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歡迎Sheryl Sandberg。
(掌聲)
謝謝,謝謝Catherine。很榮幸今天能來這裡,為哈佛商學院(HBS)傑出的教職員、驕傲的家長、耐心的來賓,最重要的是,2012年畢業生演講。
今天應該是個值得大肆慶祝的日子,但我知道並不盡然。我跟大家一樣為你們的同學Nathan(於畢業前兩天死亡)感到悲傷,我知道沒有任何言語能撫平這種傷痛。雖然充滿悲傷,今天仍代表本屆畢業生獨特而亮眼的成就,所以請大家跟我一起為本屆畢業生獻上最熱烈的祝賀。
(掌聲)
當Nohria院長邀請我今天來這裡演講時,我想,對一群比我年輕又比我酷得多的人演講?我辦得到;我每天都在Facebook這麼做。我喜歡跟年輕人混在一起,除了當他們問我-大學時沒有網路是什麼感覺?或更糟的-Sheryl,妳能過來一下嗎?我們想知道老人對這個功能有什麼看法。我沒開玩笑。
我很榮幸能在這個月來到這裡。17年前,當我還是這裡的學生時,我修了Kash Rangan教授的社會行銷課程。Kash常用來解釋社會行銷概念的一個例子是,本國器官捐贈者的缺乏,導致每天18個人死亡。本月初,Facebook推出一個支持器官捐贈的工具,這個點子來自於Kash教授的教誨。Kash教授,希望你在現場,大家都很感謝你的貢獻。
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
It’s an honor to be here today to address HBS’s distinguished faculty, proud parents, patient guests, and most importantly, the class of 2012.
Today was supposed to be a day of unbridled celebration and I know that’s no longer true. I join all of you in grieving for your classmate Nate. There are no words which can make this better.
Though laden with sadness, today still marks a distinct and impressive achievement for this class. So please join me in giving our warmest congratulations to this class.
When Dean Nohria asked me to speak here today, I thought, come talk to a group of people way younger and cooler than I am? I can do that. I do that every day at Facebook. I like being surrounded by young people, except when they say to me, “What was it like being in college without the internet?” or worse,” Sheryl, can you come here? We need to see what old people think of this feature.”
When I was a student here 17 years ago, I studied social marketing with Professor Kash Rangan. One of the many examples Kash used to explain the concept of social marketing was the lack of organ donors in this country, which kills 18 people every single day. Earlier this month, Facebook launched a tool to support organ donations, something that stems directly from Kash’s work. Kash, we are all grateful for your dedication.
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我在你們這個年齡不算很久以前的事,但世界已發生天翻地覆的變化。我唸的B班試圖讓我們的課程成為哈佛商學院第一個線上課程;我們必須使用AOL聊天室和撥接上網-你們父母待會兒可以為你們解釋什麼是撥接上網。我們必須在一大堆暱稱中搜尋,因為當時在網路上使用真實姓名是件難以想像的事。網路根本難以使用,電腦老是當機…因為當時的網路世界並非設置為讓90人同時上網交流。但不久後,我們窺見一個未來,一個科技賦予個人力量的未來,將我們跟真實世界的同事、家人和朋友連繫在一起。
以前的情形是,若想要將想法傳遞給社交範圍之外的人,你必須是富有、知名、位高權重的人士,例如名人、政治家、企業執行長。但現今情況已大不相同。現在,任何人都能將自己的聲音傳遞出去,不僅是你們這些有幸能進哈佛商學院的人,任何擁有Facebook、Twitter帳號及手機的人都能辦到。這破壞了傳統的權力結構,打破了傳統的層級制度。聲音和權力從機構轉移到個人,從一向握有權力者轉移到市井小民。這一切發生得如此迅速,是我在你們這個年齡時無法想像的;當時Mark Zuckerberg才十一歲。
隨著世界變得更緊密、更無層級之分,傳統的職業生涯也發生變化。2001年,結束政府機構的工作後,我前往矽谷,試著找份工作。當時的時機不是很好;泡沫經濟崩潰、小企業倒閉、大公司裁員;一位女執行長看著我說,我們根本不會考慮僱用像妳這樣的人。不久後,我得到一些工作機會,我得做決定。所以我怎麼做?我是MBA出身的,所以我做了一張試算表。我將工作選項放在直欄,將我的選擇標準放在橫列,比較公司、工作內容和職位。試算表上其中一項工作是Google首位業務總經理。現在聽起來很不錯,但當時沒人認為消費者網路公司會賺錢。我甚至不確定是否真有這份工作。Google並沒有業務,所以業務總經理要做什麼?這份工作比其他公司提供的職位低了幾級,所以我坐在剛成為執行長的Eric Schmidt面前,給他看那張試算表,然後說,「這份工作跟我的標準完全不符。」他將手放在我的試算表上,看著我說,「放聰明點。」絕佳的職業建議。
