最好的领导者都是“山地滑雪向导”

    MPW内部网络是一个邀请最有影响力的商界女性及时解答职业与领导力问题的在线社区。本周，我们的问题是：你会给首次担任领导岗位的人提什么建议？以下是Triggit公司总裁兼COO苏珊•科里奥斯•凯普林格的回答。

    要成为优秀的领导者，首先要成为出色的向导。人们经常将领导和升职视为发号施令的权力，或者时时刻刻对团队进行微观管理。我在24岁创建了这家广告科技公司，在这个完全由年长男性主导的行业，我迅速学会了一个道理：要成为最好的领导者，首先要成为最好的向导。

    我来解释一下原因。许多世界上最优秀的向导，都是高峰山地滑雪向导——可以说，团队和客户的安危都掌握在他们手中。向导的职责并不是滑得最快，或者跳下最高的悬崖（虽然通常情况下，他们都是团队中最出色的滑雪者），而是让团队安全、自信和高效地通过极端的地形。为了实现成功，向导会不知疲倦地研究团队成员的能力（技术水平、经验等），制定可以实现的行程计划（考虑雪情、时间、天气预报等），并持续监控每一位成员，以优化他们的体验。因此，一位伟大的向导不仅要激发团队成员接受巨大挑战和危险旅程的信心，还要赢得团队的信任，带领他们安全下山，让探险之旅充满快乐。

    在商界，新的领导者（不论年长还是年轻）只要遵守下列基本原则，很快就能取得成功：

    1. 了解团队成员的能力，以及你需要使用的工具。

    2. 考虑团队和公司的预期与风险承受能力，制定一个切实可行的“旅行”计划。

    3. 寻找和建议合适的技术与路线，避免微观管理和疲劳，力争获得最大的成功。

    在商界，获得成功能够给人带来巨大的成就感。作为领导者，带领团队完成一个看起来令人望而生畏的项目，总是我最快乐的时候。这些项目最初非常困难，但最终你会发现它们其实是完全可以实现的。别忘了听从自己的内心和直觉。或许你早就是一位优秀的向导了！（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    审校：任文科

    MPW Insider is one of several online communities where the biggest names in business answer timely career and leadership questions. This week we ask: What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time? The following answer is by Susan Coelius Keplinger, President and COO of Triggit.

    To be a great leader, first strive to be an amazing guide. Too often folks perceive leadership and promotions as the power to be bossy, or to micromanage their teams every moment. As a 24 year-old founder of an advertising technology company, in an industry and space completely dominated by older men, I learned quickly that by being my best guide, I was my best leader.

    Let me explain. Some of the best guides in the world are big mountain ski guides – they literally hold the lives of their teams and clients in their hands. The guide’s role is not to ski the fastest or jump off the biggest cliff (though typically they are the best skiers in the group), but instead to empower their people to navigate extreme terrain safely, confidently and efficiently. To succeed, guides work tirelessly to understand the abilities of the group (skill levels, experience, etc.), develop achievable tour plans (considering snow conditions, timing, forecasts) and constantly monitor each member to optimize their experience. A great guide therefore not only inspires the confidence to take on big challenges and aggressive tours, but earns the trust of their team to get off the mountain safely, with smiles abound.

    Translated into business, new leaders (young or old) will find quick success by sticking to these basic principles:

    1. Understand the abilities of your team and the tools you have to work with.

    2. Create an achievable “tour” plan that considers the expectations and risk tolerances of your team and company.

    3. Optimize for maximum success by finding and suggesting techniques and routes, while avoiding micromanagement and fatigue.

    There is little more fulfilling in business than achieving success. As a leader, I find my biggest smiles arrive when I can guide a team into completing a project that seemed intimidating and hard at the beginning, but obvious and achievable by the end. Don’t forget to listen to yourself and your gut, you’ve probably already been a guide for quite some time!