会讲故事才能有成功事业

　　Storytelling isn't just for old folks and kids. It can help you move forward in your career - both by showing what you've accomplished and by persuading employees to trust you.

　　讲故事可不是老人和小孩的专利，它可以在事业上助你一臂之力——你可以借此向大家展示你取得的成绩，还能用这种方法获得员工的信任。

　　Marriott International's Ed Fuller loves to tell stories. One of his favorites is set at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in 1985, where he was general manager. Just a month after it opened, catering sales were $300,000 below budget. "My career is lost," Fuller recalls thinking after a senior executive called and said, "I can't believe it. Bill Marriott is beside himself." The executive said he was flying to Boston and asked Fuller to dinner after "we deal with the problem."

　　万豪国际（Marriott International）的富毅荣（Ed Fuller）热衷于讲故事。他最津津乐道的故事之一，发生在1985年的波士顿万豪考泼利广场酒店（Marriott Copley Place），那时他在酒店任总经理。就在酒店开业一个月后，餐饮销售额比预算低了30万美元。当时，一位高级主管给他打电话说：“太难以置信了，比尔 马里奥特（万豪董事长兼首席执行官——译注）正大发雷霆。”那位高管还说他正在飞往波士顿的途中，希望在“我们处理完问题”之后与富毅荣共进晚餐。富毅荣回忆道，当时他想：“我的职业生涯完蛋了。”

　　The "issue," it turned out, was not what Fuller had feared. A Marriott family member had ordered clam chowder; it arrived cold, and the manager hadn't handled it well. That -- not the stumbles of a new boss -- was what Marriott (MAR) cared about. "If [the family] is treated badly, we assume the customer is treated worse," said Fuller, now head of international lodging for Marriott International and author of a book of workplace stories, You Can't Lead With Your Feet on Your Desk, due out next year.

　　后来富毅荣发现，自己过虑了，那位高管所说的“问题”是，马里奥特家族的一位成员点了碗蛤蜊浓汤，端上来的时候汤已经凉了，而经理没有很好地处理这个问题。也就是说，万豪集团在意的是上面这种问题，而不是新上任的管理者出点什么小错。富毅荣说：“我们可以推想，如果连马里奥特家族的人都招待不好，对其他客人的招待只会更差。” 富毅荣现任万豪集团旗下国际酒店负责人，着有一本关于职场的书，名为《不脚踏实地就无法领先》（You Can't Lead With Your Feet on Your Desk），这本书将于明年出版发行。

　　Fuller uses that story -- and others -- to teach new managers about Marriott's priorities: serving the customer well, and serving its chowder hot. He also uses storytelling to teach about career advancement, such as the tale of how he and another senior exec started as a security guard and waiter. "They want to see actual examples," Fuller says, noting that 60% of Marriott's hotel managers started as hourly workers. "Storytelling has made me more effective in doing my job."

　　富毅荣用一系列的故事，向新的管理人员介绍万豪集团看重的事情：为客户提供出色的服务，确保端上来的蛤蜊浓汤是热腾腾的。他也通过讲故事来传授职场升迁的心得，比如他和另一位高管是如何从保安和服务生做起的。富毅荣说：“人们喜欢听到现实生活中的例子。”他注意到，60%的万豪酒店经理是从按小时计费的低级岗位做起的。他还表示：“通过讲故事，我的工作效率更高了。

　　That sentiment is shared by executives at companies such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Pepsi (PEP), who use storytelling "to create a metaphor or an emotional boost," said Annette Simmons, a corporate storytelling trainer and an author of two books on the topic. Irada Sadykhova, Microsoft's director of learning strategies, uses stories to open a meeting, to press for a new strategy, or to motivate a team. "It's about imparting some sort of a truth," says Sadykhova, who grew up on fables in Russia. And famous movie exec Peter Guber, who has written a book called Tell to Win, due in March, says stories are the best way to achieve your goals. "They're not monologues," he says. "You've gotta touch people."

　　微软（Microsoft）和百事（Pepsi）等公司的管理人员对富毅荣的这些见解表示认同。安妮特 西蒙斯是一位“企业讲故事培训师”（corporate storytelling trainer），她介绍道，上述公司的高管通过讲故事来“打比方或励志”。西蒙斯着有两本以讲故事为主题的书籍。微软公司学习策略主管依拉达 撒迪科霍娃以故事来作为会议的开场白，或者用来推进新策略的实施或激励团队。从小听着俄罗斯寓言长大的撒迪科霍娃说：“这相当于在传授某种真理。”著名的影视管理人彼得 古柏则表示，故事是实现目标的最佳手段，“讲故事不同于自言自语，你必须打动听众。”彼得撰写的《讲述铸就成功》（Tell to Win）一书将于明年3月出版。”