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It wasn’t really that long ago when I was sitting where you are, but the world has changed an awful lot. My section, section B, tried to have HBS’s first online class. We had to use an AOL chat room and dial up service. (Your parents can explain to you later what dial-up service is.) We had to pass out a list of screen names because it was unthinkable to put your real name on the internet. And it never worked. It kept crashing. The world just wasn’t set up for 90 people to communicate at once online. But for a few brief moments, we glimpsed the future – a future where technology would power who we are and connect us to our real colleagues, our real family, our real friends.
It used to be that in order to reach more people than you could talk to in a day, you had to be rich and famous and powerful. You had to be a celebrity, a politician, a CEO. But that’s not true today. Now ordinary people have voice, not just those of us lucky to go to HBS, but anyone with access to Facebook, Twitter, a mobile phone. This is disrupting traditional power structures and leveling traditional hierarchy. Control and power are shifting from institutions to individuals, from the historically powerful to the historically powerless. And all of this is happening so much faster than I could have imagined when I was sitting where you are today – and Mark Zuckerberg was 11 years old.
As the world becomes more connected and less hierarchical, traditional career paths are shifting as well. In 2001, after working in the government, I moved out to Silicon Valley to try to find a job. My timing wasn’t really that good. The bubble had crashed. Small companies were closing. Big companies were laying people off. One CEO looked at me and said, “we wouldn’t even think about hiring someone like you.”
After a while I had a few offers and I had to make a decision, so what did I do? I am MBA trained, so I made a spreadsheet. I listed my jobs in the columns and my criteria in the rows. One of the jobs on that sheet was to become Google’s first Business Unit general manager, which sounds good now, but at the time no one thought consumer internet companies could ever make money. I was not sure there was actually a job there at all; Google had no business units, so what was there to generally manage? And the job was several levels lower than jobs I was being offered at other companies.
So I sat down with Eric Schmidt, who had just become the CEO, and I showed him the spreadsheet and I said, this job meets none of my criteria. He put his hand on my spreadsheet and he looked at me and said, “Don’t be an idiot.”
