Whether you’ve just started training your first hire or you’ve been managing scores of people for decades, you’re in the position of being a leader. And if there’s one aspect of leadership that holds true regardless of staff size or industry, it’s that being one isn’t for the thin-skinned or the faint of heart.

无论是开始培训刚录用的首名员工，还是已管理很多人数十载了，你都处在一个领导者的位置上。无论在何种行业，无论公司员工多少，作为领导者你必须：不要太敏感或者太心软。

So much of your job isn’t about hitting goals, but rather about being rooted in reality, constantly striving to bring perspective and empathy to whatever situations you encounter. Sometimes, finding the right words can be the biggest challenge of your day. But other times, you’re overthinking it and it’s as simple as saying these six tiny sentences:

你工作的很多内容都不是关于如何实现目标的，而是植根于实际并持续努力，以便在遇到任何情形都有主见并能换位思考。有时，找到合适的表达词汇可能是你一天中最大的挑战。但更多时候，你可能多虑了，只需要简单的6句话就行：

1. “Don’t sweat it”

1. “别担心”

Your brand new hire accidentally sent out the typo-riddled draft of an email to your customers. The inbox is inundated with complaints. You have two choices right now: Tell your direct report how much he’s messed up or look him in the eyes and say, “Don’t sweat it.” After all, it was clearly a mistake, and he let you know as soon as it happened (if that’s not the case, then, obviously another tactic’s needed).

你的一名新雇员不小心发送了满是错误的邮件草稿给了客户。收件箱里充满了抱怨。现在有两个选择：告诉他你感觉他有多糟糕的真实想法，或者看着他的眼睛说：“别担心。”毕竟，这是一个明显的错误，只要发生了他就会让你知道(如果他不让你知道，那么显然你需要用其他策略)。

Why it matters

为什么重要

A great manager knows that it’s a waste of time to wallow and worry about a past we can’t change. And unless this person’s a repeat mistake-maker (or, as mentioned above, not really aware or bothered by the error), it isn’t productive or beneficial to the company to turn up the heat and risk even more mishaps because this person’s now paralyzed with fear, afraid to take any next steps.

优秀的管理者都知道，沉迷于或者担心不可改变的过去是在浪费时间。除非同样的错误这人屡犯(或者像前面提到的，一点也不在意或者也不受错误困扰)，为这件事大动干戈对公司来讲没有任何益处。而且还冒着有更多错误的风险，因为他会因恐惧而不敢再采取任何行动。

2. “What was learned?”

2. “学到了什么?”

We’ve all been there. And hindsight is indeed 20/20. So why not use this as a learning lesson by asking your entire team what this incident had to offer in the way of teachable moments?

我们都经历过这样的事情，人人都是事后诸葛亮。为什么不通过询问团队该事件的教育意义，从而将其作为一个学习的好机会呢?

Why it matters

为什么重要

True leaders know that failure’s just an opportunity to learn and do better. And if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying. Progress over perfection is key to growth and to success, both for individuals as well as corporations. And as leaders, it’s really our responsibility to mentor and teach our staff how to learn from mistakes, rather than to fear them.

真正的领导者知道，失败是学习和提高的好机会。如果不失败，你就不会去尝试。对公司和个人都一样，过程比结果对公司发展和成功更关键。作为领导者，教导和引导员工从错误中学习是我们的责任，而不是恐吓他们。

3. “Speak your mind”

3. “说你所想”

You may not always like or agree with what they have to say, but you’re far better off with a team who’s unafraid to speak up, instead of a bunch of “yes” men and women. Empowering individuals to speak their minds helps to ensure you’re at far less risk of turning into the Emperor With No Clothes.

你不可能一直喜欢或者同意他们所说的，但你最好是在一个敢于说实话的团队中，而不是在一堆只会说“是”的男人和女人中间。说出他们想法的强有力的个体会避免你成为“皇帝的新衣”中的皇帝。

Why it matters

为什么重要

A confident leader knows that questions are good and that great ideas aren’t tied into titles, position, or even tenure. Admitting that you don’t have all the answers is scary, but doing so offers up so much more—not only in getting the best end product, but in getting the team to feel that they are an important part of the process (which, bonus, leads to more ownership and accountability).

一个自信的领导者知道，问题是好的，头衔、职位甚至是终身职位都不能代表好的想法。承认自己没有答案会让人恐慌，但这样做会带来更多好处，不止是好的产品，还会使团队感觉到他们是这个过程中重要组成部分(从而带来更多的主人翁意识和责任)。

4. “I support you”

4.“ 我支持你”

I have a paperweight that reads, “What would you do if you knew you would not fail?” Think about it. What might your team do differently if they knew they wouldn’t fail, or if they knew that even if they did, you, the boss, had their backs? Too often it seems that when the sh*t hits the fan, everybody ducks for cover and the finger pointing blame games begin. How much more proactive would we all be if accountability and responsibility were shared and we never felt alone?

