【英文书短读】Good to Great (6)

【英文书短读】Good to Great (6)

Level 5 leaders are a study in duality:  modest and willful, humble and fearless. To quickly grasp this concept, think of United States President Abraham Lincoln (one of the few Level 5 presidents in United States history), who never let his ego get in the way of his primary ambition for the larger cause of an enduring great nation. Yet those who mistook Mr. Lincoln’s personal modesty, shy nature, and awkward manner as signs of weakness found themselves terribly mistaken, to the scale of 250,000 Confederate and 360,000 Union lives, including Lincoln’s own.

― Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

第5级经理人具有双重人格：平和而执著，谦逊而无畏。要想很快掌握这一概念，可以想一想美国总统亚伯拉罕·林肯（美国历史上少数几个第5级总统之一）。他从不让自我阻挡他将美国建设成一个长盛不衰的伟大民族的雄心壮志。那些将林肯先生谦虚、羞涩的个性和笨拙的举止误认为是懦弱的人，都发现自己犯了一个极大的错误，这其中包括内战中25万南部邦联的支持者和36万北方联盟的支持者，以及林肯本人。