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然後他說,登上太空梭吧!當企業迅速成長,擁有很大的影響力時,生涯規劃自然會發展;當企業無法迅速成長,或它們的角色變得不那麼重要時,景氣就會停滯,職場關係開始介入。如果太空梭提供妳一個座位,別問是哪個座位,只要坐上去就是了。大約6年半後,我離開Google,將他的忠告銘記在心。許多公司提供我執行長職位,但我到Facebook擔任營運總監。當時有人說,妳為什麼要替一位23歲的小夥子工作?傳統上,我們將職場生涯比喻成一道階梯,但我不再認為這個比喻是恰當的;它在較無層級之分的世界裡不具意義。
我進Facebook不久後,一位名叫Lori Goler的女性,她是哈佛商學院1997年畢業生,當時在eBay擔任市場行銷,我跟她算是碰過面。她打電話給我說,「我想跟妳談談關於進Facebook跟妳共事的事,所以我想,不妨打電話給妳,告訴妳所有我擅長、喜歡做的事;但我想每個人都會這麼做。所以相反的,我想知道妳最大的問題是什麼,我能如何解決這些問題。」我驚訝不已。我在職業生涯中僱用過成千上萬的人,但從來沒人這麼說;我本身也不曾這麼說。求職者總是談論跟求職有關的事,但Lori並非如此。我說,妳被錄用了;我最大的問題是招聘員工,妳可以解決這個問題。因此,Lori跳進一個她從未想過自己會踏進的領域,放下身段,在一個新領域重新開始。從那時起,她在Facebook推動和管理所有的人事運作,成果非凡。Lori對職涯有個很棒的比喻;她說,它們不是一道階梯,而是一個攀登架。
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Excellent career advice. And then he said, “Get on a rocket ship. When companies are growing quickly and having a lot of impact, careers take care of themselves. And when companies aren’t growing quickly or their missions don’t matter as much, that’s when stagnation and politics come in. If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.”
About six and one-half years later, when I was leaving Google, I took that advice to heart. I was offered CEO jobs at a bunch of companies, but I went to Facebook as COO. At the time people said, why are you going to work for a 23-year-old?
The traditional metaphor for careers is a ladder, but I no longer think that metaphor holds. It just doesn’t make sense in a less hierarchical world. When I was first at Facebook, a woman named Lori Goler, a 1997 graduate of HBS, was working in marketing at eBay and I knew her a bit socially. She called me and said, “I want to talk with you about coming to work with you at Facebook. So I thought about calling you and telling you all the things I’m good at and all the things I like to do. But I figured that everyone is doing that. So instead I want to know what’s your biggest problem and how can I solve it?”
My jaw hit the floor. I’d hired thousands of people up to that point in my career, but no one had ever said anything like that. I had never said anything like that. Job searches are always about the job searcher, but not in Lori’s case. I said, “You’re hired. My biggest problem is recruiting and you can solve it.” So Lori changed fields into something she never thought she’d do, went down a level to start in a new field. She has since been promoted and runs all of People Operations at Facebook and is doing an extraordinary job.
Lori has a great metaphor for careers. She says they’re not a ladder, they’re a jungle gym.
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當你們開始哈佛商學院畢業後的職業生涯,尋找機會、尋找成長、尋找影響、尋找使命;將目光放諸四周,前進或駐足;建立技能,而不是堆疊資歷;評估你能做什麼,而不是別人能提供你什麼職位;做實實在在的工作,即使是銷售工作、基層角色或充滿挑戰的工作;別做太多規劃;別期待能一步登天。如果我在你們這個年齡時制定了我的職業生涯,就會錯過我現在的職業生涯。
你們正進入一個與我那時候大不相同的商業世界。當時是剛開始連接的世界,現在是高度連接的世界;當時的世界相當競爭,現在的世界更加競爭;當時的世界變化迅速,現在的世界變化更加迅速。傳統結構已被打破,領導方式也必須隨之改變。從分級制度到共同責任,從指揮控制到聆聽引導。你們在這個偉大的機構中接受訓練,不僅是為了成為這個趨勢的一部分,而是成為領導者。當你領導這個新世界時,你無法依靠你是什麼人或取得什麼學位,你必須依靠所學的知識。你的力量並非來自於某個組織結構圖上所處的位置,而是來自建立信任和贏得尊重。你需要才華、技能、想像力和遠見,但最重要的是,你需要誠懇溝通的能力,說出能激勵周遭人的話,並聆聽周遭的聲音,讓你在每天的工作中不斷地學習。
如果你觀察幼兒,會立刻發現他們是多麼誠實。我商學院同班同學Betsy畢業幾年後懷了第二胎。她第一個孩子Sam大約五歲,有天他對媽媽說,「媽咪,寶寶在哪裡?」她說,「寶寶在我肚子裡。」他說,「真的?寶寶的手臂不是在妳手臂裡嗎?」她說,「不,寶寶在我肚子裡。」「真的?寶寶的腿不是在妳腿裡嗎?」「不,整個寶寶都在我肚子裡。」他說,「媽咪,那在妳屁股裡一直長大的是什麼東西?」
