職場雙語:想升職? 不妨和老闆爭一爭!

Here's a popular myth: Managers who butt heads with the boss fail to get ahead. But often, the opposite is true.

這是一個以訛傳訛的說法：頂撞上司的管理者很難獲得晉升。但事實常常與之相反。

Knowing how to disagree agreeably with higher-ups increases your chances for advancement, career coaches, management consultants and recruiters say.

職業教練、管理顧問和招聘者一致表示，瞭解如何恰當地與上司爭論會增加你的晉升機會。

'It takes courage and emotional intelligence to stand up to your boss,' observes Kenton R. Hill, an executive coach in Portland, Ore., who wrote 'Smart Isn't Enough,' a 2010 book. 'You're more likely to land a bigger role if you help your boss be successful,' he adds.

2010年出版的《僅僅聰明是不夠的》（Smart Isn't Enough）一書的作者、俄勒岡州波特蘭的高管教練肯頓•R•希爾（Kenton R. Hill）說，“與上司對抗需要勇氣和情商。如果你幫助你的老闆取得成功，你獲得重用的可能性會大大增加。”

Executive recruiters 'question your integrity' if you're a candidate who claims that you've never clashed with your supervisor, writes Russell S. Reynolds, Jr., founder of an eponymous big search firm, in his new memoir, 'Heads.' Tales of seamless harmony suggest 'you lack the power of your own convictions,'' he says in an interview.

羅盛•S•雷諾茲二世(Russell S. Reynolds, Jr.）是大型獵頭公司羅盛諮詢公司（Russell Reynolds Associates Inc.）的創始人，他在其最新回憶錄《Heads》中寫道，如果你在求職時聲稱從未與上司起過沖突，獵頭就會“質疑你的誠實度”。他在一次訪談中說，無懈可擊的和諧相處經歷使人覺得“你缺乏堅持自身信念的能力”。

John Stroup, CEO of Belden Inc., a maker of electrical cables, says he's more apt to promote managers who are savvy about challenging him.

電纜製造企業百通公司（Belden Inc.）CEO約翰•斯特魯普（John Stroup）說，他更傾向於提拔那些擅長挑戰他的經理。

However, he cautions that it's not a good move right off the bat. At his previous employer, Danaher Corp.,he saw some newly recruited senior managers wash out because they urged him to adopt approaches used by their old company without first establishing their credibility, he recalls.

但是，他告誡說，從一開始就反對上司並不好。他回憶起在他之前所在的丹納赫公司（Danaher Corp.），一些新招募的高級經理終被淘汰，就是因爲他們在首先還未建立自身信譽的時候就力勸斯特魯普採用他們的老東家慣用的方法。

Mr. Stroup prevailed in a disagreement with his Danaher supervisor about a risky strategic shift because they had developed a strong rapport. That man, an executive vice president, 'recognized my strengths,' Mr. Stroup recollects. 'I felt comfortable enough to push my point of view.'

斯特魯普在丹納赫時與他的上司就一個冒險的戰略轉變進行過爭論並且贏得了那次爭論，因爲他們的關係已經非常融洽了。斯特魯普回憶說，那位執行副總裁“認可我的能力，我感到有足夠的把握勸他接受我的觀點。”

The skeptical boss let him offer certain customers complete solutions for their specific needs-a departure from standard operating procedure. The idea was a success, and Mr. Stroup, a division president, was appointed a group executive not long after.

這位心存疑惑的上司同意讓斯特魯普爲一部分客戶提供全面的方案以滿足他們的特定需求──這是偏離標準流程的做法。這個主意成功了，不久以後時任部門總裁的斯特魯普就被任命爲了集團高管。

Even recently hired executives can benefit from locking horns with the boss, provided they choose battles wisely, keep their cool and build a compelling case that boosts their superior's reputation, leadership experts say.

領導力專家說，即使是剛入職不久的主管也可從與老闆的爭執中獲益，只要他們明智地選擇時機，保持冷靜並且做出引人注目的足以提高上司聲譽的業績。

'Disagreement is great as long as it's fact-based,' says one senior executive, who was hired to run a key unit for a big retailer in 2009. (He asked to remain anonymous so as not to embarrass his onetime employer.)

一位在2009年受聘運營一家大型零售商核心部門的高管說，“有不同意見很好，只要它是基於事實之上的。”（他要求保持匿名，以免使其從前的僱主遭遇尷尬。）

The executive, who reported to the CEO, did not agree with his boss, who long believed that small-business owners patronizing his business unit were shopping to supply their firms. Rather than airing his disagreement, he first spent 90 days analyzing purchase data and found that those customers mainly bought goods for their families.

