六个字定义的人生

你希望如何衡量你的生命?

你希望别人记住你什么?

Regular readers of this blog know how much I like to inspire people to think about those important questions. (“思想的食粮”， 11月. 28, 2012)

最近，我重读了一篇著名的文章 克莱顿•克里斯坦森 题目是《推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜》?克里斯滕森是备受赞誉的哈佛商学院教授, 四家公司的联合创始人, 也是畅销书作家. The essay originated from Christensen’s address to Harvard Business School’s 2010 graduating class who asked him to apply his classroom theories and principles to their personal lives.

The article speaks to many ideas that align very closely to my personal philosophies as well as our leadership vision at Barry-Wehmiller. As I re-read Christensen’s piece, I thought the life and career lessons it offers were worth sharing. 下面是我最喜欢的摘录. (点击 在这里 阅读全文.)

One of the theories that gives great insight on the first question—how to be sure we find happiness in our careers—is from Frederick Herzberg, who asserts that the powerful motivator in our lives isn’t money; it’s the opportunity to learn, 增加责任感, 为他人做贡献, 并因成就而得到认可.

如果管理得好，它是最高尚的职业. 没有其他职业能提供如此多的方式来帮助他人学习和成长, 承担责任，并因成就而得到认可, 并为团队的成功做出贡献. More and more MBA students come to school thinking that a career in business means buying, 销售, 投资公司. 这是不幸的. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people.

对我来说, having a clear purpose in my life has been essential… I apply my knowledge of the purpose of my life every day. 这是我学到的最有用的东西. I promise my students that if they take the time to figure out their life purpose, they’ll look back on it as the most important thing they discovered at HBS. 如果他们弄不明白, they will just sail off without a rudder and get buffeted in the very rough seas of life.

Over the years I’ve watched the fates of my HBS classmates from 1979 unfold; I’ve seen more and more of them come to reunions unhappy, 离婚了, 和他们的孩子疏远. I can guarantee you that not a single one of them graduated with the deliberate strategy of getting 离婚了 and raising children who would become estranged from them. 然而，他们中实施这一策略的人却多得惊人. 的原因? They didn’t keep the purpose of their lives front and center as they decided how to spend their time, 人才, 和能源.

你对分配个人时间的决定, 能源, 天赋最终会决定你的人生策略.  When people who have a high need for achievement… have an extra half hour of time or an extra ounce of 能源, they’ll unconsciously allocate it to activities that yield the most tangible accomplishments. Investing time 和能源 in your relationship with your spouse and children typically doesn’t offer that same immediate sense of achievement. 孩子们每天都调皮捣蛋. It’s really not until 20 years down the road that you can put your hands on your hips and say, “我养了一个好儿子或好女儿.“你可以忽视与配偶的关系, 而且是在每天的基础上, 情况似乎并没有恶化. People who are driven to excel have this unconscious propensity to underinvest in their families and overinvest in their careers—even though intimate and loving relationships with their families are the most powerful and enduring source of happiness.

在不知不觉中, we often employ the marginal cost doctrine in our personal lives when we choose between right and wrong. A voice in our head says, ‘Look, I know that as a general rule, most people shouldn’t do this. But in this particular extenuating circumstance, just this once, it’s OK.’ The marginal cost of doing something wrong ‘just this once’ always seems alluringly low. 它把你吸进去, and you don’t ever look at where that path ultimately is headed and at the full costs that the choice entails. Justification for infidelity and dishonesty in all their manifestations lies in the marginal cost economics of ‘just this once.’

It’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time. 如果你屈服了，就这一次,基于边际成本分析, 就像我以前的一些同学那样, 你会后悔你的结局. You’ve got to define for yourself what you stand for and draw the line in a safe place.

We…decided that humility was defined not by self-deprecating behavior or attitudes but by the esteem with which you regard others… Generally, you can be humble only if you feel really good about yourself—and you want to help those around you feel really good about themselves, 太. 当推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜看到人们在虐待, 傲慢的, 或贬低他人的态度, 他们的行为几乎总是缺乏自尊的表现. 他们需要贬低别人来让自己感觉良好.

I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched...我认为这对推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜所有人都适用. Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.

In the midst of reflecting upon Christensen’s thoughts, I was sent a link to SmithMagazine.网 由一个团队成员. Knowing how I enjoy challenging people to think about what they hope to achieve, 她和我分享了一个网站, 只有六个字, 人们写他们的个人回忆录.

而帖子则从严肃的到愚蠢的, 从鼓舞人心到充满遗憾, 它让我重新思考我希望如何衡量我的生活. 我是否在帮助身边的人学习、成长、成为更好的人? 我的行为是否反映了我的信念和原则?

Since our measure of success at Barry-Wehmiller is the way we touch the lives of people, 我每天都做到了吗? Whether an exercise involving six words or perceptive advice from someone like Christensen, 推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜都可以使用提醒来暂停, 反思和检查推荐全球十大博彩公司排行榜的进步. For it is the choices we make and the actions we take each day that collectively write our life stories.

我希望我的六字回忆录? 

他听. 他对我的关心. 他的行动.

和你的?