(笑聲)
身為成年人的我們永遠不會這麼誠實;這不是一件壞事。我已經生了兩個孩子,最不需要的就是這種很可能出現在我身上的評論。但這並非總是一件好事。因為我們所有人,特別是領導者,需要說實話和聽實話。職場是特別令人難以說實話的地方,因為無論我們多想讓我們的組織沒有層級之分,所有組織都有某種形式的層級之分;我的意思是,一個人的表現仍得由另一個人來評估,這並非一個適用於誠實的設置。想想人們在典型工作場所中的發言方式。他們不會說,我不同意我們的擴張策略;或更誠實點,這似乎蠢斃了。他們會說,我想我們確實有很多好理由來開發這個新業務,我確信管理團隊已做了深入的投資回報率分析,但我不確定我們已充分考慮到此時採取這個策略的下游效應。正如我們在Facebook上說的三個字:WTF(什麼鬼話)。
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As you start your post-HBS career, look for opportunities, look for growth, look for impact, look for mission. Move sideways, move down, move on, move off. Build your skills, not your resume. Evaluate what you can do, not the title they’re going to give you. Do real work. Take a sales quota, a line role, an ops job. Don’t plan too much, and don’t expect a direct climb. If I had mapped out my career when I was sitting where you are, I would have missed my career.
You are entering a different business world than I entered. Mine was just starting to get connected. Yours is hyper-connected. Mine was competitive. Yours is way more competitive. Mine moved quickly, yours moves even more quickly.
As traditional structures are breaking down, leadership has to evolve as well – from hierarchy to shared responsibility, from command and control to listening and guiding. You’ve been trained by this great institution not just to be part of these trends, but to lead.
As you lead in this new world, you will not be able to rely on who you are or the degree you hold. You’ll have to rely on what you know. Your strength will not come from your place on some org chart, but from building trust and earning respect. You’re going to need talent, skill, and imagination and vision. But more than anything else, you’re going to need the ability to communicate authentically, to speak so that you inspire the people around you and to listen so that you continue to learn each and every day on the job.
If you watch young children, you’ll immediately notice how honest they are. My friend Betsy from my section a few years after business school was pregnant with her second child. Her first child was about five and said, “Mommy, where is the baby?” She said, “The baby is in my tummy.” He said, ‘Aren’t the baby’s arms in your arms?” She said, “No, the baby’s in my tummy.” “Are the baby’s legs in your legs?” “No, the whole baby is in my tummy.” Then he said, ‘Then Mommy, what is growing in your butt?”
As adults, we are never this honest. And that’s not a bad thing. I have borne two children and the last thing I needed were those comments. But it’s not always a good thing either. Because all of us, and especially leaders, need to speak and hear the truth.
This is not a setup for honesty. Think about how people speak in a typical workforce. Rather than say, “I disagree with our expansion strategy” or better yet, “this seems truly stupid.” They say, “I think there are many good reasons why we’re entering this new line of business, and I’m certain the management team has done a thorough ROI analysis, but I’m not sure we have fully considered the downstream effects of taking this step forward at this time.” As we would say at Facebook, three letters: WTF.