我有个镇纸上写道：“如果知道你不会失败，你会做什么?”想一想。如果你的团队知道不会失败，他们做起来会和现在有什么不同?或者如果他们知道即使失败了，作为老板的你也会得到他们的支持?多数情况是，当问题暴露，每个人都想找掩护，互相指责的游戏就开始了。如果都尽职尽责，我们就不会感到孤单，那我们将会有多主动?

Why it matters

为什么重要

Brave leaders are the ones who embody all the characteristics of the heroes we idolize in books. They are the ones with the magic wands and the shiny swords who in the heat of battle lead the charge and protect their subjects. Managers can accomplish much of the same by saying that “the buck stops here” and meaning it. Aside from the courage that doing so instills in everyone, a fierce loyalty builds as a result, and these two things have the power to build brands and boost bottom lines like nothing else.

勇敢的领导者拥有我们崇拜的书本上英雄们的特质。他们是那些挥舞着魔杖和利剑在激烈的战斗中带领着团队冲锋和保护他们目标的人。敢说“事情到此为止”的领导能取得更大的成就。说这些的时候，勇气会在团队每一个人中萌发，你会因此获得更大的忠诚。这两个东西的能量足可以建立品牌和提高底线。

5. “Just say no”

5. 说“不”即可

How many of us have hundreds of to-dos in the queue? How many of us fantasize of saying “no” the next time we’re asked to take on a new project? Well, guess what? Your team’s wondering the same of you. So the question is why don’t we “just say no?”

我们何曾想过，有多少人有几百件事还没完成?我们何曾想过，在下次接到新任务的时候敢于说“不”?你的队伍和你想法是一样的。那么问题是，我们为什么不说“不”呢?

Because it takes confidence to do so. But for inspiration, we need not look far: Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs famously said: “…I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”

因为那需要勇气。但关于激情，我们不需要看得太远：苹果前CEO斯提芬乔布斯的名言：“我对没有做的事和做过的事感到一样自豪。创新就是对1000件事说不。”

“No” is a very powerful word and a tool to use to make sure we’re staying the course and not getting side-tracked by every shiny new opportunity that comes our way.

“不”是一个有力的词汇，并且是一个确保我们不偏离轨道的词汇，是不被路边的每一个新机会所干扰的工具。

Why it matters

为什么重要

A good boss has to have the confidence to believe in her ability to make the right decisions for what will be priority for all to follow. That same person has to be comfortable with letting go of thousands of other opportunities, even if later on one of those not chosen turns out to be one that should’ve been. We can’t do it all. And smart people know that when we try to do it all, we most often only succeed in diffusing our power to do anything well. And that is when we become mediocre and less than successful.

一个优秀的老板，对自己做正确决策的能力充满自信，知道什么是首要的任务。同样，优秀的领导者也不会拘泥于错失机会这件事情上，即使后来发现其中某一个是不值得放弃的。不是我们所有的人都有这个境界。睿智的人知道，当我们试图面面俱到时，我们最成功的就是把我们的能力稀释了。这就是为什么我们变得平庸且很少成功。

6. “I don’t know”

6. “我不知道”

Of all the three little words that I have put to use throughout my own career, “I don’t know” seems to be the phrase that surprises and delights everyone. I’ve been told by my own CEO that one of the reasons she chose to hire me was because during my interview I actually confessed that I didn’t know the answer to a question—but that I would do the necessary research to find out.

在我职业生涯用到的包含3个单词的语句中，“我不知道”可能是最使每个人吃惊和高兴的句子了。我的CEO告诉我，她录用我的一个原因就是在面试中，我承认了我不知道一个问题的答案，但说将做些必要的研究来找到答案。

Why it matters

为什么重要

Some might think that admitting lack of knowledge would spell doom. But that’s the difference between a brave leader and a coward. Abraham Lincoln surrounded himself with people in his cabinet who knew more than he did on various subjects. Henry Ford chose to do the same. After all, transparency, vulnerability, truth, being real and trustworthy are the characteristics that make a boss a real leader.

一些人可能觉得承认无知会带来厄运。但这是一名勇敢的领导者与一名胆小的领导者的区别。围绕着林肯总统身边的内阁成员在不少事情上都比他知道的多。福特总统也是这样选的内阁成员。毕竟，透明、脆弱、真相、真实与值得信赖是使一名老板成为一名真正领导者的特质。

These are just a few examples of the three little words some of the leaders with whom I’ve worked have been brave enough to say. And not only have I benefited putting them to use throughout my own career—but maybe even more importantly, so, too, have my teams.

和我在一起工作的领导者只有很少的人有足够的勇气说出这三个字。不止是我在职业生涯中因使用这三个字而受益，可能更重要的是，我的团队也因此而受益。