單騎救主:企業白衣騎士必備素質
很多公司在面臨重大調整時，都希望能從名牌企業挖到新的首席執行官。此人臨危受命，不僅要擔當起領導的職責，還要具備從天而降，扭轉乾坤的能力。那麼，什麼樣的經理人才是理想的白衣騎士呢？亟待拯救的公司應該鎖定以下特質：
Jack-of-all-trades
跨行業的萬事通
Clearly, a new hire's track record is important, Useem says, but a singular success within one industry might not be good enough. Consistent performance across industries is a good marker for a white knight, he adds, because it means that an individual is capable of leading in general, not just managing specific industry challenges.
烏西姆表示，經理人的資歷固然很重要，但僅在某一個行業內的一次成功可能還不夠。他認爲，在多個行業內都有穩定的表現是白衣騎士的一個重要特徵，這意味着此人具有普遍的領導力，而不只是長於應對某一特定行業的挑戰。
Take Laurence Golborne, Chile's minister of mining who facilitated the rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners earlier this year. He had a retail background and was a relatively unknown politician until the rescue, Useem says. "The main point is, he took a look, decided on the underlying ways to solve a problem, and used his management skill set."
勞倫斯•戈爾本就是一個例子，這位智利礦業部長今年早些時候推動了33被困礦工的救援行動。烏西姆稱，戈爾本具有零售業從業背景，但在此次救援行動前只是一位相對不知名的官員。“關鍵在於他勘查了現場，確定瞭解決問題的基本方法，並運用了自己的管理技巧。”
To be sure, most CEOs will not have to coordinate a mine rescue, but many have to dig companies out of financial holes. In fact, corporate America has its own knight in shining armor in that category: former Delphi CEO Steve Miller, who's made a career out of last-minute rescues of ailing corporations.
當然，大多數首席執行官不一定需要協調礦山救援行動，但很多人都必須要將公司拉出財務虧空的黑洞。事實上，美國企業界在這方面早已有了身着閃閃鎧甲的白衣騎士典範——前德爾福(Delphi)首席執行官史蒂夫•米勒，他在職業生涯中曾多次在最後時刻成功拯救陷於絕境的企業。
Miller guided auto parts supplier Delphi through bankruptcy in 2005. Before that, he had worked in the steel, construction, waste-management and auto industries. Miller was hired at companies in each of these industries to turn them around.
2005年，米勒帶領汽車零部件供應商德爾福順利度過了破產保護期。在此之前，他曾服務於鋼鐵、建築、廢棄物管理和汽車行業。米勒受僱於這些行業公司，任務都是實現企業扭虧爲盈。
Just the same, it's one thing to pull a company out of the ashes, and quite another to fix it mid-stride.
同樣，將公司拉出險境是一回事，但要在不停下腳步的前提下解決問題則是另一回事。
"If something's broken, you have to go in and start ripping it apart," says Jeff Sanders, vice chairman of leadership advisory firm Heidrick & Struggles. "Whereas if it's not [broken], if you rip it up, it might fall apart."
“如果東西已經壞了，必須深入內部，把它徹底撕開，”領導力諮詢公司Heidrick & Struggles的副董事長傑夫•桑德斯說，“但如果東西還沒有壞，把它撕開的話，它很可能就此瓦解。”
Cultural flexibility
企業文化適應力
Hero hires can certainly fail. AOL (AOL) CEO Tim Armstrong has struggled to turn the company around after leaving his position as head of Google's (GOOG) U.S. ad sales two years ago, Useem says. Ed Zander, a star at Sun Microsystems, was brought in to revitalize Motorola (MSI) but floundered there before leaving in 2008.
救世主當然也可能失敗。烏西姆指出，美國在線(AOL)首席執行官蒂姆•阿姆斯特朗自兩年前離開谷歌(Google)美國廣告銷售主管一職後，一直在爲改變美國在線的現狀苦苦掙扎。摩托羅拉（Motorola）曾寄望於IT公司Sun Microsystems的明星經理人埃德•詹德的加盟能讓公司重新煥發活力，但他直到2008年離職都未有建樹。
"Most often, the problem is a cultural one," Sanders says. But cultural problems can be difficult to diagnose until a new CEO is dropped into the company's pool.
“很多時候，問題在於企業文化，”桑德斯表示。然而，新任首席執行官在深入企業前很難診斷這些問題。
Hot new hires often fall into the white knight trap. This has been a problem for GE (GE) executives, Useem adds, many of whom have left their old jobs for new positions at other companies. "The outside companies know anybody from GE ought to be good," he says, and while they were good at GE, they didn't perform as well outside of GE's unique environment.
熱門經理人往往會掉入白衣騎士陷阱。烏西姆指出，通用電氣(GE)經理人一直有這樣的問題，他們中很多人辭去原有工作，接受其他公司的新職務。“外部公司總是認爲通用電氣的經理人應該都不錯”。儘管這些人在通用表現出色，但是一旦離開了通用獨特的環境，他們便黯然失色。
Apple also gives departing executives rock-star status, a la Ron Johnson. No doubt, Johnson gained valuable experience at Apple. But delivering new ideas to JCPenney will require a very different approach. "If you think you're going to run JCPenney like you ran Apple, that's probably going to be a complete, unmitigated disaster," Useem says.
蘋果公司給予離任的經理人以搖滾歌星般的地位，如羅恩•約翰遜。毫無疑問，約翰遜在蘋果公司積累了寶貴的經驗。但要在JCPenney提出新點子需要全然不同的方式。烏西姆表示，“如果以爲能像在蘋果一樣經營JCPenney，可能會釀成徹頭徹尾、無法挽回的災難。”
Clear eyes
敏銳的觀察力
"We're all given to the mantra we have to reinvent ourselves, but boy, it's incredibly hard for the human mind to do that. That's what JCPenney has decided to go for," Useem says.
“我們都熱衷於歌頌重塑自我的壯舉，但是夥計，人類要做到這一點很困難。而這正是JCPenney決定追求的目標，”烏西姆表示。
To avoid botching a rescue job, new CEOs need to introduce a fresh take on the company without attaching any turnaround to their egos. That can be especially difficult amid job changes that generate media buzz, Useem says. "Glamour lasts for maybe 12 hours once the person arrives at the new job," and then it's a matter of working hard and delivering results.
爲了避免將拯救工作搞砸，新任首席執行官們必須帶領企業開啓新的航程，同時避免自我膨脹。烏西姆表示，職位變動引發的媒體熱議可能使得這一點變得尤其困難。“履任後的光環可能持續12個小時，”但之後的要務就是努力工作，幹出成績。
One key way to stay grounded is to spend the first part of the job taking stock of the company from within, Useem says. In Johnson's case, he adds, "Probably the first 50 days, he'll need to spend some time really getting his hands on what the underlying value drivers are. What does he want to keep and what needs to be jettisoned?"
烏西姆表示，融入企業的一個關鍵途徑是在上任初期多從內部觀察公司。以約翰遜爲例，他說，“可能頭50天約翰遜需要花一些時間真正熟悉公司的內在價值驅動力。哪些是他希望保留的？哪些需要拋棄？”