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事實最好用簡單的語言來表達。去年Mark決定學中文;作為學習的一部分,他每周會花一小時左右,與一些母語為中文的員工談話。某天,其中一位員工想告訴他關於她經理的事,她說了很長的句子;他說,「請說簡單點。」她又說了一次;他說,「不,我還是不明白,再說簡單點…」就這樣說了好一陣子…最後,她一急之下脫口而出,「我的經理很爛!」這讓他簡單明確地瞭解了非常重要的事實。人們在工作場所或生活中很少會這麼明確地說出想法。當你的職位越高時,人們不僅會用更不明確的方式對你訴說想法,也會對你所說的話反應過度。
當我加入Facebook時,我必須做的其中一件事就是建立公司的業務層面、建立一些系統,但我希望能在不破壞使Facebook顯得與眾不同的文化下進行,所以我嘗試做的其中一件事是,鼓勵人們跟我開會時不要做正式的PowerPoint簡報。我大概是這麼說的,「跟我開會時不要做PowerPoint簡報,你們何不帶張想要討論的事項清單?」但沒人理我,他們還是繼續做PowerPoint簡報;月復一月地,在一場又一場的會議中這麼做。所以大約兩年後,我說,「好吧,我痛恨規定,但我有個規定;在我的會議中別再出現PowerPoint,我是說真的,別再出現了。」大約一個月後,我正要在一個大講台上對我們的全球銷售團隊演講,有人向我走來說,「在妳上台之前應該知道一下,每個人都對沒有關於客戶資料的PowerPoint非常生氣。」我說,「什麼?沒有關於客戶資料的PowerPoint?」他們說,「妳知道,妳規定不能有PowerPoint。」所以我站上台說,第一點,我的意思是,在我的會議中不要用PowerPoint;但第二點,更重要的是,下次你們聽見某些相當愚蠢的想法時,別乖乖遵守,而要抗拒它或忽視它,即使是我或Mark的想法。
一個好領導者會意識到大多數人對挑戰權威感到不安,所以鼓勵他們提出質疑是掌權者的責任。鼓勵他們提出意見說來容易、做來難,因為不幸的是,這些意見並不總是以我們希望聽到的形式呈現。
當我剛開始在Google任職時,擁有一個四人團隊;對我來說,跟團隊裡每個人面談很重要。身為我團隊的一份子,表示我得瞭解他們。當團隊人數增加到100人時,我意識到必須花更長的時間來安排面談。某天,在某個由我進行匯報的會議上,我說,「也許我該停止面談。」滿心期待他們會跳起來說,「不,妳的面談是整個過程中相當重要的部分。」他們只是熱烈鼓掌,然後爭相提出意見,說我的做法是整個過程的瓶頸。我先是尷尬,然後是生氣;我默默地惱怒了好幾個小時。他們為什麼不告訴我說我是瓶頸?他們為什麼一直讓我拖累大家?然後我意識到,如果他們沒告訴我,其實是我的錯。我沒有開誠佈公地告訴他們,我希望聆聽他們的意見;往後我必須改變這一點。
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Truth is better used by using simple language. Last year, Mark decided to learn Chinese and as part of studying, he would spend an hour or so each week with some of our employees who were native Chinese speakers. One day, one of them was trying to tell him something about her manager. She said this long sentence and he said, “simpler please.” And then she said it again and he said, “no, I still don’t understand, simpler please”…and so on and so on. Finally, in sheer exasperation, she burst out, “my manager is bad.” Simple and clear and very important for him to know.
People rarely speak this clearly in the workforce or in life. And as you get more senior, not only will people speak less clearly to you but they will overreact to the small things you say. When I joined Facebook, one of the things I had to do was build the business side of the company and put some systems into place. But I wanted to do it without destroying the culture that made Facebook great. So one of the things I tried to do was encourage people not to do formal PowerPoint presentations for meetings with me. I would say things like, “Don’t do PowerPoint presentations for meetings with me. Instead, come in with a list of what you want to discuss.” But everyone ignored me and they kept doing their presentations meeting after meeting, month after month. So about two years in, I said, “OK, I hate rules but I have a rule: no more PowerPoint in my meetings.”
