CEO应从专业运动员身上学到什么

在当年我还是个职业足球运动员的时候，如果你问我，我是否能预见到有一天我会成为一个西装革履的企业高管，我肯定会说：“不可能”。当时，足球就是我的工作、事业和激情。现在我已经全身心投入了商界，我清楚地知道，第一份工作为我带来的经验和教训，今后仍将继续帮助我获得成功。

我从孩提时代开始就特别喜欢团体运动。当年足球在美国还远没有今天这样火爆，但那时我已经对这项运动十分痴迷。我曾经在西雅图太平洋大学的校队踢球，后来先后在克里夫兰、亚特兰大、密尔沃基和波特兰效力于几支职业球队。

等到我在波特兰踢职业生涯的最后一个赛季时，我已经结婚，并且在麦考蜂窝通信公司谋得了一份销售工作，就此进入商界（由于领导支持，我在全职工作的时候仍能继续踢球），而且我的第一个孩子刚刚出生。现在，我开始进入竞争激烈的销售领域，对获胜的渴望一点也不亚于绿茵场上的我。而且我确实取得了一定的成绩，蜂窝通信行业也像足球一样吸引着我。

我喜欢这项技术和这些很酷的设备，喜欢这种快节奏、竞争环境和团队精神，喜欢一切都在不停变化的感觉。我很快意识到，我对无线通信行业可以产生像对足球一样的激情。而且，无论对我的家庭还是对我自己而言，这个行业都具有更好的长期职业前景。

简而言之，我爱上了无线通信行业。

实际上，我第一个月销售无线电话的收入，就超过了我前一个赛季作为球员的全部收入。当然，那个年代最新式的翻盖手机售价高达2000美元，一个板砖大小的“大哥大”也要卖900美元。别忘了当时的无线通话费还相当昂贵，夜间和周末也没有免费时段。

经常有人问我，脱下球衣换上西装有多难？当然是很艰难的，但你知道吗，我从来没有停止过踢球。足球是我生命的一部分，现在我的两个孩子都在大学里踢足球，每到周末，只要时间允许，我都会溜出去踢一会儿球。但我最看重的是那些让我爱上足球的因素，它们在商海中也都找得到——团伙合作、“基友”情深、竞争精神、追求一个共同目标的喜悦、团队精诚合作解决问题，以及最重要的——作为一个团队去取得胜利。

科技正在以极快的速度发展，尤其是在电信和移动领域。一家企业或机构想单枪匹马地搞出突破性创新几乎是不可能的。在今天要想取得突破，必须依靠你所信赖的关系和合作伙伴。

这也正是我们在AT&T所做的事。我们每天都要与设备制造商、软件开发商、应用开发者和其他大量的行业参与者协作（其中有些合作伙伴不仅来自我们所在的行业生态系统，也来自其他行业生态系统），以保证企业的运营，并寻找下一个“了不起的东西”。

这种跨企业、跨行业的协作，要求我们必须建立起来自不同企业、不同背景甚至可能相互存在利益竞争的内部和外部人才团队，他们要通力协作，完成一个明确的共同目标——正同在足球场上一样。

简而言之，我的人生准则就是所谓的“3P”，即人才（People）、目标（Purpose）、激情（Passion）。不管是从事体育运动，在商界打拼，还是从事其他任何有竞争性的事业，要想获得胜利，你都需要拥有一支真心关注员工利益、理解团队目标，并且激情四射的团队。

在我们追求一些庞大且大胆的业务目标的过程中，在我们做着前人从未做过的事情时，我都曾亲眼见证“3P”准则发挥的作用——比如成功执行了与苹果公司的合同，发布了第一款iPhone；建立了一家全新的智能联网设备公司，最终推动了智能联网生活和物联网的发展。

说到底，如果一支团队的所有人都怀着坚定的目标，把团队利益放在首位，全部朝着一个方向奔跑，那就没有什么能阻止他们前进的步伐。（财富中文网）

本文作者Glenn Lurie是AT&T Mobility公司的董事长兼CEO。

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

If you had asked me when I was a professional soccer player if I could ever see myself in a suit and tie as a button-down business executive, I would have said, “No way.” Soccer was my job, my career and my passion. But now that I’m in the business world full time, I can see how the lessons this first job taught me are still helping me win.

I was drawn to team sports ever since I was a kid. Soccer clicked for me even when it wasn’t as popular in the U.S. as it is today. I played college soccer at Seattle Pacific University, and later went on to play for professional teams in Cleveland, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland.

By the time I played my final season in Portland, I was married, had started my business career in sales with McCaw Cellular Communications (my leadership supported me playing while working full time) and had just had my first child. Now, here I was, a competitive guy working in sales, and just as determined to win as I was on the soccer field. And I did. The cellular industry just clicked for me.

I loved the technology, the cool devices, the fast pace, the competitive environment, the teamwork, and how quickly everything was changing all the time. I quickly realized that I could be as passionate about the wireless industry as I had been with soccer — if not more — but with better long-term career prospects for my family and for myself.

In short, I fell in love with the wireless business.

In fact, I made more money during my first month of selling wireless phones than I did playing soccer the entire prior season. Of course, this was back when people paid as much as $2,000 for the latest flip phone or $900 for a standard phone the size of a brick. And don’t forget that wireless service was a buck for a minute of airtime, with no free mobile-to-mobile calls during nights or weekends.

People always ask me how hard it was to trade in the cleats for a business suit. Sure, it was hard. But guess what? I’ve never stopped playing. Soccer is in my life. Both of my kids play soccer in college and I still sneak out to play on the weekends when I can. But what’s most important is that the same things that made me love team sports — the teamwork, the camaraderie, the competitive spirit, the excitement of chasing a common goal, the need to solve problems as a team on the fly, and best of all, winning as a team — are all in business.

Technology is moving extremely fast, especially in the telecommunications and mobility area. It’s becoming nearly impossible for a breakthrough innovation to come out of a single company or organization working alone. Today, breakthroughs require collaboration within trusted relationships and partnerships.

That’s how we go about it at AT&T T 0.12% . We collaborate day to day with equipment manufacturers, software developers, app developers, and a myriad of other players — not just in our ecosystem, but also in others — to run the business and find the next big thing.

That kind of collaboration across companies and industries requires building internal and external teams of people from different organizations, different backgrounds and even competing interests, who work together to reach a clear and common goal — just like on the soccer field.

In essence, I live by what I call the three Ps: people, purpose and passion. Whether in sports, business, or any competitive endeavor, winning requires a team of people who truly care about their fellow employees, who understand their individual purpose with that team, and who have the passion to achieve it.

I have seen it work as we chased huge, audacious goals, doing things that have never been done, beginning with executing the contract with Apple AAPL 0.44% that launched the first iPhone, to building a new startup business with connected devices, and ultimately helping usher in the connected life and the Internet of Things.

After all, nothing can stop a team of committed individuals who put the team first and all row in the same direction.