通过公司内部邮件看到了John(毕马威国际主席)写给大一时自己的一封信,当时并不知道他写了点儿啥,但要求自己要腾出时间来认真拜读下,敬这是一位我效力了近十年的公司里的大高层,刺激一下自己的思维,回顾一下自己这十年的职场感悟,感谢2006年底的那个offer,感谢这十年的相伴,感恩。
下面是linkedin上面John的名片。下面的中文都是我的发散性思维。
I I was asked by my alma mater(母校), the University of Notre Dame(门多萨商学院,全美前30), to participate in a project to support this year’s class of first-year undergraduate students. I’m a strong believer in lifelong learning and the work KPMG is doing to advance literacy throughout the world, so I was eager to offer some advice to first-year students by writing a short “Letter to my Freshman Self”. The letter, which I’ve posted below, is a reflection on things I wished I knew when I started my university education, and is appearing in a book alongside contributions from other Notre Dame alum. The book will be given to this year’s first-year students as they embark upon their studies.
John很开心能够参与母校的项目,通过“写一封信给还是大一新生的自己”,来和学弟学妹们分享一些经验,一些他希望自己早点知道的事儿。这样的分享,可以让我们找到价值感,助人自助,不吝分享,才能推动社会进步。被需要和被感激的感觉,也推动我们继续努力。
Dear John,
Welcome to your freshman year at Notre Dame. You’ve just moved out of your hometown and are getting ready to start your journey toward becoming a successful accountant, an influential philanthropist, a dedicated leader, a husband and a father.
离开家乡,开始大学生活,对很多人来说意味着真正的独立。John对自己的定位是成功的会计师,有影响力的慈善家,尽职的领袖,丈夫和父亲。那我们对自己的定义是什么呢?当此生走到尽头职场farewell letter,我们希望自己在别人的眼中是怎样的一个人?____________ 结合自己的各种身份,我希望自己是一位有影响力的公益工作者,不可或缺的事业伙伴,让人成长的领导,孝顺的女儿,独一无二的好妻子,合格的母亲。
You’re probably a little nervous, and that’s normal: but you’ve got a strong foundation that will serve you well in the coming years. You’ve learned the value of hard work from your dad, working long hours in his small business. You’ve recognized that your friends, family and mentors – the people who know you best – have helped steer you toward a career in business. And you’ve already seen that working on projects that give you a sense of purpose make you go the extra mile.
在大学这样一个新环境里面,感到焦虑或紧张时很正常。但高等教育会为我们的将来打好坚实的基础。从父母辛勤工作,供我们接受良好的教养,我们看到了努力的价值。从朋友和导师那里,我们逐渐的找到适合自己的事业。通过参与各种项目,我们不断的尝试通过多一份的努力和明确的目标,我们就会超越平均水平。
So now what? Well, the hard work will continue. Yes, it’s going to be a grueling few years, but the payoff will be worth it. Your relationships? They will only become more important, and will help you create connections in the business world that will help model great leadership behavior. And the desire to have a purpose? You don’t know it yet, but this will be something that will continually challenge you and will ultimately make you a better decision-maker and leader.
所有的努力都是值得的。所有你在这个过程中结识的人和关系,都会越来越重要,帮助你塑造领导力行为。有目标的行动,会让你成长为更好的决策者和领导者。
放弃比坚持更容易,但只有坚持才能成就伟大。记得有次我去参加垂直马拉松,到10层楼的时候就想下撤了,没有朋友陪伴,一个人好没意思,但是工作人员说要到20层才可以下撤,那我又被迫坚持了10层;结果到了20层楼,工作人员又说“人不够的,要等多些,才可以一起撤。你可以先去50层,领取个半程完善证明吧?” 不喜欢干等的我又坚持了30层,奔着比较近的那个目标去了,结果到了50层楼的时候,人就是这样,一半都坚持下来了,那就此放弃好不甘心,于是我调整心态,听着“小苹果”等我能找到的high歌,一路慢慢的坚持到了100层楼顶。是我有潜力吗?是的,而且这潜力我们每个人都有,对于自己喜欢的选择,请选择比放弃困难n倍的坚持。
Speaking of leadership, you’re going to become a leader fairly early in your career.
领导力,可能在初入职场的时候就需要了。
You’ll join a reputable accounting firm right out of college that will challenge you to make tough choices – and will definitely lead to tough conversations with clients who will try to sway your moral compass. Leading by example in these ‘grey area’ situations will show others that you are confident, informed and diplomatic, and will give you the opportunity to be pushed into continually more complex projects that require a strong leader. Say yes to these opportunities because while they will help you grow, they will also let you work alongside and develop relationships with some pretty smart people.
