内向者也能当领导

重点内容

听力原文 / 对话稿

If I asked you to describe a great leader, I'd be willing to bet certain traits come to mind … someone charismatic, dynamic, inspiring, a confident public speaker. You're probably imagining a man too, but that's a bias we'll save for another talk! We tend to think of great leaders as people who naturally take to the stage, who draw other people to them by their sheer presence, who are extroverts. But history has also been transformed by people who don't fit these descriptions. People like Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt and Gandhi. These people would have described themselves as shy, quietly spoken … as introverts.

Of course we're drawn to extroverts. They're usually charming and persuasive, fun to be around. They're not quietly in the corner somewhere reading a book where we might not notice them. Introverts are mostly happy to let the extroverts take the attention; they'd rather not be in the spotlight, they'd rather finish that book. If they become leaders, it's not because they want to be the centre of attention, it's because they feel compelled to act. They lead not because they enjoy giving orders but because circumstances have put them in a position to make change. If they're the boss, they allow space for the ideas of others to grow because they're not trying to make their mark. An introvert sounds like a pretty good boss, right? You won't need to worry about them stealing your ideas or talking over you in a meeting.

Some of our great creators are introverts too. People like the writer JK Rowling, the great thinker Darwin and the designer of the first Apple computer, Steve Wozniak. It turns out coming up with good ideas is easier when you're engaged in quiet, solo contemplation than when you're leading the cheerleading squad. Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with cheerleaders! Extroverts are great – some of my favourite people are extroverts. But why is the world so set up for extroverts and so hard for introverts? Why are we always encouraging our kids to speak up, join in, work as a team? [用反问句连续追问，引出下面对教育系统的批评]

Nowadays, most schools and most workplaces are set up with the extrovert in mind. Children no longer sit in rows in desks, they sit in groups of four or six, doing group projects. Even subjects like maths and creative writing are taught with an emphasis on group collaboration, even though most writers sit alone in front of their computer or typewriter, with nothing between them and the blank page. A kid who prefers to go off into a corner and work alone starts to look like a problem. What's wrong with Janie? Why isn't she joining in? Studies show teachers think extroverts make better students, even though introverts actually tend to get higher grades. We're telling our introverted kids something is wrong with them, that they need to be more sociable, more outgoing. We're giving them fewer opportunities for the quiet contemplation they need in order to produce the best work and be their best selves.

And then at work we do the same. Most offices today are open plan, everyone working and creating noise in one big room, attending team-building workshops or group brainstorming sessions; the introverts' worst nightmares. The introverts at school are judged negatively by their teachers and when they reach the workplace, they're passed over for promotion into leadership positions. But introverts typically take fewer risks and make more careful decisions, and don't we need those traits too?

I'm not saying let's get rid of extroverts and grab all those talkative, sociable performers at primary school and send them off to the library for four hours a day of solitude until they learn to tone it down. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying we're doing something like the opposite of that to introverts and we need to stop. We need to allow them space to be themselves and then we'll end up getting the most out of our extroverts and our introverts. Let's teach all our kids how to work with others and how to work on their own. Let's create space in offices and at conferences for people to work on their own when they want to and give them the opportunity to come together to share ideas. Let's give staff 'away days', where they go off into the woods, walk up a mountain or wherever, to work on something alone, as well as the 'team-building day' where everyone learns to dance salsa together.

The future is complicated, with a lot of huge, complex problems to solve. Let's make sure we've got our best people working on those problems in the way that suits them best. And then we've got to make sure we listen to our extroverts and our introverts and everyone who sits somewhere in between on the scale. We're going to need all of them.

英文原文之后，附上对应的中文翻译：

如果我请你形容一个伟大的领导者，我敢说你脑中一定会浮现某些特质……有魅力、有活力、能激励人心、说话自信有力。你脑中大概还会浮现一个男性的形象，不过这个偏见我们留到下次再聊！我们往往认为伟大的领导者天生就会站上舞台，靠自身的存在感吸引别人靠近，也就是外向的人。但历史也曾被那些不符合这种形象的人所改变，比如 Rosa Parks、Eleanor Roosevelt 和 Gandhi。这些人如果形容自己，大概会说自己害羞、说话轻声细语——也就是内向的人。

