When Leaders Struggle with Collaboration合作有障碍，领导须自省

A client of Luis’s， let’s call him Charlie， a senior executive reporting directly to the CEO， was recently given feedback that despite his outstanding performance， his colleagues struggled to work with him. Charlie’s drive to deliver results， his no-nonsense approach to offering his viewpoints， and the intensity with which he approached most everything made him appear unnecessarily competitive， despite that being the furthest thing from his intent. As a result， without realizing it， Charlie lost the trust of some of his most critical stakeholders： his peers.

路易斯的一位客户，姑且叫他查理吧，他是首席执行官直属的高级主管，最近收到了一个反馈信息：尽管他工作表现出色，同事却很难与他合作。查理对工作业绩的追求，他提出自己观点时直截了当的做法，以及他对几乎每件事的认真投入，都让他显得有点过于争强好胜，尽管这与他的意图相去甚远。结果，查理在不知不觉中失去了一些最关键的利益相关者——他同事们的信任。

It’s not uncommon for talented leaders to find collaboration unnatural. After all， rugged individualism set them apart and propelled their careers. And for many， that same focus on distinguishing themselves later becomes their demise.

有才华的领导者在工作中有时会发现与人合作不太顺畅，这并不罕见。毕竟，坚韧的个人主义使他们卓尔不群，并使他们的事业蒸蒸日上。而对许多人来说，后来导致他们失败的，同样也是这种使他们出类拔萃的专注力。

Most of an enterprise’s competitive value is created and delivered at organ- izational “seams，” where functions come together to form capabilities （think marketing， consumer analytics， and R&D， together developing innovation capability）. That requires leaders of those functions to collaborate across the silos1 to deliver that value.

一个企业的大多数竞争价值都是在组织机构的“接缝”处创造和实现的，在那里，各种职能汇聚在一起形成能力（想想市场营销、消费者数据分析和研发，它们共同形成创新能力）。这就要求这些相互独立的职能部门的领导者跨部门协作，以实现上述价值。

If you’re a leader who struggles to collaborate with your peers， you first need to understand why that is， then work to develop that skill.

如果你是一个难以与同事合作的领导者，你首先需要搞清楚为什么会这样，然后努力培养这种合作的技能。

Why collaboration doesn’t come easy？

为什么合作没那么容易？

It’s critical to reflect on why collaboration doesn’t come naturally to you. Here are some common reasons we’ve seen among leaders we’ve worked with.

为什么合作对你来说不是一件自然而然的事？要反思一下，这一点很重要。以下是我们在曾经合作过的领导者身上看到的一些常见原因。

You’re competitive and fear being overshadowed2.

你争强好胜，害怕被人抢风头。

You’ve likely enjoyed a track record of winning and being the best. Nevertheless， the notion of sharing the spotlight3 with others makes you anxious. Perhaps your sense of identity and success has been reinforced by years of individual achievement.

过去，你可能一直取胜，总是拔尖。然而现在，想到要与他人分享荣誉就会让你焦虑。也许，多年来个人取得的辉煌成就加强了你的自我认同感和成功意识。

Still， it’s essential to realize that at higher organizational altitudes， success is achieved through integrated efforts. Pay close attention when you fear that others might outshine you or that your contribution won’t be distinguished. Understanding the inner narrative telling you that your uniqueness will be blunted4 is the first step to changing it. At this level of the organization， you must believe that your contribution will be amplified if it’s blended with others’ contributions.

然而，你必须认识到，在更高的组织层面，成功是通过协同努力实现的。当你担心别人可能比自己更出色或者自己的贡献不会很突出时，要密切关注这种情绪。你内心对此的解读是，你的独特性会被削弱。理解这一点，是改变这种心态的第一步。在组织的这个层级，你必须相信，你的贡献如果融合了其他人的贡献，其效力会被放大。

You’ve relied heavily on hierarchy to get things done.

你严重依赖等级制来完成工作。

Perhaps you’ve operated in your own functional silo and have been successful in directing the work of others toward the results you’ve achieved. Or perhaps you grew up professionally in a culture that prizes hierarchy and deference to authority.

也许你之前在自己独立运行的部门工作，一直靠指挥其他人成事，才有了自己曾经的那些成果。又或许你是在一种推崇等级制和服从权威的文化中获得职业成长的。

Recognize that at this level of the organization， influencing your peers is critical and very different from the positional authority you hold over your dir-ect reports5. You must be less directive， and more curious and conversational.

要认识到，在组织的这个层级，对你的同事产生影响是至关重要的，这与你对直接下属拥有的职位权威非常不同。你必须少些指手画脚，多些好奇心，多和同事沟通。

You have a hard time trusting.

你很难信任别人。

You believe that attention to detail is your strength， and you’ve had some unfavorable outcomes in the past when delegating to others， which leads you to be extra careful now. You fear uncertainty and want to make sure your decisions are on solid ground. Take the example of Mario; a successful lawyer tasked with reviewing and closing critical contracts worth millions for the company. Unfortunately， as someone who felt a strong need for control， he managed to turn trivial issues into deal-breaking problems. Underlying Mario’s inability to trust others with much of anything was a deeper narrative： “People will take advantage of me if I let them.” Until he learned to challenge it， this assumption was the lens through which Mario saw others. Given the high stakes of your role， it’s understandable to be sensitized to what might go wrong. However， there is a difference between having healthy skepticism and assuming bad intentions. When you ascribe6 ill motives， you send a strong message of mistrust.

你相信对细节的关注是你的优势，而且你在过去把任务委派给别人的时候，曾有过不好的结果，这导致你现在格外小心。你害怕不确定性，想要确保你的决定是有理有据的。以马里奥为例，他是一位成功的律师，负责为公司审查和完成价值数百万美元的重要合同。不幸的是，作为一个具有强烈控制欲的人，他竟把一些微不足道的小事看成是不能通融的问题。马里奥几乎在任何事情上都无法信任他人，其深层原因是：“如果我放任不管，他们就会利用我。”在马里奥学会挑战这种假设之前，这种假设一直是他观察他人的视角。鉴于你的职位关系大局，对可能出现的问题表现敏感是可以理解的。然而，健康的怀疑态度和恶意的假设之间是有区别的。当你认为对方的动机不良时，你就会发出强烈的不信任信号。

Collaboration is a complex set of skills and attributes. It combines active listening， managing conflict， shared problem solving， self-regulation， humility， curiosity， and a caring orientation7 toward others. Make a careful inventory of behaviors for which you know you lack sufficient skill or orientation. You can take steps to develop your collabor-ation skills and rebuild lost trust with others who’ve struggled to work with you.