宇航员给商业领袖的启示

    身居要职的压力可想而知，但如果比起在地球上空100公里处轨道中的航天飞机里发号施令，它就显得小巫见大巫了。

    杰弗里•阿什比在身体不适和失重的状态下，在千军一发之际完成决策。他是2002年亚特兰蒂斯号航天飞机（Atlantis）上的指挥官，任务是将设备送往国际空间站。他做出了艰难的选择，决定将亚特兰蒂斯号与空间站手动对接，这并不是常规操作，就连他自己也担心任务可能会失败。

    他说，尽管如此他还是充满了信心，因为他与自己的团队在发射前的九个月里就已经建立了强大的团队精神。阿什比坚持他的小队必须完成国家户外领导学校（National Outdoor Leadership School）提供的艰苦户外课程，训练的地点在犹他州东南部的荒凉峡谷。

    阿什比的简历看起来完美得就像三年级小学生的梦想：成为宇航员之前，他在海军开战斗机，并指挥着一个战斗机飞行员中队。他曾三次从太空俯瞰我们的星球。现在，58岁的阿什比的职业生涯又转向了地面。阿什比是蓝源公司（Blue Origin）的任务保障总监（Chief of Mission Assurance），该公司的目标是降低商业太空飞行的费用门槛。

    在最近沃顿商学院（Wharton School）的一次会议上，阿什比向《财富》杂志（Fortune ）畅谈了在太空——这块最后未开拓疆土（Final Frontier）所需的领导力。

《财富》：你似乎并不畏惧在危及生命的情况下担任领袖的角色。那么，有什么让你害怕的东西吗？

    杰弗里•阿什比：很多人问我在发射时害不害怕。我常常答道，我不怕死，因为到了那个时候，真有点儿听天由命的感觉；但我怕犯错，担心因为我的错误而付出生命的代价，或者导致任务失败。艾伦•谢泼德开启了一个传统：在前往发射台的路上，宇航员们都会背诵他的祈祷词：“上帝啊，请保佑我们不要搞砸。”

这是一种在危险情况下采用的以团队为导向的理念。

    我的意思是，如果你把自己摆在事业和团队之上，最终肯定会失败。我看到过大喊大叫、紧张兮兮的领导，他们都是以自我为中心的人。要想成为真正伟大的领袖，必须做到无私。这样的领袖，人们才愿意追随，即使他们有不同意见，也会执行团队决策。

是不是可以说，那些安安稳稳坐在办公室的商界领袖们所面对的问题不值一提？

    不是这样的。每个人都有不同的才能。我恰巧擅长在航空母舰上开飞机，而且我喜欢在驾驶航天飞机时进行思考。

    The corner office can be a high-pressure environment, but imagine calling the shots in a cramped shuttle in orbit 100 kilometers above the planet.

    Jeffrey Ashby made some split-second decisions while space-sick and weightless. He was commander of the shuttle Atlantis on its 2002 mission to bring equipment to the International Space Station. He made the tough choice to manually dock Atlantis to the Space Station, bucking protocol, when he feared the mission might fail.

    Yet he felt confident, he says, because of the chemistry he built with his team during the nine months prior to launch. Ashby insisted that his group complete a grueling outdoor course with National Outdoor Leadership School in southeastern Utah's desolate canyon country.

    Ashby's resume reads like the dreams of a third-grader: he flew jets in the Navy and commanded a squadron of fighter pilots before he became an astronaut. He's seen our planet from space three times. For now, the career of 58-year-old Ashby has taken a more terrestrial turn. Ashby is the Chief of Mission Assurance for Blue Origin, a company that aims to make commercial space flight affordable.

    Ashby talked to Fortune about leadership in the Final Frontier at a recent conference at the Wharton School.

Fortune: You don't seem to be afraid of leading in life-threatening situations. So, what scares you?

    Jeffrey Ashby: A lot of people ask if I'm afraid during a launch. My stock answer is, not of dying, because you've sort of accepted your destiny at that point, but I am afraid of making a mistake that will either cost lives or cost the mission. Alan Shepard started a tradition where, on the way up to the launch pad, the astronauts recite the astronaut prayer, which is, "Please God, don't let us screw this up."

That is a very team-oriented philosophy to apply in a scary situation.

    Oh. I mean, if you put yourself above the cause and your team, you will eventually fail. I see leaders who are screamers, who lead by fear, and that's all ego-driven. You have to be selfless to be a truly great leader. That kind of leader, people will follow, and even if they don't agree with decisions, they'll disagree and commit.

Don't the problems that business leaders face from the safety of their offices seem relatively minor?

    No. We all have different sets of talents. I happen to be pretty good at flying off of aircraft carriers and, I like to think, flying shuttles.