再来探讨一下另一个熟悉的商业术语：“以结果为导向”。里德曾经目睹过这种导向是如何倾覆了中层管理者的职业生涯。“这是一个程度的问题，”他说。“显然，你必须干出成绩。但如果你过分痴迷于短期内将会发生的事情，往往就会忽略更长期的竞赛，错过扩展自身技能的良机。”

    对于那些倾向于深钻某个狭窄专业领域的人来说，这种导向尤其危险。里德指出：“领导层最终会依据你掌握了多少种不同技能，你是否能够顾全大局，来对你进行评估，决定是否提拔你。如果你过分专注于某一件事情，上级就不会认为你具有领导才能。”

    里德说，还有一个概念经常对勤勉一族的晋升之路造成致命影响：“问责制”。他指出，在许多公司，这个词汇现已成为“管理者严苛要求同事的一个借口，遭受苛责的人群甚至还包括并非这些管理者属下的同僚，这些人现在也不想跟他们合作了。”

    里德指出，更有可能赢得晋升机会的工作方式是，“帮助别人获得成功。如果你经常耐心指导下属的工作，通过这种方式让他们承担起责任，你就会被看成一位领导者，而不是一位工头。”这是里德经过一番惨痛经历才获得的经验教训。“我在职业生涯早期犯了许多年轻管理者经常犯的错误。我当时觉得，为了树立起权威，我必须摆出一副强硬且咄咄逼人的姿态，”他回忆说。“但这样做并不管用。事实上，这样做恰恰塑造了一个错误的形象。”

    当然，每一家公司和每一位管理者都不一样。因此，里德破除的这些观念可能根本解释不了你为什么总是错过晋升机会。然而，鉴于你对这种境遇“愤愤不平”，为什么不尝试一下里德的做法，更认真地观察一下那些受到重用的同事呢？他们或许正在做一些（或者没有做）同样有助于你获得晋升的事情。

    反馈：你认为还有哪些流行的商业术语其实跟现实世界的职业前景毫不相关？请留言评论。（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒

    Or take the familiar phrase "results oriented," another business cliché that Reid has seen trip up, or stall out, middle managers' careers. "It's a matter of degree," he says. "Obviously you have to deliver results. But if you're too obsessed with what's happening in the short term, you tend to overlook the longer game and pass up opportunities to broaden your skills."

    This is a particular hazard for people who are inclined to work very hard on a narrow area of expertise, Reid notes: "Ultimately you'll be evaluated, and promoted or not, on the basis of how many different skills you have, and whether you can see the big picture. If you go too deep in the weeds on any one thing, higher-ups won't be able to see you as a leader."

    One more notion Reid says is often fatal to the advancement of the diligent and hardworking: "Accountability." In many companies now, he notes, this word has become "an excuse for managers to be harsh and demanding with coworkers, including peers who don't even work for them, and now don't want to collaborate with them, either."

    What's far more likely to lead to a promotion, he says, is "helping other people succeed. If you hold people accountable by mentoring them and coaching them, you come across as a leader, not a taskmaster." It's another lesson Reid says he learned the hard way. "Early in my career I made the same mistake many young managers make, which is feeling that, in order to be taken seriously, I had to be tough and aggressive," he recalls. "But that doesn't work. In fact, it creates the exact wrong image."

    Of course, every company and every manager is different, so it's impossible to say whether any of the notions Reid debunks explain why you keep getting passed over for bigger jobs. But, since you're "steamed" about it, why not try what Reid did and take a closer look at the people who are getting those promotions? They might be doing (or not doing) something that would work for you as well.

    Talkback:What business clichés have you noticed are least relevant to people's real-world career prospects where you work? Leave a comment below.