领导人该不该公开健康状况

The president has cancer. 

总统患上了癌症。 

It is 31 years since Steven Rosenberg, a member of the surgical team that removed a tumour from President Ronald Reagan’s colon, made that announcement to the world. 

31年前，史蒂文•罗森堡(Steven Rosenberg)向全世界宣布了这一消息。他所在的外科医生团队从美国前总统罗纳德•里根(Ronald Reagan)的结肠中取出了一颗肿瘤 

What I remember, from watching on television, is not only how calmly definitive Dr Rosenberg, chief of surgery at the US National Cancer Institute, was, but how clearly he described Reagan’s condition and its consequences. 

当时我是从电视上看到的，我记得的不仅是美国国家癌症研究所(US National Cancer Institute)外科主任罗森堡当时是多么镇静和确定，还有他多么清晰地描述了里根的身体状况及其后果。

There are many forms of cancer, he said. 

他表示：现在有很多种癌症。

As this one had not spread, the president’s chances of living a normal lifespan were excellent. 

这种癌还没有扩散，总统活到正常寿命的几率很高。

Reagan lived another 19 years, dying in 2004 at the age of 93. 

里根后来又活了19年，于2004年去世，享年93岁。 

Harold Bornstein, Donald Trump’s doctor, has been less authoritative. 

唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的医生哈罗德•伯恩斯坦(Harold Bornstein)则没有那么权威。 

In a four-paragraph letter, addressed to whom my (sic) concern, which he says he wrote in five minutes while a Trump team car waited outside, he described the Republican candidate’s health as astonishingly excellent and said that he would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency. 

在一封致窝（原文如此）关心的人的总共4段的信中，他称这位共和党总统候选人的健康状况好得惊人，并表示他将是有史以来当选总统的人中最健康的一位。他表示，他是在5分钟内写完这封信的，当时特朗普团队的一辆汽车在门外等候。

Hillary Clinton’s doctor wrote a more detailed account, mentioning the Democratic candidate’s underactive thyroid and a concussion in 2012, but said she was in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the United States. 

希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)的医生描述得比较详细，她提到这位民主党总统候选人患有甲状腺功能减退，在2012年有过一次脑震荡，但她表示，希拉里身体状况非常好，能够担任美国总统一职。 

The only problem is that the letter was written more than a year ago. 

唯一的问题在于这封信是一年多前写的。 

Do we have a right to know the details of our political leaders’ health? And does the same apply to business leaders, responsible for hiring, firing and making potentially far-reaching acquisition and disposal decisions? Should we hear when they become ill? 

我们是否有权知晓政治领导人的具体健康状况？商界领导人的呢？他们负责招聘和解雇人员、做出可能意义深远的并购和处置决定，当他们生病，我们是否有权知晓？

Apple attracted criticism for revealing too little about the pancreatic cancer that killed Steve Jobs, its founder, in 2011. 

苹果(Apple)曾因对导致其创始人史蒂夫•乔布斯(Steve Jobs)在2011年去世的胰腺癌透露的信息太少而受到批评。 

But other chief executives have kept us up to date on their ailments. 

但还有一些首席执行官一直及时向外界披露自己的病情。

In 2012, investor Warren Buffett announced that he had prostate cancer, that he would have daily radiation treatment for two months, but that his condition was not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way. 

2012年，投资大师沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)宣布，他患上了前列腺癌，需要连续两个月每天放疗，但他的身体状况根本不会危及生命甚至不会真正影响他的精力。

In 2014, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, announced that he had throat cancer and, five months later, after treatment, that his tests had come back completely clear.

2014年，摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)首席执行官杰米•戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)宣布，他患上了喉癌，5个月后，在结束治疗后，他表示测试结果显示他已完全康复。

Last September, Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, announced that he had lymphoma. 

去年9月，高盛(Goldman Sachs)首席执行官劳埃德•布兰克费恩(Lloyd Blankfein)宣布，他罹患淋巴癌。 

He said he would need several months of chemotherapy and would cut down on his travel but that he would otherwise work substantially as normal. 

他表示，自己需要接受几个月的化疗，并将减少出差，但他表示将在很大程度上像往常一样工作。 

He said his condition was highly curable. 

他表示，他的病情是完全可康复的。

Not all business leaders have curable conditions. 

并非所有商界领袖所患的疾病都能康复。 

In 2013, SABMiller announced that Graham Mackay, its chief executive, was stepping down three months early after undergoing surgery for a brain tumour. 