About a month later I was about to speak to our global sales team on a big stage and someone came up to me and said, “Before you get on that stage, you really should know everyone’s pretty upset about the no PowerPoint with clients thing.” So I got on the stage and said, “one, I meant no PowerPoint with me. But two, more importantly, next time you hear something that’s really stupid, don’t adhere to it. Fight it or ignore it, even if it’s coming from me or Mark.”
A good leader recognizes that most people won’t feel comfortable challenging authority, so it falls upon authority to encourage them to question. It’s easy to say that you’re going to encourage feedback but it’s hard to do, because unfortunately it doesn’t always come in a format we want to hear.
When I first started at Google, I had a team of four people and it was really important to me that I interview everyone. For me, being part of my team meant I had to know you. When the team had grown to about 100 people, I realized it was taking longer to schedule my interviews. So one day at my meeting of just my direct reports, I said “maybe I should stop interviewing”, fully expecting them to jump in and say “no, your interviews are a critical part of the process.” They applauded. Then they fell over themselves explaining that I was the bottleneck of all time. I was embarrassed. Then I was angry and I spent a few hours just quietly fuming. Why didn’t they tell me I was a bottleneck? Why did they let me go on slowing them down? Then I realized that if they hadn’t told me, it was my fault. I hadn’t convinced them that I wanted that feedback and I would have to change that going forward.
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當你身為領導者時,很難聽見良好而誠實的意見,無論你要求過多少次。我發現的一個技巧是,我試著相當公開地談論我的缺點,因為這給了人們贊同這件事的許可,這比一開始就直接詢問大家的意見容易多了。舉個例子來說,當事情無法解決時,我會變得有點焦慮;確實如此。當有什麼事懸而未決時,我會越變越焦慮,我確信沒人會說我過於冷靜。因此我公開談論這件事,這給了人們在發生這種情形時告知我的許可。但如果我從未提出這一點,任何在Facebook工作的人可能這麼對我說嗎?「嘿,Sheryl,冷靜下來,妳快把我們逼瘋了。」我不認為如此。
當你們今天畢業後,問問自己,你將如何領導?你會使用簡單而清晰的語言嗎?你會尋求誠實的回應嗎?當你得到誠實的回應時,你的反應是憤怒或感激?當我們盡力在溝通上做到更加誠實時,也應該盡力在更廣泛的層面上做到誠實。我經常談論將完整的自我帶進工作中,這是我深信不疑的事。工作的動機來自於我們關心的事,但也來自於跟我們關心的人共事。要關心他人,你必須瞭解他們,必須知道他們喜愛和痛恨的事物,必須知道他們的感覺,而不只是他們的想法。如果你想贏得人心,就必須全心全意地帶領他們。我不認為我們能在週一至週五以專業的自我出現,其餘時間則表現出真實的自我;這種分裂或許根本不可行。但在當今世界,真實、誠懇地表現自我甚至更不可行。
我曾在工作時哭泣,我不諱言我曾在工作時哭泣,但新聞報導出來時寫著,「Sheryl Sandberg哭倒在Mark Zuckerberg肩上。」根本不是這麼回事。我談論我的希望和恐懼,也要求別人這麼做;我試著做自己、誠實面對我的長處和短處,也鼓勵別人這麼做;這是專業,也是自我,兩者同時呈現。
我將完整的自我帶入工作的部份行動是,我最近開始談論女性在職場中面臨的挑戰,這是我近幾年才有勇氣做的事。在此之前,我跟其他人一樣做我的工作;我從未告訴任何人我也有孩子氣的一面。噓,不要告訴別人。我會把辦公室的燈留著,溜回家打理孩子的事;我曾在電話會議中,鎖上辦公室的門,為我孩子擠奶。人們問說,那是什麼聲音?我說,「什麼聲音?我聽見警報聲,是輛消防車,真的,就在辦公室外面。」但我們在過去十年中取得的進展,讓我確信我們需要開始討論這件事。
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When you’re the leader, it is really hard to get good and honest feedback, no many how many times you ask for it. One trick I’ve discovered is that I try to speak really openly about the things I’m bad at, because that gives people permission to agree with me, which is a lot easier than pointing it out in the first place. To take one of many possible examples, when things are unresolved I can get a tad anxious. Really, when anything’s unresolved, I get anxious. I’m quite certain no one has accused me of being too calm. So I speak about it openly and that gives people permission to tell me when it’s happening. But if I never said anything, would anyone who works at Facebook walk up to me and say, “Hey Sheryl, calm down. You’re driving us all nuts!” I don’t think so.
