《财富》杂志不久前的一篇特写报道提到，如今用人单位通过过往经历寻找具有“坚韧”品质的求职者时，越来越关注非传统的标准。“坚韧”的含义很宽泛，涵盖了勇气、坚持、韧性、创新、善于解决问题和渴望学习的开放心态。拥有坚韧的品质可能比大牌公司实习经历或者常春藤盟校的学位都更可能成功。

如果想找性格坚韧者出人头地的例子，看看企业高管就可以。以下六位现任和前首席执行官早年都曾面临复杂的挑战，由此磨砺出坚韧的性格，也走上了职业巅峰。

As Fortune reports in a new feature story this week, employers are increasingly looking beyond traditional credentials to find job candidates whose life experiences show their “grit.” That term is loosely defined as courage, perseverance, resilience, creativity, a knack for problem-solving and an openness to learning—and it may be a better proxy for success than any posh internship or Ivy League degree.

For examples of people whose grit propelled them to the top, you may not have to look any further than the corner office. Complex challenges early in life helped these six current and former chief executives develop skills that got them to the pinnacles of their professions.

传媒大腕奥普拉出身贫寒，9岁时被强暴，一度陷入绝望。她将痛苦的经历化为突破职业壁垒的动力，还激励了数百万人。她说：“我之所以能赚很多钱，是因为我努力的目标从来不是金钱。

The media mogul has mined her life story—poverty, despair, and sexual abuse starting at age 9—as a source of strength to push through professional barriers, and to inspire millions to do the same. “The reason I’ve been able to be so financially successful is my focus has never, ever for one minute been money,” she says.

伯恩斯家中非常贫穷，单身母亲为了筹钱治病只得从事办公室清洁工作。伯恩斯年轻时就显示数学天赋，赢得了奖学金和在施乐公司实习的机会，她也在施乐走上了职业道路的巅峰。“我是黑人女孩，在纽约（以贫民窟和廉租公寓闻名的）下东区长大。没什么事能吓住我。”她这样表示。

Her family was so poor that her single mother traded office cleaning for health care. But Burns’ early aptitude for math won her a scholarship and an internship at Xerox , where she would compete her way to the top. “I’m a black lady from the Lower East Side,” she says. “Not a lot intimidates me.”

舒尔茨小时候家住在纽约布鲁克林区的公屋，周围都是贫民。（凭借美式橄榄球的奖学金）他成为家里第一个读大学的人。经过销售岗位的历练，他成立了一家公司，此后收购了星巴克。他说：“想尽办法募资的那一年，我和242个人谈过，217人都拒绝了我。”

Schultz grew up in public housing in Brooklyn, surrounded by poverty, and was the first in his family to go to college (on a football scholarship). After training in sales, he launched the company that would later buy Starbucks. “In the course of the year I spent trying to raise money, I spoke to 242 people, and 217 of them said no,” he says.

五岁那年，威廉姆斯的父母逃离古巴奔赴美国。七岁时，她在家人开的家杂货店里当起了翻译，帮着跟律师和会计交流。她告诉《财富》杂志，导师们很早就开始鼓励她：“我的思想发生转变，之前想当个经理，后来觉得我也可以做些更了不起的事。”（财富中文网）

本文发布于2018年2月1日期《财富》杂志，为边栏位置文章。原题为“你的生活经历可能帮你做出一番成就”

译者：Pessy

审稿：夏林

Her parents fled Cuba when Williams (née Jimenez) was 5; by 7, she was her parents’ main translator in talks with lawyers and accountants at groceries they owned in New Jersey. Mentors encouraged her early on: “I went from thinking I could be a manager to thinking I could do something much bigger,” she told Fortune.

A version of this post appears as a sidebar in the article “How Your Life Experience Could Help You Land a Great Job” from the Feb. 1, 2018 issue of Fortune.