這位向CEO彙報的高管不同意他老闆的觀點，後者一直認爲光顧他的業務部門的小企業主是在爲他們的企業採購。但他沒有立即與老闆爭論，而是首先花了90天時間分析採購數據，並且發現這些客戶主要是爲其家庭採購物品。

When he presented the data to the CEO, the executive cast his research as fresh insights-and not the boss's bad call.

把這些數據展示給CEO時，他把自己的研究稱爲新的見解──而不是老闆的錯誤判斷。

'How come we didn't figure this out before?' the surprised chief asked, and later endorsed the lieutenant's plan for revamping the company's marketing appeals to small-business owners. In early 2012, the executive landed a more powerful post at a major packaged-goods concern.

“我們之前怎麼沒弄清楚這一點？”老闆驚訝地問他，並很快批准了他的方案，內容是改進公司針對小企業主的營銷訴求。

Tyco International Ltd. assesses managers' leadership behaviors twice annually, including whether they feel comfortable 'saying the emperor has no clothes' during meetings, says Laurie Siegel, its senior vice president of human resources. 'The only real career-ending move here is to not bring bad news forward.'

2012年年初，這位高管在一家大型包裝商品公司獲得了一個更有權力的職位。

That said, smart Tyco managers also know when and where to air those disagreements.

泰科國際有限公司（Tyco International Ltd.）主管人力資源的高級副總裁勞裏•西格爾（Laurie Siegel）說，公司每年會對管理人員的領導行爲進行兩次評估，包括他們對在會議上“指出皇帝其實沒穿衣服”是否感到自在，“這裏唯一真正會終結職業生涯的舉動是，不把壞消息說出來。”

Ms. Siegel says she and CEO Edward Breen often disagree on an employee's advancement potential. But she voices her objections to him one-on-one before alerting the full board. 'He's comfortable that I will challenge him' in front of fellow directors, so long as there are no surprises, she says. Mr. Breen couldn't be reached for comment.

不過，聰明的泰科經理們同樣知道何時何地可以同上司爭論。

Bosses and boards both prefer leaders with the gumption to articulate strong views, provided that dissenters are 'genuinely trying to advance the enterprise' rather than themselves during clashes with their supervisor, notes Douglas R. Conant, a retired chief executive of Campbell Soup Co. and a director of Avon Products Inc.

西格爾說她和CEO愛德華•布林恩（Edward Breen）時常會就某位僱員的晉升潛力產生分歧。但她會在董事會議之前先單獨向CEO提出她的異議。她說，“只要不令他感到意外，他很樂於我在其他董事面前發表不同於他的意見。”筆者未能聯繫到布林恩對此發表評論。

Several years ago, an executive vice president of a cell-phone refurbishment firm rejected a department manager's request for an executive post because he doubted her claim that the promotion would benefit the business. 'She equated the proposed title with being able to tell people what to do,' recalls Susan Heathfield, a human-resources consultant in Williamston, Mich., who coached the EVP.

金寶湯公司（Campbell Soup Co.）退休CEO及雅芳公司（Avon Products Inc.）董事道格拉斯•R•科南特（Douglas R. Conant）說，老闆和董事會都偏愛有勇氣發表強硬觀點的領導人，只要這些與上司爭論的反對者是“真誠地試圖促進企業發展”，而不是爲了個人晉升。

The middle manager's authoritarian style 'was seriously at odds with a company that was striving to empower people,' and made her employees feel she only cared about herself, Ms. Heathfield adds. The woman repeated her request for weeks. Unpromoted, she quit months later.

幾年前，一家手機翻修企業的執行副總裁拒絕了一個部門經理升任高管崗位的要求，因爲他對她聲稱這次提拔會對生意有好處的說法表示懷疑。爲該副總裁提供諮詢服務的密歇根州威廉斯頓（Williamston）的人力資源顧問蘇珊•希斯菲爾德（Susan Heathfield）回憶說，“這位部門經理把這個晉升機會等同於讓她有權力告訴人們該做什麼。”

At other times, patient persistence is key for winning an argument with the boss as Barrett Stephens discovered. He's second-in-command at RSR Partners, the mid-sized search firm that Mr. Reynolds started in 1993 after leaving Russell Reynolds Associates Inc.

希斯菲爾德補充說，這家公司正力求將權力下放，而這位中層經理的專權風格嚴重背離了這一點，並且使她的下屬感到她只會爲自己着想。這位女經理重複申請了好幾周。幾個月後，她因未能晉升而辭職。

A year ago, a three-man marketing committee created by Mr. Stephens suggested picking a consultant to craft its first strategic marketing plan. Mr. Reynolds nixed the proposal for being too costly.

有的時候，耐心的堅持是贏得同老闆的爭論的關鍵──正如巴雷特•史蒂芬斯（Barrett Stephens）所發現的。他是RSR Partners的副主管，這家中型獵頭公司是由雷諾茲在離開羅盛諮詢公司後於1993年創立的。