【原】穆泰康:担任可口可乐CEO让我学到了什么？

佛佳寄语：今天，上财富英文网，读到可口可乐现任董事长兼首席执行官穆泰康谈“领导力”的一篇发言。讲话中，他认为，好多领导人，必须是能够保持终生学习的，且能虚怀若谷，虚心听取他人意见。蛮有感触。分享如下。并附上我自己的翻译供参考。望我们坚持学习，共同进步。

Over the years, I’ve given a lot of thought to the topic of leadership and doing what I can to build a culture of leadership that gives The Coca-Cola Company a sustainable, long-term advantage.

这么多年来，我对“领导力”作了很多思考，并且尽我所能，去建立一种领导力文化，从而为可口可乐公司（Coca-Cola）带来长久且可持续的竞争优势。

To me, leadership is all about creating value in whatever you do—and whatever role you are in—and leaving something better than you found it.

对我来说，所谓领导力，就是不管你做任何事情，不管你在所做的事情中扮演什么角色，都能创造价值，并且获得预料之外的更好效果。

The best leaders keep learning, too. They learn from their mistakes and their successes—not only when they’re young, but throughout their careers.

最卓越的领导者总是处于不断学习之中。他们从错误中学习，也从成功里学习；他们不光只在年轻时学习，学习实则贯穿了他们的整个职业生涯。

I’ve certainly tried to do this. And listening to others has been absolutely essential to this process. No matter how far you go as a leader, you have to keep seeking advice and good counsel.

当然，我也一直在努力做到这一点。在这个过程中，倾听他人意见，也是非常重要的。不管你位居什么样的领导层，你都必须不断寻求好的建议和忠告。

At every career stage, I’ve picked up new leadership insights. Early on, I learned vital lessons about developing empathy and respecting cash. Later, I worked on collaborating with others and building networks of trust.

在职业生涯的每个阶段，对于领导力，我都会有新的领悟。早年，我学到了两个重要经验，即培养同理心，并重视金钱。后来，我学会了如何与他人协作，以及如何与他人建立信任关系。

More recently, it has been about setting a vision for the future, communicating priorities, and leveraging credibility and relationships to help our company and bottling system work together as one united team.

而最近，我则将注意力集中在了展望未来和沟通重点上，希望利用已建立的信誉度与打通的关系，促进我们公司和瓶装厂形成一个齐心协力的团队，并肩作战。

It has also been important for me to maintain a long-term perspective on creating value for stakeholders, something many might think would come naturally in a business with 130 years of history. But nothing is automatic.

同时，我也一直十分看重，如何从长远的角度考虑，去为公司的利益相关方创造价值。也许，很多人会认为，对于一家拥有130年历史的老字号企业，这一点是自然而然的。但，没有什么事是自然而然就能发生的。

When I spoke during our shareowners meeting last year, I explained that we’re building this business not only for the next quarter, but also for the next quarter of a century.

去年的股东大会上，发言时，我说，我们的经营不是只关注下一个季度，而是下一个25年。

To me, making such a statement really comes down to doing what’s right and necessary now so that our future prospects are not harmed, but enhanced.

我这么说，实际意味着，我们要做现在应该且必须做的事，因而确保我们的发展前景能越来越好，而不会遭到损害削弱。

At its heart, Coca-Cola is a brand business, and our brands are nothing more than promises. If a good brand is a promise, then a great brand is a promise kept. Keeping our promises means never falling into the traps of complacency and arrogance while always being open to change and improvement.

核心在于，可口可乐是一个品牌，我们的品牌无非就是我们的承诺。如果一个良好的品牌就是一个承诺的话，那么，一个卓越的品牌，就一定会坚守自己的承诺。而要坚持我们的承诺，就意味着我们决不能陷入自鸣得意或骄傲自满，而是要时刻敞开双臂，拥抱变化和进步。

In the last few years, we’ve taken a step back to look at our business and examine how we can become faster, more entrepreneurial, and more efficient.

过去几年，我们往后退了一步，一边反思我们的企业如何能够走得更快、更具创造性、更加高效。

And we’ve made progress. We’ve broadened our portfolio and packaging choices to serve evolving consumer tastes, revitalized our marketing, facilitated the improvement of our global bottling system, transformed our business in North America, and achieved some of the strongest revenue growth among consumer packaged goods companies. But getting better remains a never-ending journey.

在一点上，我们确实已取得了不小进步。我们拓宽了产品组合和包装选择，以便满足不断变化的消费者口味，同时重振了品牌市场，进一步改善了我们的全球生产系统，转变了在北美市场的业务。我们的营收增长在消费包装品公司中，也数一数二。

然而，追求卓越，永无止境。

Over nearly 40 years in business, I’ve often said that doing an excellent job is only the starting point—the foundation. It’s about creating the conditions to sustainably repeat success. And, in this case, success is connected to making a promise into the future without a pre-determined outcome—and then taking action to deliver on that promise.

在过去40年的商业生涯里，我总说，卓越地做好一份工作，只是起点，只是基础，是为能持续成功创造条件。因而，从这一点上说，成功就是对一个没有确定性结果的未来作出承诺，并积极采取行动去兑现这一承诺。

In May, I’ll pass the baton of Coca-Cola (ko) CEO to James Quincey, the right leader at the right time to take our business forward. I’ll continue to serve as chairman of our board, and James will have my full and vigorous support.

今年五月，我将把可口可乐首席执行官这一指挥棒交接给詹姆斯·昆西（James Quincey）。我想，他是一位在合适的时机出现的合适的领导人，必将带领公司迈入下一个征途。我自己呢，将继续担任公司董事长，并会全力支持詹姆斯的工作。

James and his team will write the next chapter in Coca-Cola’s story—one that not only addresses the challenges we face, but also further unlocks the potential in our brands, our people, and our system.

詹姆斯和他的团队将为可口可乐书写新的篇章——不仅应对并解决我们所面临的挑战，而且将进一步挖掘发挥我们品牌、人员和系统的潜力。

Ultimately, leaders are judged by what they leave behind. And I feel very good about Coca-Cola’s prospects to flourish as never before during the balance of this decade and beyond.

但最终，我认为，评判一名领导者，得看他卸任之后留下了什么。我对可口可乐的前途很有信心，我相信，在未来十年甚至更久，它将收获空前的繁荣发展。

For me, this will be the ultimate measure of my career—and my leadership of this great business of refreshing the world.

于我而言，这也将是对我职业生涯，以及我领导这一伟大公司所做的努力的最终评判了。