我们当然会被外向者吸引。他们通常很有魅力、很有说服力，跟他们相处很有趣。他们不会安静地坐在角落看书，让人注意不到。内向者大多乐于让外向者去吸引大家的注意力，他们宁愿不站在聚光灯下，宁愿把书看完。如果他们成为了领导者，那不是因为他们想成为关注的中心，而是因为他们感到自己不得不采取行动。他们领导别人，不是因为喜欢发号施令，而是因为环境把他们推到了能够推动改变的位置上。如果他们当上老板，他们会给别人的想法留出成长的空间，因为他们并不是想证明自己的存在感。听起来内向者其实是挺不错的老板，对吧？你不需要担心他们会偷走你的点子，或者在会议上抢着说话打断你。

我们身边一些伟大的创作者也是内向的人。比如作家 JK Rowling、伟大的思想家达尔文，还有第一台苹果电脑的设计者 Steve Wozniak。事实证明，想出好点子这件事，在安静独处、专心思考的状态下，比在带头组织啦啦队的状态下更容易发生。我不是说啦啦队员有什么不好！外向者很棒——我很多喜欢的人都是外向者。但为什么这个世界的设置对外向者这么友好、对内向者却这么艰难？为什么我们总是鼓励孩子多发言、多参与、多合作？

如今，大多数学校和职场都是按外向者的需求设计的。孩子们不再排排坐在座位上，而是分成四人或六人小组做团体项目。即便是数学和创意写作这类科目，教学也强调团队协作，尽管大多数作家其实是独自坐在电脑或打字机前面，面对一张空白的页面。一个更喜欢一个人躲到角落里独自工作的孩子，慢慢就会被看作是一个「有问题」的孩子——Janie 是怎么了？为什么她不参与？研究显示，老师们普遍认为外向的孩子更擅长学习，尽管内向的孩子实际上成绩往往更好。我们在向内向的孩子传递一个信息：你有问题，你需要变得更善于social、更外向。我们给他们安静思考的机会越来越少，而恰恰是这种安静的思考，才能让他们产出最好的成果、成为最好的自己。

到了职场，我们做的是同样的事。如今大多数办公室都是开放式的，所有人在同一个大房间里工作、发出噪音，还要参加团队建设工作坊或者集体头脑风暴——这简直是内向者最可怕的噩梦。内向的孩子在学校被老师负面评价，到了职场，又常常在晋升到领导职位时被跳过。但内向者通常更谨慎、更少冒险，决策也更周全，难道我们不需要这些特质吗？

我不是说要摆脱外向者，把小学里那些爱说话、擅长社交的孩子一把抓去图书馆，每天独处四个小时，直到他们学会收敛一点。我完全不是这个意思。我是说，我们现在对内向者做的事情，几乎正好相反，而这种做法需要停止。我们需要给他们空间做自己，这样我们才能真正把外向者和内向者的潜力都发挥出来。让我们教所有孩子，既学会跟别人合作，也学会独自工作。让我们在办公室和会议里，为想独自工作的人创造空间，同时也给他们机会聚在一起分享想法。让我们给员工安排「独处日」——让他们到树林里走走、爬爬山，独自做点事情，同时也保留「团队建设日」，让大家一起学跳莎莎舞。

未来很复杂，有很多庞大而复杂的问题需要解决。我们要确保让最合适的人，用最适合他们自己的方式，去解决这些问题。而且我们必须确保，我们既倾听外向者，也倾听内向者，还有那些介于两者之间的所有人。我们会需要他们所有人。

关键句 & 生词

听力技巧

• 整篇是单人长论述，没有语气提示分段，练习靠内容本身的转折词（"And then at work we do the same"、"I'm not saying..."）判断论证进入了下一个阶段。
• 讲者大量使用反问句代替直接陈述句来推进论点（"Why is the world so set up for extroverts...?"），这些反问句往往不需要真正回答，而是用来引出下一段的解释，要练习识别「修辞性问句」和「真正的提问」的区别。
• 留意讲者反复使用「先澄清自己不是在说什么，再说明自己真正在说什么」的句式（"I'm not saying...I'm saying..."），这是英语演讲里避免被过度解读、同时强化论点的常见技巧。

Sources

Blog / Website：

1. Introverts – redressing the balance – LearnEnglish (British Council)