As you graduate today, ask yourself, how will you lead. Will you use simple and clear language? Will you seek out honesty? When you get honesty back, will you react with anger or with gratitude?
As we strive to be more authentic in our communication, we should also strive to be more authentic in a broader sense. I talk a lot about bringing your whole self to work—something I believe in deeply.
I’ve cried at work. I’ve told people I’ve cried at work. And it’s been reported in the press that ‘Sheryl Sandberg cried on Mark Zuckerberg’s shoulder’, which is not exactly what happened. I talk about my hopes and fears and ask people about theirs. I try to be myself – honest about my strengths and weaknesses – and I encourage others to do the same. It is all professional and it is all personal, all at the very same time.
I recently started speaking up about the challenges women face in the workforce, something I only had the courage to do in the last few years. Before this, I did my career like everyone else does it. I never told anyone I was a girl. Don’t tell. I left the lights on when I went home to do something for my kids . I locked my office door and pumped milk for my babies while I was on conference calls. People would ask, “what’s that sound?” I would say, “What sound?” “I hear a beep.” “Oh, there’s a fire truck outside my office.”
But the lack of progress over the past decade has convinced me we need to start talking about this.
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我1995年從哈佛商學院畢業,當時我認為,無庸置疑地,當我們那屆某個畢業生被邀請到這個講台上演講時,我們將會實現職場上的平等。但擔任高階主管的女性比例仍停留在15%或16%,在過去十年中並沒有增加,甚至跟50%相距甚遠;更糟的是,不再有增加的情形。我們必須公開承認,性別在高階領導中仍是個問題,兩性平等的承諾並不平等;我們必須開始討論這件事。我們必須開始討論,為何與男性相比,女性總是低估自己的能力。對女性,而非男性來說,成功和受歡迎程度呈負相關;這意味著女性在職場中越成功就越不受歡迎;這意味著女性需要不同形式的管理和指導、不同形式的贊助和鼓勵及一些保護;在某些方面比男性更加需要。並沒有足夠的女性高階主管做這件事,所以這個責任落在今天跟女性一樣多、或比女性更多的男性畢業生身上。並不只是在於性別問題,也在於如何幫助這些女性成功。
當你們聽見一位女性在職場上相當成功、卻不受歡迎時,請做個深呼吸,並詢問為什麼。我們必須開始公開談論我們在工作及生活中所需的彈性。幾星期前,我接受採訪時說,我在下午5點離開辦公室,與孩子們共進晚餐。我對新聞報導的篇幅感到震驚。我一位朋友說,就算我拿斧頭殺了人也不會比這件事上的頭條還多!當然,我完全不想嘗試這麼做。這顯示了這對所有男性和女性來說都是尚未解決的問題,不然為什麼大家會在這件事上大肆著墨?也許最重要的是,我們必須開始討論,為何嚮往最高階職位的女性會比男性少,即使是畢業於哈佛商學院這樣的地方,即使以你們這個班級來說。我們無法拉近領導階級中性別分布的差距,除非我們拉近男性與女性對事業雄心的差距。我們需要更多的女性,不只是坐在辦公桌旁,而是像歐巴馬總統幾星期前在巴納德學院畢業演講中所說的,在領導桌上取得合法席位。
我今天非常高興能來這裡的原因之一是,Nohria院長告訴我,今年是讓女性進入這所學校就讀的50週年。你們院長對於讓更多女性進入領導階級充滿熱情;他告訴我,因為這一點,他希望我今年來演講。我曾遇見一位這所學院的首屆女畢業生,她告訴我,當她們第一次來這裡時,校方把一間男廁改建成女廁,這沒什麼;但留下了小便池。她相當明白這所傳達的訊息;他們不確定女性是否能順利畢業,萬一不行時,他們不需要重建小便池。小便池已不復存在,讓我們確保沒人會想念它們。
今天之後,你和你的同窗們將跨越這個階段,開創未來的人生;我期許你們四件事:第一,藉由Facebook保持聯繫;這很重要,是你未來成功的關鍵!我們的股票現在已經上市,你們或許可以點擊一兩個廣告。第二,盡力說真話,並尋求真實的意見。第三,保持對真正自我的誠實和開放。第四,最衷心的建議-希望你們這一代能完成我們這一代未完成的事,為我們創造一個世界,其中一半的家庭由男性經營,一半的機構則由女性經營;我敢肯定這將是一個更美好的世界。
我和在場的每一個人,向哈佛商學院2012級獻上最誠摯的祝賀。用你們最真實的自我,給自己最熱烈的掌聲。
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I graduated from HBS in 1995 and I thought it was completely clear that by the time someone from my year was invited to speak at this podium, we would have achieved equality in the workforce. But women at the top — C-level jobs — are stuck at 15-16 percent and have not moved in a decade. Not even close to 50% and no longer growing. We need to acknowledge openly that gender remains an issue at the highest levels of leadership. The promise of equality is not equality. We need to start talking about this.
