The weekly punch-up that takes place at Westminster every Wednesday, otherwise known as prime minister's questions (PMQs), is not the place you would normally look for enlightenment. But last week it provided an instructive exchange on two different approaches to leadership.
你通常不会从英国议会每周三举行的辩论——或者称为首相答问(PMQs)——中寻找启迪，但5月13日的辩论就发挥领导力的两种不同方法进行了有益的交流。

The context for this exchange was the ongoing row over the dubious expenses claims made by some members of the UK parliament. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, set out his views in clear terms. Is it not time to stop the talking and the endless committees, and start showing some real leadership to deliver some real change?, he asked.
这种交流的背景是，一些英国议员可疑的费用报销引发了持续争吵。保守党领袖大卫•卡梅伦(David Cameron)明确表达了自己的观点：难道不是到了停止争论和无休止的会议，开始表现一些真正的领导力，做出一些真正改变的时候了吗？

Prime minister Gordon Brown explained how he planned to proceed. On all these issues, I am trying to build a political consensus on change . . . Leadership is about the whole of the political system responding to the changes that need to be made.
英国首相戈登•布朗(Gordon Brown)解释了他的后续计划：对于所有这些问题，我将努力建立有关变革的政治共识……领导力指的是整体政治体系对需要做出的变革做出回应。

Does real leadership simply mean telling people what to do? Or does leadership mean building consensus, so that when you attempt to make changes your organisation advances more or less as one?
真正的领导力仅仅意味着告诉人们该做些什么吗？抑或领导力意味着建立共识，在你尝试变革时，你的组织就能步调一致，共同前进？

Leadership is situational. In other words, context is everything. Few business leaders find themselves facing a weekly inquisition like PMQs. But in a time of economic difficulty, businesses and organisations do look to their leaders for clarity of thought and decisive action.
领导力视情境而定。换句话说，背景决定一切。很少有商业领袖每周都会接受首相问答那样的质询。但在经济困难时期，企业和机构确实期望领导人思维清晰，行动果断。