如何保持事業向正確的方向發展大綱

Career Planning

職業規劃

I recently received an advance copy of a soon-to-be-published English language book called “The Way Up — How to Keep Your Career Moving in the Right Direction.”

最近，我收到一本即將出版的英文樣書，書名是《步步登高——如何保持事業向正確的方向發展》。

The author, Donald Hurzeler, is a distinguished 40-year veteran of corporate America, a published writer and public speaker, an accomplished amateur photographer, marathon runner, and despite being retired and a grandfather, still an avid surfer and diver.

該書作者唐納德?赫澤勒擁有在美國企業任職40年的豐富經歷，出版過作品，擔任過播音員，還是一位成就頗豐的業餘攝影師兼馬拉松運動員。雖然他現在已經退休並榮升爲祖父，但他對衝浪和潛水的熱情依然不減。

In other words, he knows a thing or two about competing and achieving success in a sustainable way at the personal and organizational level.

換言之，他對如何在個人和組織層面上以可持續的方式參與競爭並取得成功略知一二。

Career advice, on the surface, seems like one of those topics that has been so widely written and spoken about over the years that it would be difficult to find anything new to say.

表面上看，職業建議近年來似乎已經成爲被寫濫和說濫的題目之一，以至於很難再有新的表述。

On the other hand, career advice is a bit like advice on personal health. The basic principles don’t change, but new knowledge can improve our grasp of current realities and opportunities, which are subject to change for a host of reasons.

但另一方面，它又和養生建議有稍許的類似。雖然基本原則一成不變，但新的知識會幫助我們更好地把握當下基於各種因素而不斷變化的現實和機遇。

With careers, there is also the additional factor of generational differences, in attitudes, educational experience, average economic circumstances, entry-level job opportunities, etc. — and these are significant in shaping attitudes, habits and expectations towards work.

在職業建議上，還存在一個代溝因素，其中包括態度、教育經歷、平均經濟條件、入門就業機遇等方面的差異——而這些都在塑造職業態度、職業習慣和職業預期上起到至關重要的作用。

In other words, revisiting the subject of career advice is useful and timely. It’s especially relevant today to the large numbers of college graduates who are having trouble finding jobs (in the U.S. as well as China), and facing the challenge of making career choices that can help them differentiate themselves and gain competitive advantage in the job market.

也就是說，再次談起職業建議這個話題還是有益和及時的。特別是在（美中兩國）大批大學畢業生遭遇就業困難，並在差異化擇業和爭取就業市場競爭優勢上面臨挑戰的今天，更具有相關意義。

“The Way Up” is written from an American perspective, mainly with the North American reader in mind; but a lot of the wisdom contained in it is fairly universal in its application. It is aimed at recent graduates, as well as for mid-career types who want to enhance their prospects of success.

《步步登高》以美國人的視角寫就，主要面向北美讀者；但其中蘊含的許多智慧放之四海而皆準。它的目標讀者是應屆畢業生和處於事業發展期並希望提高成功機率的職場人士。

One chapter also addresses the situation of people who have been fired from their job. This chapter has the reassuring title of “Everyone Gets Fired At Least Once.”

其中一章還涉及到被解僱者，題目頗讓人寬心，叫做“每個人至少會被炒一次魷魚”。

One aspect of the book which I like is the author’s ability to dig up and insert relevant quotable quotes.

我喜歡這本書的一個原因是作者能挖掘並插入相關的至理名言。

The first chapter deals with issues of timeliness and having a positive mental attitude.

第一章解決的是時間和保有積極態度的問題。

On the importance of always being timely:

談到一貫守時的重要性：

“You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.”

“成功的鑰匙就藏在鬧鐘下面。”

Benjamin Franklin

本傑明?富蘭克林

The second chapter of the book deals with accountability. On the importance of building a personal reputation based on being accountable for your performance, chapter two contains these quotes:

第二章有關擔當。論及爲自己的行爲負責，並由此建立個人聲譽的重要性，第二章作了如下引用：

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

“名望無法建立在將要做的事情上。”

Henry Ford

亨利?福特

“Responsible persons are mature persons who have taken charge of themselves and their conduct, who own their own actions and own up to them, who answer for them.”

“負責的人是成熟的人，他們爲自己和自己的行爲負責，勇於作爲，敢作敢當。”

William J. Bennett

William J. Bennett

The fifth chapter talks about pursuing ongoing learning beyond the confines of your current job.

第五章說到要不斷學習超出現有工作範圍的知識，開篇提到：

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

“世界是一本書，不旅行的人只讀到了它的扉頁。”

St. Augustine

奧古斯丁

That same chapter closes with:

該章結尾寫道：

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

“教育的全部目的是變鏡子爲窗戶。”

Stanley J. Smith

Stanley J. Smith

The eighth chapter deals with the value of having personal coaches and mentors, and starts out with:

第八章談及私人教練和導師的價值，以名言開宗明義：

“A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.”

“好教練讓選手看到未來，而不是現狀。”

Ara Parseghian

Ara Parseghian

The same chapter concludes with:

該章收尾總結到：

“I never cease to be amazed at the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talent that was previously hidden within an individual.”

“輔導的過程可以激發一個人的潛能，這種力量讓我驚歎不已。”

John Russell

John Russell

I like this book, for its practical, real world, experience-based advice, most of which can transcend national boundaries.

我喜歡這本書，因爲它給出的建議實用、具有現實意義、並建立在經驗的基礎上，其中大多數還可以超越國界。

It is due to be published early in 2011 in the U.S., and I hope a book publisher in China soon acquires the Chinese language rights, so that Chinese readers can benefit from it.

該書計劃於2011年初在美國面市，希望中國的出版商很快能拿到中文版權，好讓中國讀者也從中受益。

Full disclosure: my big brother, Robert E. Gorman, is the editor of this book. One interesting thing about that is that the author, himself a widely published writer, sought the value-added services of a good professional editor, which demonstrates humility and commitment to bringing the best possible product to market.

幕後大曝光：我的大哥Robert E. Gorman是本書的編輯。有趣的是，本書作者出版過多部著作，但他能邀請專業編輯提供增值服務，足見他本人態度的謙虛，以及力求爲市場帶來最佳作品的決心。

The author, Mr. Hurzeler, and I have something in common, because I often seek my big brother’s advice, on editing matters as well as many other things.

我和作者赫澤勒先生有些相同之處，因爲我也經常會向我大哥請教一些編輯以及其他方面的問題。