Reading – The Three Types of Role Models Everyone Needs in Their Career
阅读 – 每个人在职业生涯中都需要的三种榜样
Whether they’re professional basketball players, esteemed scientists, or billionaire investors, all high-achieving individuals have one thing in common, which is they all have role models. A role model is more than just a person that you look up to and admire. It’s someone who can help you unlock your potential by showing you what’s possible and providing examples of how you should or shouldn’t behave.
无论他们是职业篮球运动员、受人尊敬的科学家还是亿万富翁投资者,所有成就斐然的人都有一个共同点,那就是他们都有榜样。榜样不仅仅是一个你仰慕和钦佩的人。他可以通过向您展示什么是可能的并提供您应该如何表现或不应该如何表现的示例来帮助您释放潜力。
Regardless of your industry or field of study, if your goal is to take your career to the next level, having role models is essential. Role models offer the ultimate shortcut for leveling up your knowledge because you’re able to learn from the positive and negative experiences of people who’ve come before you. Of course, the trickiest part when it comes to role models is identifying the right ones, and that’s exactly what I’m going to help you do here.
无论您的行业或研究领域如何,如果您的目标是让您的职业生涯更上一层楼,那么拥有榜样是必不可少的。榜样提供了提升知识水平的终极捷径,因为您能够从前人的积极和消极经历中学习。当然,当涉及到榜样时,最棘手的部分是确定正确的榜样,而这正是我在这里要帮助你做的事情。
1. Positive Role Model
1. 积极的榜样
For most people, when they hear the word role model, they immediately conjure up images of a positive one, a successful person whose values and behavior are worthy of imitation. For aspiring basketball players, Michael Jordan and Lebron James are the archetypes of positive role models, but even Michael Jordan, a legend, had his own positive role model in David Thompson.
对于大多数人来说,当他们听到榜样这个词时,他们会立即联想到一个积极的形象,一个价值观和行为值得效仿的成功人士。对于有抱负的篮球运动员来说,迈克尔乔丹和勒布朗詹姆斯是积极榜样的原型,但即使是传奇人物迈克尔乔丹,大卫汤普森也有自己的积极榜样。
However, there’s more to consider than just success. How has someone achieved that success? A positive role model shouldn’t just be someone who accomplished what you want to accomplish. They should be someone who shares your values and who uses an approach you want to emulate. As former U.S. Navy SEAL Officer Chris Fussell explained to Tim Ferriss, there are three levels of positive role models you can follow:
然而,除了成功之外,还有更多需要考虑的因素。某人是如何取得这种成功的?一个积极的榜样不应该只是完成了你想完成的事情的人。他们应该是与您有相同价值观并使用您想要效仿的方法的人。正如前美国海军海豹突击队军官克里斯·福塞尔 (Chris Fussell) 向蒂姆·费里斯 (Tim Ferriss) 解释的那样,您可以遵循三个级别的积极榜样:
A peer who you think is better at the job than you are.
您认为比您更擅长这份工作的同事。
Someone subordinate who’s doing the job you did a year, or two, or three years ago, better than you did it.
某个下属在一年、两年或三年前做过的工作,比你做得更好。
Someone senior to you that you want to emulate.
你想效仿的比你年长的人。
To quote Fussell, “If you just have those three individuals that you’re constantly measuring yourself off of and you’re constantly learning from, you’re going to be exponentially better than you are.”
引用 Fussell 的话,“如果你有这三个人,你不断地衡量自己,并不断从中学习,那么你的表现就会比现在好几倍。
2. Reverse Role Models
2. 反向榜样
Not all role models have to be positive. The reality is that having reverse role models is just as, if not more, important. Reverse role models check a lot of the same boxes as positive role models. They’re successful, they’ve achieved something you want to achieve, and they provide models of behavior you can follow to achieve the same thing; however, their values are different. When you look at the behavior of a reverse role model, you realize that imitating their behavior would not be in your best interest.
