为什么说你不该像“教父”那样当领导

    上周，我有幸在费城的曼恩剧院观看了我最喜爱的美国电影——由弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉执导，改编自马里奥·普佐同名小说的《教父》，费城交响乐团为电影进行了现场伴奏。影片一开始，瑭·维托·柯莱昂责备他的朋友阿梅里戈·博纳塞拉没有早一点向他寻求帮助，向那些伤害阿梅里戈女儿的小混混们讨回公道。瑭告诉阿梅里戈，如果他早些来求助，问题可能早已解决，“如果像你这样的老实人得罪了谁,那么你的敌人也就会是我的敌人。那么，他们也肯定会怕你。”

    对于通过使人“畏惧”来领导队伍，瑭·柯里昂曾一度得心应手。而当他的儿子迈克尔接管家族事业之后，这种领导方式最终带来了自我毁灭性的结果。

    虽然这部电影拍摄于40多年前，但现在提起它正合时宜，因为最近恰好出现了一份新报告——《为何你不能威吓银行家做正确的事》。该项研究由普华永道和伦敦商学院联手完成，调查了保险业、财富管理及银行业的管理者们对奖金、加薪及升职等方面的选择性做法。

    一项对2,431名管理者的调查结果显示，能激励人们把工作做得更好的，不是错过机会的恐惧，而是获得收益的欲望。

    该调查向一半受访者提出了这样一个问题：“假如财年即将结束，而你的业绩落后于其他同事。如果无法超过他们，你就会失去丰厚的奖金。你对此会有什么感受？”面对这种情景，选择“心情焦虑”的受访者，比选择“感到兴奋”的多出15%，而相对于另一半受访者——他们作为对照组，问题背景关注于其年底的正面收获，调查显示，前一半受访者做出不道德行为的可能性，是后者的两倍以上。

    该报告解释称：“焦虑会削弱人们做出优质决策的能力，往往导致他们更容易铤而走险。”

    这项研究还例举出更多证据证明，基于关怀而非威胁的领导方式才是管理者实现员工满意、行为诚信和客户满意的关键。要成为高素质的领导者，关怀是不可或缺的要素之一。但关怀到底是什么？

    关怀

    关怀首先是一种强烈的情感或热情。它意味着深切关注他人的健康和幸福。当然，充满关怀的领导者不仅要怀有一腔乐于助人之情，还要付诸于实践。没有实际行动的关怀毫无意义，就像一部被评为G级（老幼皆宜）的昆汀·塔伦蒂诺电影。

    我在之前的专栏中曾提到，泰勒·斯威夫特站出来反对苹果公司对音乐艺术家们不公平补偿政策的行为表明：她是一名服务型领导者。谦逊是服务型领导者的典型标志，因为类似泰勒·斯威夫特这样的人，他们是在用其公众平台为所有人谋利益。

    而在商界，服务型领导者还要立足于关怀，因为提升一家公司业绩最有效的方式就是照顾好公司最重要的元素：员工。其中也包括管理层。《新“一分钟管理者”》（The New One-Minute Manager）一书的作者肯·布兰查德上周告诉我，他与许多《财富》500强公司打了一辈子交道，并从中认识到，人们“希望在一家能让自己感觉有赢的机会、能实现目标的企业工作。”他表示，聪明的领导者会将“表扬、发现员工做对的事并为他们加油鼓劲”变成一种习惯。

    管理者和员工满意度高，将带来一项企业成功的关键要素：满意的客户。

    Last week I had the pleasure of seeing my favorite American film, Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo’sThe Godfather, at the Mann Theater in Philadelphia with live accompaniment by the Philadelphia Orchestra. In the opening scene, Don Vito Corleone admonishes his friend, Amerigo Bonasera, for taking so long to ask for help in seeking justice against the hoods who harmed Amerigo’s daughter. Not only would Amerigo’s immediate problem have been solved, the Don notes, but if “by chance if an honest man such as yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they would fear you.”

    Leading through fear worked well for Don Corleone—for a time. Once his son, Michael, took over the family affairs, however, that leadership style eventually became self-destructive.

    The screening of this film, now over 40 years old, proved to be timely in the wake of a new report entitled, “Why You Can’t Scare Bankers Into Doing the Right Thing.” This study, a joint project of PricewaterhouseCoopers and theLondon Business School, looked at the choices that managers in insurance, wealth management, and banking make with respect to bonuses, pay raises, and promotions.

    A survey of 2,431 managers revealed that people do better work when they’re motivated by the desire to achieve benefits rather than by the fear of missing opportunities.

    “Imagine it’s coming to the end of the business year,” the survey asked half of the participants. “You’re lagging behind your colleagues. If you don’t do better than them you’ll lose your substantial bonus. How does that make you feel?” Managers presented with this scenario were 15% more anxious than excited and more than twice more likely to act unethically compared with their counterparts, who were presented with an end-of-year scenario that focused on positive outcomes.

    “Anxiety disrupts people’s capacity to make good decisions, often leading them to behave less ethically,” the report explained.

    This research provides yet more evidence that leadership based on care, rather than intimidation, is the key to a satisfied workforce, honorable behavior, and happier clients. Care is an essential component of high-character leaders. But what exactly is care?

    Care

    Care is first and foremost a strong feeling or passion. It means having a deep concern for the well-being and flourishing of others. Of course, caring leaders do more than feel strongly about helping people. They put those feelings into action. Care without action is as meaningless as a G-rated Quentin Tarantino film.

    In my previous column, I talked about how standing up to Apple’s unfair compensation policies for musical artists revealed Taylor Swift to be a servant-leader. Humility is a hallmark of servant leadership, because servant-leaders like Swift use their public platform to advance the interests of all.

    But servant leadership in business is also based on care, because the best way to advance an organization’s mission is by looking after the most important element of the company: its employees. And that includes its management. Ken Blanchard, author of The New One-Minute Manager, told me last week that his lifelong work with many Fortune 500 companies has taught him that people “want to be in organizations where they feel that they have a chance to win and accomplish goals.” Smart leaders, Ken notes, make it a habit of “praising and catching people doing things right and cheering them on.”

    Satisfied managers and employees lead to a crucial component of successful businesses: satisfied clients.