两个危机，三个教训：危机管理高手谈经验

    凯伦•皮茨所处的独特位置让她从危机中汲取了不少经验。皮茨是《财富》世界500强企业纽约梅隆银行（Bank of New York Mellon）董事长。这家银行顺利通过了金融危机的考验，但同整个行业一样，它的声誉也遭受了重创。皮茨同时还是宾夕法尼亚州立大学（Penn State University）董事会的成员。（宾夕法尼亚州立大学橄榄球队）前橄榄球助理教练杰里•桑德斯基性侵男童的丑闻曝光后，皮茨成为了宾夕法尼亚州立大董事会的主席，以帮助母校从这桩丑闻引起的灾难和耻辱中恢复元气。上个月底，宾夕法尼亚州立大学任命前佛罗里达州立大学校长埃里克•巴伦为校长，而美国政府也同时发布了对抗2008年金融危机的成果。这个巧合使得所有人开始再次审视我们需要从这两起危机中汲取哪些教训。说起这一点，没有哪位领导者比皮茨更适合谈论这个话题了。下面就是皮茨对美国观众谈话的编辑版本。

    我是在宾夕法尼亚州立大学读的本科，读书的同时也是一名运动员，在大学里主要打长曲棍球和陆上曲棍球。大一赛季，（主教练）乔•帕特诺带领我们曲棍球队创下了不败的战绩， 最终赢得了橘子碗（Orange Bowl）冠军。乔•帕特诺在我和许多同学眼里不仅是一个好教练，更是个神一样的角色，他对于人应该如何生活抱着一些崇高的信念。在很大程度上，这一点可能使后来发生的事情变得更加令人震惊。杰里•桑德斯基丑闻爆发后，宾夕法尼亚州立大学陷入了危机，董事会及管理部门受到了严峻考验，学校董事会执行主席决定将不再参加竞选。然而总该有人站出来，告诉大家，我们将承担责任，作出改变。因此当大家选举我担任这个职位时，我决定接受。

    Karen Peetz occupies a unique perch to learn lessons from crises. She is president of Bank of New York Mellon (BK), a Fortune 500 company that weathered the financial crisis well but had its reputation tarred along with the rest of the industry. Peetz is also on the board of trustees at Penn State University, where, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, she raised her hand to become chairman and helped her alma mater recover from the havoc and shame wrought by the former assistant football coach who was convicted of molesting young boys. Last week, PSU named a new president, Florida State University president Eric Barron, and coincidentally, the U.S. government released transcripts from the 2008 financial crisis -- prompting the world to reexamine lessons from both crises. No leader is better equipped to reflect on lessons learned from these two crises than Peetz. This is an edited version of remarks that she's given to audiences around the U. S.

    I did my undergrad work at Penn State. I played lacrosse and field hockey as a student athlete. During my freshman year, Joe Paterno led our team to an undefeated season and a victory at the Orange Bowl. To me and so many others, Joe Paterno walked on water. He wasn't just a good coach -- he was a man who espoused high ideals about how to live one's life. Which, fairly or not, made the whole sequence of events that much more shocking. When the Sandusky crisis hit, Penn State, the administration and the board were in crisis. The presiding chairman of the board decided not to run for election. Somebody had to step up and say we accept responsibility to make changes. So when the position was offered, I accepted.

    我得到的教训是无价的。我也认识到这些经验不仅适用于教育行业，同样也适用于商业机构。

    下面是我得到的最重要的三个教训：

    直面现实。一个机构只有在面对危机时，才更愿意挑战传统、对以往的神圣规则提出质疑。领导者要抓住这个机会。在宾夕法尼亚州立大学这件事上，我们急需建立一个早期预警和管理体系，以便大家及时认识到问题，加以解决。这就意味要在董事会委员会中引进学生和教师成员，以及接受全美大学体育协会（NCAA）的一系列制裁。坦率地说，接受这些制裁并不容易，但这是往前走的重要一步。我们还需要重组学校的领导团队。是的，我们希望引入最优秀的人才；但不管他们履历如何，我们需要的领导者必须能够认识到管理风险的迫切需要。

    重新思考“和谐团队”的定义。一个机构应该学习如何鼓励健康的不同意见。如果团队一团和气，成员想法全体一致——当时感觉会很好——但我们是不是丢掉了什么东西？我们需要为此付出怎样的代价？多样性已不再只是关于世界性或利他性，而是一种必需。为了提高多样性，我们已抛弃了一个中心论点。我们要保证团队中有具有不同想法、同时敢于挑战传统的人，它对我们认识到事物的对立面非常关键。这些成员能帮助我们自己毁掉自己。雷曼兄弟公司（Lehman Brothers）原本应该多雇些这类人才。无论在经济上还是文化上，宾夕法尼亚州立大学都是一个强大的机构，但我们也该多雇些这类人才。

    承担责任。如今的游戏规则已经变了，但银行业花了太长时间才接受了这个现实。我们的许多行为综合到一起，共同导致了金融危机的爆发。我们不能再否认事实，也需要学会在决策过程中把客户放在最重要的位置。我们需要告诉大家，银行业已经认识到，我们置身于其中、开展经营活动的世界正在改变。我们还要告诉大家，我们将积极尝试新的思维方式和运营模式。总之，我们需要证明自己——证明我们的机构依然值得大家信任。（财富中文网）

    译者：朱毓芬/汪皓

    The lessons I learned were invaluable. And I realized that they applied to both educational and commercial institutions. Here are three of the most critical lessons:

    Face reality.It's during a crisis that organizations develop a greater willingness to challenge tradition, to question sacred cows. Leaders have to seize on those moments. In the case of Penn State, we needed an early-warning system and governance that allowed us to identify and resolve problems. That meant including students and faculty members on our trustee committees. That meant accepting an array of sanctions imposed by the NCAA -- sanctions which, frankly, were not easy to swallow. Accepting them was a vital part of the moving-forward process. We also had to retool the leadership of the university. Yes, we want to bring in the best talent available. But no matter their pedigree, we want leaders who recognize the critical need to manage risk.

    Rethink the definition of "good teamwork."Organizations need to learn ways to foster healthy dissent. If we're all harmonious and aligned in our thinking -- which feels good in the moment -- what are we missing? What is the price we will pay? Diversity is no longer about being cosmopolitan or altruistic. It's a necessity. I think we've undersold a central argument for greater diversity -- that ensuring that teams have people who think differently and challenge convention is critical to identifying contrary facts. They help save us from ourselves. Lehman Brothers (BCS) could have used more of those voices. Penn State is an incredibly strong institution, financially and culturally, but we could have used those voices too.

    Accept responsibility.It took our industry a long time -- too long -- to accept that the game had changed. Many of our actions, collectively, precipitated the financial crisis. We have to move past denial and put the client at the center of our decision-making process. We have to show we understand that the world in which we operate has changed and that we embrace new ways of thinking and operating. In other words, we have to prove ourselves -- prove ourselves worthy of trust.