我们需要证明自己的能力,才会有机会被赋予更高更难的挑战和任务。勇于尝试,这会让你成长,与非常聪明的人有机会共事。自2012年加入企业社会责任部门以来,我也做了些可圈可点的事儿,连续很多年美商会得奖,推动了运动类筹款(例如“一个鸡蛋暴走”,“小小暴走”)在公司的推广,让“以物易物”成为暑期实习生的明星体验,从上海到北京,还有toastmasters俱乐部的创立,以及义务咨询和新项目的开展。我想换了任何另外一家公司,我可能都不会做成这些事儿。我深深的知道, kobe的厦门马拉松筹款,duncan的雪山登顶挑战,david的好多次暴走,william的全力支持,就是公司最棒的地方,让我有机会,和这些优秀的人一起,去刷新一个个历史,去让kpmg,变的更有温度。不论我在不在,有这些人在,一切都是一样的。
As you take on more senior roles, you will begin to hate business travel (airplanes will fly faster, but airplane food will get worse!) but will love the face-to-face meetings. You will learn how to bring people together and how to navigate around corporate politics in order to accomplish great things. Watch how leaders ahead of you form teams of high-performing people and witness the power of those teams when each person is respected for both who they are as well as what they are capable of.
职位更高,我们可能更喜欢面对面的会议。你了解怎样将大家聚在一起职场farewell letter,避开纷繁的企业政治的干扰,做成伟大的事儿吗?可以通过观察那些真正的领袖,她们如何组建高绩效的团队,他们如何让所有的人各尽其才?领导并不是天生的,是需要终身学习的一种技能。现在的我,难免有的时候会有架子和脾气。我们都知道熟人好办事儿的道理,但如果你碰上一个新手,不知道你是谁,照章办事,那你还真的没脾气。于是乎,一句“我要找你们领导。”,领导好忙的。那么机灵的小朋友,就会感受的到这种情绪,可能开始是自己多找找自己的领导,到后面了就变成业务一把手了。
Finally, learn to embrace technology, and continually think about how technology will change your profession in the coming years. (I should mention, the world will have something called an ‘iPad’ in about 30 years, and it will make you more efficient, and your briefcase lighter than you can imagine).
科技是第一生产力。很多人穿越回去都说要提醒自己买房,John却只是提醒自己注重科技对自己专业的影响,确实是战略决策者的想法。一个十年,新产业的崛起,以前一些我们闻所未闻的商业模式出现了,解决问题的方式更加多元了,不照常理出牌的新新人类不断的刷新着我们的容忍力,迫使我们改变去适应大环境。适者生存,拥抱变化才不会被时代的大浪拍死在沙滩上。一句话,敢想敢做,除了自己的梦想,真的没有什么是恒古不变的。我就这一辈子,为什么要为了取悦别人活着?为什么要留遗憾给自己?
Don’t forget to enjoy your time at Notre Dame, even when you are no longer in school, you will still be part of the Notre Dame family. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the relationships and skills you develop will serve you for the rest of your career.
我觉得,凡是懂的感恩,念旧情的人,都是聪明的。在我在毕马威的这十年,我收到了许许多多的farewell letter,各有各的才华横溢,总有那么多说不完的感想,这就对了。很多人参加过志愿者活动(支教、唇腭裂免费手术等)后离开了,带着一份值得一生珍藏的回忆,开心的离开,这就挺好的。有容乃大。也许也有这样那样的不如意,但是现实就是,可能你会得到朋友的一些附和,但其实她们的无奈和同情并不是你真正想要的。还是开开心心的,收好自己的不满,接受祝福,做个让人快乐的朋友比较好。
John
P.S. Remember that beautiful, intelligent girl you chatted with last week during freshman orientation? Her name is Beth. I suggest you get to know her.
John的信到此就结束了。我估计Beth后来成为了John的爱人吧,对的人在一起,晚一个小时,都会觉得相见恨晚。以前有人问我,你想回到过去吗?可以任意选择一个时间点。我现在也觉得生活一直很眷顾我,我对过去并没有遗憾。但如果一定要让我(带着记忆)回到过去(高中毕业)的话,那我会选择到南航读大学,找到马克,认识他,和他早点在一起。呵呵,小激动的自己都流眼泪了呢。
周三晚上我履行了自己“职场领路人”导师的责任,第一次和三位大三的同学语音聊天,能够对她们有所帮助让我也觉得很有价值感。看着这张关于女性领导力峰会的图片,我想,继续做一个事业和家庭平衡的女性,帮助更多的女性朋友获得幸福和自信,也是我会坚持到底的事儿。