并非所有的榜样都必须是积极的。现实情况是,拥有反向榜样同样重要,甚至更重要。反向榜样与正面榜样有很多相同的条件。他们成功了,他们实现了你想要实现的目标,并且他们提供了你可以遵循的行为模型来实现同样的目标;但是,它们的值是不同的。当你看到一个反向榜样的行为时,你会意识到模仿他们的行为并不符合你的最佳利益。
My favorite example of someone who’s learned from having reverse role models is our company's VP of Marketing, Dave Gerhardt. When Dave joined our organization, I was invited to a CMO dinner at some fancy restaurant in Cambridge, but I sent Dave to go in my place. He was hesitant and felt like maybe these CMOs would be way out of his league, but I pushed him to go.
我最喜欢的从反向榜样中学习的例子是我们公司的营销副总裁 Dave Gerhardt。当 Dave 加入我们的组织时,我被邀请参加在剑桥一家高档餐厅举行的 CMO 晚宴,但我让 Dave 代替我去。他很犹豫,觉得这些 CMO 可能远远超出了他的行列,但我敦促他离开。
After the dinner, I asked him what he thought. He told me about it, but I could tell he really didn’t want to say what was on his mind. Finally, I explained that the reason I sent him is that I wanted him to look at reverse role models. Those are all CMOs, but they’re also all muckety-mucks. In other words, they’re mostly interested in themselves and having their fancy CMO dinners. They’re all accomplished, but how much more do they actually know than him? The answer is that they do not know that much more. For Dave, being able to see what this elite level of marketers looked like helped him overcome impostor syndrome because he was able to recognize that even marketers in the upper echelons aren’t always as knowledgeable as they make themselves out to be. By observing reverse role models, you’re able to see the status-quo approach for reaching the next level in your career, which in turn gives you the opportunity to figure out how you want to do things differently.
晚饭后,我问他怎么想。他跟我说了这件事,但我看得出来他真的不想说出他的想法。最后,我解释说,我派他去的原因是我想让他看看反向的榜样。这些都是 CMO,但他们也都是 Muck 。换句话说,他们最感兴趣的是自己,并享受他们花哨的 CMO 晚餐。他们都取得了成就,但他们实际上比他知道多少呢?答案是他们了解得不多。对于 Dave 来说,能够看到这个精英级别的营销人员是什么样子帮助他克服了冒名顶替综合症,因为他能够认识到,即使是上层营销人员也并不总是像他们自己表现的那样知识渊博。通过观察反向榜样,您能够看到在职业生涯中达到新水平的现状方法,这反过来又让您有机会弄清楚您希望如何以不同的方式做事。
3. Anti-Role Models
3. 反榜样
Finally, there is the anti-role model. While it may sound similar to a reverse role model, there’s a clear distinction. An anti-role model is someone who has not achieved what you want to achieve, despite being on the same career path. Why study the people who have, thus far, failed at accomplishing their goal? It is because the values and behaviors of those people will help you create guardrails for avoiding a similar fate.
最后,是反榜样。虽然这听起来类似于反向榜样,但两者之间有明显的区别。反榜样是尽管走在相同的职业道路上,但还没有实现你想要实现的目标的人。为什么要研究迄今为止未能实现目标的人呢?这是因为这些人的价值观和行为会帮助你建立护栏,以避免类似的命运。
This is the inversion principle, which is something that billionaire investor Charlie Munger, who is Warren Buffett’s long-term business partner, is a big proponent of. Anti-role models allow you to uncover and avoid the biggest obstacles to success, and when it comes to advancing your career, those blockers often include “... sloth, envy, resentment, self-pity, entitlement, all the mental habits of self-defeat. Avoid these qualities, and you will succeed,” Munger said. “Tell me where I'm going to die, that is, so I don't go there.”
这就是反转原则,这是沃伦·巴菲特的长期商业伙伴、亿万富翁投资者查理·芒格 (Charlie Munger) 的大力支持者。反榜样可以让你发现并避免成功的最大障碍,而在推进你的职业生涯时,这些阻碍因素通常包括“......懒惰、嫉妒、怨恨、自怜、权利,所有自我挫败的心理习惯。避免这些品质,你就会成功,“芒格说。“告诉我我要死在哪里,也就是说,这样我就不会去那里了。”