We need to start talking about how women underestimate their abilities compared to men and how for women, but not men, success and likeability are negatively correlated. That means that as a woman is more successful in your workplaces, she will be less liked. This means that women need a different form of management and mentorship, a different form of sponsorship and encouragement than men.
There aren’t enough senior women out there to do it, so it falls upon the men who are graduating today just as much or more as the women, not just to talk about gender but to help these women succeed. When they hear a woman is really great at her job but not liked, take a deep breath and ask why.
We need to start talking openly about the flexibility all of us need to have both a job and a life. A couple of weeks ago in an interview I said that I leave the office at 5:30 p.m. to have dinner with my children. I was shocked at the press coverage. One of my friends said I couldn’t get more headlines if I had murdered someone with an ax. This showed me this is an unresolved issue for all of us, men and women alike. Otherwise, everyone would not write so much about it.
And maybe, most importantly, we need to start talking about how fewer women than men, even from places like HBS, even likely in this class, aspire to the very top jobs. We will not close the leadership gap until we close the professional ambition gap. We need more women not just to sit at the table, but as President Obama said a few weeks ago at Barnard, to take their rightful seats at the head of the table.
One of the reasons I was so excited to be here today is that this is the 50th anniversary of letting women into this school. Dean Noria, who is so passionate about getting more women into leadership positions, told me that he wanted me to speak this year for that reason.
I met a woman from that first class once. She told me that when they first came in, they took a men’s room and converted it to a woman’s room. But they left the urinals in. She thought the message was clear – ‘we are not sure this whole woman thing is going to work out and if not, we don’t want to have to reinstall the urinals.’ The urinals are long gone. Let’s make sure that no one ever misses them.
As you and your classmates spread out across the globe and walk across this stage tomorrow, I wish for you four things:
First, keep in touch via Facebook. This is critical to your future success! And since we’re public now, why you are there, click on an ad or two.
Two, that you make the effort to speak as well as seek the truth.
Three, that you remain true to and open about your authentic self.
And four, that your generation accomplishes what mine has failed to do. Give us a world where half our homes are run by men and half our institutions are run by women. I’m pretty sure that would be a better world.