成功领导者共有的一项品质

    职场中，我们见过两种不同类型的领导者，一种是一直以来总是被赋予领导职责的人，一种是身上原本就带有领袖气质的人。如果这两种人同时竞争一个职位，究竟该选哪一个呢？这就要求助于莱斯利•普拉琪了。

    普拉琪是一位临床心理学家，她曾评估过上百位《财富》500强公司（Fortune 500）的CEO候选人和其它高层管理职位候选人，借此预测谁能成功胜任领袖角色，谁会惨遭淘汰。她在新书《纸上谈兵》（Looks Good On Paper）中着重探讨了在她看来成功领导者必须具备的一项品质。

    本周早些时候，普拉琪与我共进咖啡，谈话中她告诉我，卓越的领导人都善于积极应对。普拉琪说的积极应对，其实是指有创造力并有效地适应挑战和变化的能力。一个善于积极应对的人能迅速从挫折中恢复，向周围人敞开心扉，对自己的动机、优势和劣势一清二楚。普拉琪说，未来世界瞬息万变，领导人具备这一特性至关重要。

    普拉琪告诉我，她的测试主要是评估职位候选人身上是否具备这一特性，借此对这些候选人能否成功角逐领导职位进行预测，在长达10年的预测中，结果的准确率高达98%。

    普拉琪认为有些不善于积极应对的人会有一些负面的性格特征，自恋是其中最突出的一个。她解释说，假如一个机构的高管总爱以自我为中心，常常自认为颇有特别之处，这样不仅会降低自己的形象，还会给其所在的机构带来负面影响。善于积极应对的人非常有自知之明，并能虚心听取不同意见。

    普拉提还特别指出，女性领导者更应该成为积极应对者。领导力要求一定程度上的自信和强势，但当涉及到这些性格特征的时候，女性通常面临着“正面你赢，反面我输的情况”。如果她们表现得过于娇弱，别人就会认为她们工作效率低，但假如她们过于强势，别人就会认为她们太自我。为了改变这种传统刻板的性别定位，女人一定要成为更强的积极应对者，找到与她们的团队共鸣的领导角色定位。

    “女人更易于被局限在行为准则的条条框框中，假如她们按照传统男性化的方式做事，会被周围人说三道四，”普拉琪说，“积极应对是指，在遇到上面的情况时，能在你的行为中选择一种有效的方式。”

    那么，是不是所有《财富》500强企业的CEO都是卓越的积极应对者呢？当我问及普拉琪这个问题时，她援引了百事可乐公司（PepsiCo） CEO卢英德的例子。这位首席执行官最近说她无法实现工作和生活的平衡，并且表示，普拉琪的一席话让她受到极大“感染”。

    “积极应对的第一步是精确地感知现实，”普拉琪说，“她的思想似乎非常开放，认识到工作和生活存在冲突；所有女人每天都不得不做出选择。这就是积极应对的一种标志。”（财富中文网）

    译者：Joseph

    We all know that a person who has been handed leadership responsibilities in the past and a person who is a true leader are two completely different job candidates. That’s where Leslie Pratch comes in.

    A clinical psychologist, Pratch has evaluated hundreds of candidates for CEO and other top management positions at Fortune 500 companies to predict who will succeed in these leadership roles—and who will not. Her new book, Looks Good On Paper, distills down the one trait she thinks is essential for successful leaders to have.

    Great leaders are great active copers, Pratch explained to me earlier this week over coffee. By active coping, Pratch means the ability to adapt creatively and effectively to challenges and change. An active coper quickly recovers from setbacks, opens up to the people around her and is aware of her own motivations, strengths and shortcomings. In the constantly changing world that we will in, it is critical that leaders posses this trait, says Pratch.

    By evaluating potential job candidates based on this one trait, Pratch tells me she has successful predicted the outcome of the leader’s tenure 98% of the time over a ten-year period.

    One of the key signs that tips Pratch off to a bad active coper is narcissism. Self-involved executives feel a need to view themselves as special, she explains, and in turn, they develop a diluted version of themselves and their organizations. Good active copers are self-aware and open to other opinions.

    Pratch added that it is particularly important for women leaders to be skilled active copers. Leadership requires a certain level of self-confidence and aggressiveness, yet women are faced with a “heads-you-win tails-I-lose situation” when it comes to these traits. If they display too little they are deemed ineffective and if they display too much they can be viewed as full of themselves. To transcend these gender stereotypes, women must be stronger active copers and find a leadership that resonates with their entire team.

    “Women are more limited in the range of behaviors that they can choose to be effective because they are penalized for behaving in traditionally masculine ways,” says Pratch. “Active coping is about having a choice over your behaviors and choosing the one that is going to be effective in that situation.”

    So are there any Fortune 500 CEOs that are particularly skilled active copers? When I asked Pratch, she cited PepsiCo PEP -0.56% CEO Indra Nooyi. The chief executive recently discussed herinability to achieve work-life balance and said she was “impressed” by her remarks.

    “The first step to active coping is accurately perceiving reality,” says Pratch. “She seemed very open that there was a conflict and that women have to make a choice everyday. That’s a sign of active coping.”