win, take a deep breath and ask yourself: What am I trying to win and what’s the point?”

6.Is it worth it?

Stuart Crainer & Des Dearlove conduct the highly regarded Thinkers50survey every other year to identify and celebrate the latest global influencers of our day. Crainer once escorted Peter Drucker, the father of management science, after an interview in London, where Drucker shared an ethos that has echoed among thought leaders at the T50 conference ever since:

“The book you should want to write” during your career, he said, is “How to Make a Million and Still Go to Heaven,” Drucker told him.

You should ask yourself, is what you’re doing worth it over the long haul? Are you climbing the career ladder with a conscience? Ultimately, life isn’t about “competing with anyone else; the only person you are competing with is yourself.”

又到每年老板开始评估你是否能达到年度目标的时候了，毫无疑问迫于压力你不得不承诺更宏伟的来年计划。在你投入其中前，不妨思考一下沃伦•巴菲特（Warren Buffett）、理查德•布兰森（Richard Branson）及其他世界顶级高管教练提出的问题，可能为你的事业带来重大转变。

1、为什么要做这些？

在你忙于来年商业计划的细枝末节前，问自己一个现实的问题：为什么你要做这些？在易趣（eBay）工作仅仅三年，德文·维尼格（Devin Wenig）已经被提升为首席执行官，正带领员工为该公司谱写历史性新篇章。

他对那些今年面临重大转变的职场人士建议道：“当你投身于诸如行政管理、资金、保持商业运营的必要体系这些重要岗位时，你必须清醒地认识到你和你的公司存在的最主要理由是：比起你的竞争对手，你能否为客户提供更好的用户体验！”

维尼格微笑了一下，靠在他硅谷办公室杂乱的会议桌上说：“这是一个面临无数选择和容易分心的世界，每一天你都必须时时刻刻专注于如何更多地抓住人们的注意力。”

2、你的工作热情是什么？

不论何时我从斯坦福大学去往奥马哈（Omaha）途中遇到巴菲特，常能遇到雄心勃勃的管理人将他作为一位事业教练而非投资大师来寻求建议。

这位以宣称“跳着踢踏舞去上班”而成名的伯克希尔·哈撒韦（Berkshire Hathaway）公司首席执行官告诉我们：“成为一个好的领导人和成为一位杰出的领导人区别在于，是否能发现你自身的魔力。你周围的每一个人都可以看出你是否为你所做的工作感到快乐。”

巴菲特得意地笑道，“我常为抱怨说‘我要在这份工作上干10年，我一点也不喜欢它。’的人感到忧虑。这会让你周围的人怎么想呢？这位传奇投资人认为，消极态度不仅对企业文化不利，它还会削弱你的创造力和热情。打消你的热情‘有点像为你的老年而节制性行为一样。’这可不是个好做法！”

3、怎样才能创造更大的价值？

夕阳西下，住在西棕榈滩（West Palm Beach）的托尼·罗宾斯（Tony Robbins）和妻子塞奇（Sage）在家门前的沙滩上漫步。这里离他们家露台和游泳池有几码远，数十只海龟正在这儿筑巢。

“夜以继日地工作，同时要警惕天敌和其他危险、照顾好巢里的蛋，这些事很艰辛也很乏味，”罗宾斯意味深长地说道。“但是世界上每一个最伟大的投资者都宣称，他们能达到今天的高度，靠的正是这样的勇气。”罗宾斯指着他最新出版的《金钱：掌控游戏》（Money: Master the Game）一书说。史蒂夫·福布斯（Steve Forbes）称这本书为“一座淘金宝藏”。

罗宾斯说，如果你想在来年全面积累财富或者仅仅是得到更多报酬，“在期望被他人重视前，你必须了解他人重视什么。”在17岁时，他意识到“成功的秘诀是比起其他人，你得为别人做更多事，”罗宾斯用它独具特色的男中音有力地说道。当一只海龟快速爬过时，他低语道，“作家吉米·罗恩（Jim Rohn）教会我，生活最大的秘诀是无论需要付出何种代价，都要比其他人创造更大的价值。”

4、你有“对的团队”吗？

成就颇丰的维珍集团（Virgin Group）创始人理查德·布兰森精力旺盛，他旗下拥有300多家公司。但他最近经受了人生最痛苦的打击。“太空飞船2号”（SpaceShipTwo）爆炸后，布兰森的第一反应就是表现出对维珍银河公司（Virgin Galactic）和他的合伙人的支持，同时增强团队凝聚力，“弄清这次灾难的原因，保证每个人积极参与这项长期性任务，”他说。“你必须保证你周围的人是那些真正在乎他人的人……那些和你一样有远见的人。”当遇到困难时，你有“对的团队”吗？

5、你会停止做什么？

公司花了“太多时间帮助领导人学习要做什么，但没有花足够时间帮助他们学习停止做什么。”高管教练马歇尔·戈德史密斯（Marshall Goldsmith）说。他被美国管理协会（American Management Association）评为“世界最优教练”，他在接受采访时强调说，成功的高管们往往过度竞争，连不符合他们最佳利益的事也不放过，这是很常见的现象。

“如果某事很重要，你会想获胜。如果某事很有意义，你会想获胜。如果某事很微不足道、很无足轻重，不论如何你仍想获胜！”戈德史密斯一手拍向他公寓的大理石桌面说道。这座公寓位于曼哈顿地狱厨房地区（Hell’s Kitchen），非常时尚。“赢家为赢而赢，”他笑道，“对于那些既聪明又成功的人来说，不以赢为生是很困难的。”

他建议说，在新的一年里少些较量。“举两个典型的经典案例：这一天你工作很不顺。回到家，你的丈夫、妻子或者同居者说，‘我今天工作真是糟透了。’我们回应道，‘你还糟透了？你知道我今天过得有多糟糕吗？’我们生性好斗，一定要证明自己比一同生活的人过得更不顺。”他大笑着说。

戈德史密斯在达克茅斯商学院课堂上举这个例子时，“一个坐在后排的年轻人举手说，‘我上周就是那么做的。’我问他，‘然后怎样了？’他说他妻子回答道：‘宝贝，你只是觉得你今天过得很糟糕。但现在也甭想好过哦！’下次你试图争强好胜时，深吸一口气，问问你自己：我想赢得什么？这有什么意义？”

6、这么做值得吗？

斯图尔特·克雷纳（Stuart Craine）和戴斯·狄洛夫（Des Dearlove）每隔一年发布一份受到高度认可的调查报告，评选最具影响力的50位商业思想家（Thinkers50），以此选出并祝贺当今最新的全球影响人物。在伦敦的一次采访结束后，克雷纳曾护过送管理学之父皮特·德鲁克（Peter Drucker）。德鲁克在采访时分享了一个理念，这个理念自此在出席“最具影响力的50位商业思想家”会议的思想领袖中间得到热烈反响：

在你的事业中“你想要写的书”，他说，应该是“《如何赚一百且还能进天堂》（How to Make a Million and Still Go to Heaven），”德鲁克告诉他说。

你应该问问你自己，从长远来看你这么做值得吗？你是在不昧良心的前提下攀登事业的阶梯吗？归根结底，生活不是“和别人竞争；你唯一的竞争者是你自己。”