I think the most important part of any CEO running a major global corporation is to be on the ground in those geographies—

我觉得任何掌管全球大型公司的CEO最重要的一点就是在这些地区实地工作——

to the extent that he or she is able to do so—

只要他或她能够这么做——

and also to build a team, a trusted advisory team which is having ongoing communications.

并打造一个团队 一个值得信赖的团队 团队内部要时刻保持沟通

A good case in point would be Alan Mulally at Ford when he took over in a very, very tumultuous time in the auto industry.

一个比较好的例子就是福特的艾伦·穆拉利 他在汽车行业内躁动一时

He established his own War Room.

他成立了自己的作战室

Everyone on deck around the globe on screens around the world to weigh in on challenges, opportunities,

世界范围内所有相关人员 可能通过远程连线的方式 都会加入挑战、机遇探讨

and he had a grading system: green light, yellow light, red light.

他还有一个评级系统：绿灯 黄灯 红灯

Not too difficult to understand in concept.

这个概念理解起来不那么难

But he would go around and ask each one of the leaders around the world whether things were going really well,

不过他会询问世界各地的领导人们是否一切进展顺利

if there was a yellow light if there was some caution and a red light indicating that there were problems that needed to be addressed.

如果是黄灯 就说明有些事情需要注意 红灯则表示有些问题需要解决

If someone, especially during the calamitous period of time that Ford was going through,

如果有人 尤其是在福特遭遇巨大危机期间

if someone gave a green light, which we’re all prone to try to do especially near performance appraisal time,

如果有人给出了绿灯 我们都倾向于会这么做 尤其是在业绩评价的时候

he would typically ding them by saying, “Wait a minute. We all need help.

他就会专门把那个人揪出来 说“等一下 我们都需要帮助

Nothing is ever perfect, so tell us how we can help you in a collaborative way around the world to support you.”

没有什么是完美的 所以告诉我们怎样在世界各地一起帮助你 支持你”

And by the fifth or sixth meeting, virtually everyone was giving yellow and red lights.

等到第五六次开会的时候 基本上就再也没人会给出绿灯了

And what that did was it forced employees, the senior executives from every corner of the globe to not be afraid to ask for help and to acknowledge that they needed help.

他这样做的效果就是让世界各地的员工和高管不再害怕寻求帮助 并且承认自己需要帮助

And the fear factor of the next performance evaluation went away because they recognized that if they were asking for help they would get rewarded.

他们对下一次业绩评估的担忧也烟消云散了 因为他们知道 如果他们寻求帮助 就会得到奖赏

And in fact over a period of time, this cross-cultural collaboration began to develop and grow.

其实过段时间后 这种跨文化的合作就会开始发展和成长

And people, whether it be from China or Singapore or Malaysia, London, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Mexico City or New York City,

人们 无论是来自中国 新加坡 还是马来西亚 伦敦 香港 布宜诺斯艾利斯 墨西哥城或纽约市

they began to speak effectively with the same tone.

他们都开始以同一步调高效交流

Now clearly, language is interpreted differently around the world

很明显 全世界的语言各有不同

so there typically would be at least a second or third translation of what was actually implied or meant in those discussions,

所以人们在讨论中所说的话至少会有第二种或第三种译本

but over time that team developed a sense, a bonded collaborative spirit

但随着时间的发展 这个团队会培养出一种紧密联系的合作精神

and they were rewarded economically for working together.

他们的协调合作也会得到经济回报