????對于商業精英們而言，這是一個永恒的話題：一個人如何才能達到最佳表現？對于工作中正在為超越平庸而努力的人，有沒有令他們重新振作起來的秘訣？有沒有一種運動療法可以讓人達到認知能力的高峰？是否有一本商業智慧圖書能有所幫助？需要進行多少次冥想？

????一些高管給出的答案更簡單：換個工作。

????默克公司（Merck）執行副總裁兼顧客關懷部門總裁布里奇特?海勒，曾在強生公司（Johnson & Johnson）擔任高管，當時她產生了一種揮之不去的感覺，即那份工作不適合自己。她說道，每當自己頭腦清晰地直面這個問題時，“我發現自己經常遇到同樣噩夢般的情景：有一個聲音在說，‘你應該做出改變。’”

????上周一，在加州尼格爾湖召開的《財富》（Fortune）最具影響力商界女性峰會（Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit）上，海勒出席了“挖掘你的天賦”座談會并發言。她與其他幾位身居高位的女性高管就如何挖掘潛在的天賦發表了看法。

????其實，海勒有許多留在強生公司的理由。她回憶道：“我要養家，我要掙很多錢。你能找到各種理由，說服自己為什么不想離開那里。但我最終意識到，如果我不這么做，我就不可能充分展示自己或者真正感到快樂。”

????于是她離開了強生，現在成為默克公司的資深高管。海勒表示，那次跳槽徹底改變了自己。她發現，在合適的工作當中，“推動增長，作為團隊一員去真正努力，就像在空中翱翔一樣。”她說道，如果沒有這樣的氛圍，“那感覺太可怕了。”

????要達到最佳表現，一個關鍵要素是找到合適的環境，但到達那里可能需要經歷一段艱險的旅程。

????塔瑪拉?倫德格倫現任美國史尼澤鋼鐵公司（Schnitzer Steel Industries）CEO及美國商會（U.S. Chamber of Commerce）董事會主席。其領導的史尼澤鋼鐵市值達到26億美元。她表示，每當自己感到厭倦的時候，她就知道應該繼續前進了。作為一位富于創造力的跳槽者，她一度非常喜愛律師業與銀行業。她說道：“每次改變職業的時候，都是類似的情況。我渴望嘗試新的職業。”

????只要有來自其他行業的邀請，她都會做出回復。她回憶道：“人們在我清閑的時候找到我。我說：‘為什么不呢？’”

????成功的沃土通常都有一些共同點：宏大的目標，適度的壓力，以及致力于一個比自身更大的事業。咨詢公司Gap International的創始人兼CEO彭蒂什?耶拉姆讓說道：“大量研究顯示，人們挖掘出的天賦其實與他們自己無關。這并不關乎他們自己能否實現目標，或他們自己的成功，而是關乎一個比自身更大的事業。”

????耶拉姆讓認為，樹立遠大的志向有助于挖掘自己的潛力。致力于有所作為和僅僅以生存為目標，存在很大的差別。研究顯示，那些只專注于不能失敗的人，往往不太可能取得真正的成功。她說道：“與揚名立萬相比，設法做好工作是截然不同的思考狀態。”

????在考慮是否應該改變職業時，牢記一點非常有幫助：失敗并非致命的。哈維穆德學院（Harvey Mudd College）院長、微軟（Microsoft）董事會成員瑪利亞?克拉維說道：“我想改變這個世界。所以我一直在經歷失敗。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????It’s a timeless question for the business elite: How does a person reach optimal performance? For those struggling to transcend mediocrity at work, what’s the trick to snap out of it? Is there an exercise regimen that unlocks peak cognition? Maybe a book of business wisdom that can help? How much meditation does it take?

????Some execs think there’s a simpler answer: Find a different gig.

????Bridgette Heller, a Merck EVP and president of the company’s consumer care segment, was an executive at Johnson & Johnson when she got the unshakeable sense that the job just wasn’t clicking. In moments of honesty and clarity, she says, “I always found myself coming up against the same sort of nightmare scenario: a voice that said, ‘You need to make a change.’”

????Heller spoke on Monday at the Finding Your Genius panel at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, California. She joined a group of other high-wattage female executives speaking about how to tap into your inner genius.

????There were plenty of reasons for Heller to stay at Johnson & Johnson. “I’ve got to feed my family, and I’m making a lot of money,” she recalls thinking. “You’ve got all these excuses about why you don’t want to go there. But at the end of the day you come to realize that unless I get there, I can’t be fully expressed or fully happy.”

????So she left, and is now a senior executive at Merck. Heller says the switch made all the difference. In the right job, she found, “driving the growth, and really hitting it as a team, it felt like soaring.” Not having that, she says, “It felt horrible.”

????A key component of reaching peak performance is being in the right environment, but getting there can be hard and risky work.

????Tamara Lundgren, now CEO of $2.6 billion Schnitzer Steel Industries and chairman of the board at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says she knew it was time to move on when she found herself getting bored. A prolific career hopper, she loved lawyering and banking until she didn’t. “Each time I changed careers it’s been that type of situation,” she says. “I’d been itching for something new.”

????When the call came from other industries, she answered. “People got me on a slow day,” she recalls. “And I said, ‘Why not!’”

????There are a few characteristics that often accompany a fertile environments for success: Big goals, a healthy amount of pressure, and working for a cause bigger than oneself. “A lot of research shows that when people [find their] genius, it’s not about them,” says Pontish Yeramyan, founder and CEO of consulting firm Gap International. “It’s not about them making it, it’s not about their success. It’s about a bigger thing.”

????It’s helpful to aim high, Yeramyan says. There’s a big difference between aiming to make a difference, and just trying to survive the day. Research shows that often people who are focusing on just not failing, are less likely to actually succeed. “Getting through something is a very different state of thinking than making your mark,” she says.

????In thinking about whether to make a career leap, it can be helpful to keep in mind that often, failing is survivable. “I want to change the world,” says Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College and Microsoft board member. “So I fail all the time.”