Can a Horrible Boss Be a Great Leader? 恶老板会是好的领导者吗？

文/BretStephens

译/陈韦廷

On June 26, 1940, as Britain was girding for theonslaught of the Luftwaffe after the fall of France, Clementine Churchill wroteher husband, Winston, an admonishing note.

1940年6月26日，当英国在法国沦陷后对纳粹德国空军的猛攻做准备时，克莱门汀·丘吉尔写给她的丈夫温斯顿一封劝告信。

“Thereis a danger of your being generally disliked by your colleagues andsubordinates because of your rough, sarcastic and overbearing manner,” shewarned the prime minister, who was otherwise preoccupied by the prospect ofimminent Nazi invasion, a scheming foreign secretary, a restive backbench andthe absence of material support from the United States.

她警告正心系着纳粹即将入侵的前景、工于心计的外务大臣、难以驾驭的国会，以及未获美国物资支持的首相说：「你可能会因为你粗暴、尖刻且咄咄逼人的态度而被同事跟下属普遍厌恶。」

“Ihave noticed a deterioration in your manner, and you are not so kind as youused to be,” she continued. “It is for you to give the orders and if they arebungled — except for the King, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Speaker —you can sack anyone and everyone. Therefore with this terrific power you mustcombine urbanity, kindness and if possible Olympic calm.”

她接着说道：「我注意到你态度变差了，也不像以前那样和善。你是发号施令的人，若是你命令的事被搞砸了，除了国王、坎特伯里大主教与议长外，任何人跟所有人你都可以开革。因此，手握如此强大权力的你必须结合儒雅、和善，若是可能的话，还有高度的平静。」

Clementine concluded by citing a French proverb,“One can reign over hearts only by keeping one’s composure.” Winston got themessage and found ways to make amends. As his private secretary, Jock Colville,later recalled, “When he was at No. 10 there was always laughter in thecorridors, even in the darkest and most difficult times.”

克莱门汀最后引用一句法国谚语说：「一个人唯有保持沉着，才能统治人心。」温斯顿听懂了，并且设法改正了自己。就像他的私人秘书贾克．柯维尔后来追忆时所说的，「当他在唐宁街十号时，走廊总会有笑声，即便是在最黑暗和最困难的时期。」

The Battle of Britain was not decided becauseChurchill chose to behave better. But given his indispensability at the momentof crisis, it might have been lost if he hadn’t won the confidence and love ofthose who made the victory possible.

丘吉尔选择改正自己的言行并不是不列颠战役（英伦空战）的决定性因素，然而由于他在危机时刻的不可或缺，要是他没有赢得那些使胜利成为可能的人的信任与爱，这场战役可能会输掉。

The subject of bad bosses is again in the newsthanks to Amy Klobuchar, U.S. senator, Democratic presidential aspirant, and,as a recent story in the Times made clear, the living antithesis of whatever“Minnesota Nice” is supposed to be. She throws binders at underlings. She makesthem wash her dishes. She suspects office moles. She attempts to sabotage thejob prospects of those who want to resign. She reproaches her staff with herown self-pity.

恶老板这话题因为美国参议员艾美．克罗布查而再次占据新闻版面，她有意成为民主党的总统候选人。且正如本报日前一篇报导所阐明的，不论「明尼苏达式友善」应该是什么样貌，她都是活生生的负面教材。她向下属丢纸夹。她要他们洗她的碗盘。她怀疑办公室有人卧底。她试图让那些想辞职者不好找工作。她以自艾自怜来责怪她的手下。

On a trip to South Carolina, forkless, she makes anaide wash her comb after she’s used it to eat a salad — but apparently notbefore.

在有次去南卡罗来纳州时，没有叉子的她用自己的梳子吃过色拉后，要一名助理清洗她的梳子──显然不是吃色拉之前。

Though the senator has her defenders — 61 formerstaffers signed a public letter supporting her — the essential truth of theTimes’ story is attested by the fact that for years she has had among thehighest rates of staff turnover in the Senate. Klobuchar admits to being“tough” and having “high expectations.” But the behavior described by The Timesisn’t tough. It’s horrible.

尽管有人为这位参议员辩护，有61名旧日部属签署联名公开信支持她，但本报报导的基本真实性可由下列事实加以左证 ，亦即她多年来一直是手下工作人员流动率最高的参议员之一。克罗布查承认自己「强硬」而且「要求很高」，然而本报报导中所描述的行为却不是强硬，而是恶劣。

Anyone who’s had a horrible boss knows thedifference between tough and horrible — between leaders who set high bars andthose who administer petty humiliations.

任何跟过恶老板的人都知道硬和恶劣的区别──以及设定高标准的领导者跟用小动作羞辱人的领导者之间的区别。

※说文解字看新闻

horrible在文中意指「糟透的，顾人怨的，恶劣的」，另有「可怕的、恐怖的」之意。

而horrible跟terrible之间的区别在于，前者形容的事情可能让你感到不舒服或厌恶，但不会感到害怕；后者则指令人长久、难以忍受的惊恐之事，而前者程度通常较后者强烈，例如I'veseen terrible movies, but this one is so horrible.（我看过很糟的电影，但这部实在太糟了。）

文中词组makeamends表示「改正、补偿」之意，后面常加上介系词for来指要改进或弥补的事物，例如He has madeamends for ruining our party.（他已为搞砸我们的聚会赔罪了。）

至于Olympiccalm一词则出自荷马史诗《奥德赛》，用来形容一种绝对平静的状态，而Minnesotanice则指的是美国明尼苏达州人民热情友善的待人方式，特征包括待人以礼，将人际冲突降到最低，维持社会的和谐。