2013年，SABMiller宣布，该公司因为脑瘤接受了手术的首席执行官格雷厄姆•麦凯(Graham Mackay)，将提前3个月离任。 

Mackay, who was SABMiller’s leading figure as it turned itself from an apartheid-era South African company into an international brewer, returned briefly as non-executive chairman. 

在SABMiller从一家种族隔离时期的南非公司转变为一家国际性酿酒商的过程中，麦凯曾发挥主要作用。提前离任后，他曾以非执行董事长的身份短暂回归。

He died that year. 

他于同年去世。 

When a previously robust person is suddenly presented with a shocking-sounding medical diagnosis, the desire to keep it private is often strong. 

当之前非常健康的人突然被诊断出患有一种严重疾病时，秘而不宣的愿望通常是很强的。 

What business is it of anyone else? 

这关其他人什么事？

But in these corporate cases, disclosure seems to have been the better option. 

但在这些公司的例子里，披露消息似乎是更好的选择。

If people in the public eye appear to be under-par, as Jobs did, rumours start. 

如果这个人在公众的眼中表现得有失水准，就像乔布斯那样，流言就会出现。 

It is better to get the truth out. 

把事实公之于众会更好。 

Apart from stopping the gossip, talking about illness serves two other positive purposes. 

除了止住流言，谈论病情还有另外两个正面作用。

It alerts people, whether employees or not, to possible problems with their own health. 

它会提醒人们（不管是不是员工）关注他们自己可能的健康问题。 

Mr Blankfein said he had felt unwell for several weeks before his lymphoma was discovered. 

布兰克费恩表示，在他被诊断出患有淋巴癌的前几周，他已经感觉不舒服了。 

Anyone reading that who felt similarly low might be encouraged to make an appointment with their doctor. 

有类似不适感觉的人听闻此言，可能会马上预约去看医生。 

It might also aid their discussions with their doctors about what treatment they need, or if they need treatment at all. 

这还可能有助于他们与医生的讨论：他们需要什么治疗，或者是否需要治疗。 

Marc Garnick, a Harvard Medical School professor, wrote that if he had had an octogenarian patient with Mr Buffett’s condition, he would have advised active surveillance rather than radiation treatment. 

哈佛大学医学院(Harvard Medical School)教授马克•加尼克(Marc Garnick)写道，如果他有一位80多岁的病人患上了巴菲特那种病，他会建议积极监测而不是放疗。 

The second and more important reason for knowing about our leaders’ health is that it breaks down the idea of the all-knowing imperial boss. 

了解我们的领导人的健康状况的第二个也是更重要的原因是，它打破了认为老板高高在上、无所不知的看法。

Leaders, like the rest of us, are incomplete. 

与我们其他人一样，领袖也并非完人。 

They are not always at their best. 

他们并非总是处于最佳状态。 

Illness reminds us of that. 

疾病提醒了我们这一点。 

A chief executive slowing down while having hospital treatment is no bad thing. 

一位首席执行官放慢工作同时接受医院治疗并非坏事。 

The next breakthrough will be when companies and their leaders feel they can be equally candid abut depression and mental health. 

下一个突破将是企业及其领导人认为他们可以对抑郁和心理健康状况同样地开诚布公。 

If chief executives need to step back because they are ill, they should, if they have done their jobs properly, have deputies who can take over, and teams that can take the strain. 

如果首席执行官的工作做得到位，当他们因为生病需要退出管理职务时，应该有可以接替他们的副手、可以接过重担的团队。 

The US presidency is the mightiest post on earth, invested with more authority than any reigning monarch’s. 

美国总统是全世界最有权势的职位，比任何在位统治者的权力都大。

Yet no president can function without a strong team, because commanders-in-chief have bad days too, and they suffer health problems. 

然而，没有一个强有力的团队，任何总统都是无法正常开展工作的，因为即便是三军统帅也有状态不佳的时候，他们也会出现健康问题。 

As we live longer and work until we are older, top managers, along with everyone else, will discover there is more that can go wrong with their health. 

随着我们寿命的变长以及退休年龄的延迟，最高管理者以及其他所有人都会发现，他们的身体可能出现更多毛病。 

There is no shame in that, provided they have people around them to help manage it. 

只要周围有人帮忙应对，这没有什么丢人的。 

Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton should provide detailed up-to-date accounts of their health, preferably from doctors who can write in measured, professional tones. 

特朗普和希拉里应提供有关他们健康状况的最新详细描述，最好由医生以慎重、专业的态度写就。