????為公司組織研討會時，我總會在一番鋪墊之后對與會者說：“在座的所有領導請舉手，我想看看都是誰。”大多數情況下，他們會感到緊張，還有一些遲疑。他們左顧右盼，看看有誰會舉手。還有人傻笑幾聲，還有就是茫然的目光和沉默……通常只有一、兩個人慢慢地把手舉起來。這時我會說：“好極了！歡迎參加這次研討會！”然后，我就會問其他人：“那么，既然你們不是領導，告訴我你們是什么？”回應我的一般都是沉寂和更加茫然的表情。有時候他們會說，“這工作我才干了一年”，或者“我的職位較低。”但這并不是我想聽到的答案。

????接下來我會問他們：“別人看得到你們嗎？你們周圍的人能看到你的舉動，能聽到你說的話嗎？如果別人能看到你，請舉手。”這時，所有人當然都會迅速把手舉起來。接著我就會說：“如果別人看得到你，你就是領導。其他人會看到你做了什么，會聽到你說了什么，而且他們會認為你知道自己在干什么。他們會模仿你的風格。因此，每個人都是領導，只是有些人不知道而已。”

????我提到這件軼事是為了說明這樣一個問題，那就是在任何公司中，所有的參與者都是領導。只不過有些人是在有意識地當領導，其他人則沒有意識到這一點——他們不知道自己的行為、言語和態度已經影響到了別人。但真實情況是，他們對別人確實有影響，但這種影響經常不會給人幫助，也不會產生積極作用。因此，現在大家也許正好可以問問自己：我是在有意識地當領導嗎？還是在無意識地這樣做？

????到了這個時候，我就會把通用電氣（General Electric）前首席執行官杰克?韋爾奇的話告訴這些參加研討會的人。韋爾奇說：“在每個團隊里，在每家公司中，在每次研討會上都有三種人：領袖、囚徒和過客。經理人的關鍵任務就是把領袖留下來，把囚徒和過客剔除出去。”在此，我想跟大家談談這三種人的區別，然后讓大家決定自己想以怎樣的方式度過一生。

????囚徒。這些人覺得自己被生活‘困住了’，他們活得就好像自己是一次死亡行軍的幸存者，受了傷但仍在行走。他們更想在別的地方干別的事情，但“受環境所限”，他們覺得自己沒有其他出路。他們的口頭禪是“我沒辦法，只能待在這里，我別無選擇。”他們或許還會給自己帶上枷鎖，邊走邊呻吟。囚徒抱怨的最多，責怪的最多，但在積極影響身邊需要修正的事物方面，他們卻做得最少。許多囚徒都很有耐力，甚至被提拔到了高級崗位，但他們只是高明地玩弄著權術，或者躲開聚光燈，這很遺憾，也很有諷刺意味。而且，由于別人看得到他們，更遺憾的是別人會模仿他們，這樣的體制很快就會得到復制。大家對此覺得熟悉嗎？大家認識這樣的人嗎？

????過客。過客和囚徒有很多不同點。不過，他們對公司的長期影響相當類似。實際上，過客只是“到這里尋開心”，不會真的嚴肅對待工作。他們還會設法盡可能地為自己牟利，同時盡量不為別人做什么。他們知道怎樣從體制中盡可能地為自己爭取利益，而且似乎總是希望自己能得到更多的東西。他們敷衍工作，隨波逐流——主動地處于閑散狀態。他們擅長“做好表面文章，不犯錯誤”，而且總是最后一個去承擔更多的責任。如果別人看不到他們，情況就不會這么糟。但問題就在于他們很顯眼，因此可能會有很多人模仿他們以及他們的“過客”風格。所以，很不幸，過客建立了另一種消極引領他人的模式。然而在某些公司，過客會在一段時間里得到升遷。

????When I run workshops for corporations, after some warm-up exercises, I always turn to the group and say “Would all the leaders in the room please raise their hands. I want to see who you are.” Most of the time, there is some nervous hesitation, faces swiveling around to see who might be raising their hands, a few giggles, uncertain looks, silence…and usually one or two hands will go slowly up in the air. I say “Great! Welcome to the program!” Then, to everyone else I ask “So, tell me, since you aren’t leaders, what are you?” Usually I get silence and more uncertain facial expressions as a reply. Sometimes they will say things like “Well I only started at this job one year ago.” Or: “I’m in a relatively junior position.” But these are not the kind of answers I am looking for.

????Then I ask them: “Are you visible? Can others around you observe your actions and hear your words? If you are visible, show me your hands.” Then, of course all the hands go up quickly. And I say “If you are visible, you are a leaders. Others will see what you do, listen to what you say and they are going to assume you know what you? are doing. And they will copy your style. As a result, everyone is a Leader. It’s just that some people don’t know they are leaders.”

????The point of this little anecdote is this: in any organization, all the players are leaders. It’s just that some are leading consciously and others are leading un-consciously---they aren’t aware that their actions and words and attitudes have impact on others. But the truth is: they do have impact, but it is often not of a kind that is helpful or positive. So this might be a good time to ask yourself: am I leading consciously or unconsciously?

????At this point I share with people in the workshop the words of Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric, who says “In every team, every organization, every workshop there are three kinds of people: Leaders, Prisoners and Vacationers. The key for managers is to retain the leaders and weed out the prisoners and vacationers.” Here I want to share with you the distinctions of these three types of people and let you decide where you want to spend your time on Earth.

????Prisoners. These are people who feel ‘stuck’ in their lives and live as if the survivors of a death march, the walking wounded, who would rather be doing something else, somewhere else, but “because of circumstances” they don’t see other options. Their mantra is “I have to be here, I have no choice.” They might as well hand-cuff themselves and walk around moaning. Prisoners complain the most, blame the most and do the least to make a positive impact on things that need to be fixed in their worlds. Sadly and ironically, many prisoners have staying power and even get promoted to senior positions just by playing politics well or staying out of the spotlight. And, because they are visible, it is even sadder that others will copy them and the system is soon replicated. Does this seem familiar to you? Do you know people like this?

????Vacationers. Vacationers are different from prisoners in many respects, however, their impact on an organization over time is quite similar. In essence, vacationers are just “here for the ride” and don’t really take their work very seriously. They also try to get the most for themselves while doing the least for others. They know how to squeeze every possible benefit out of the system for themselves and always seem to want more…for themselves. Their work is perfunctory and they show up as “floaters”---people who are actively disengaged. They excel at “looking good and not making mistakes” and they are the very last ones to take on additional responsibility. If they weren’t visible, it wouldn't be so bad. The problem is, they are easily observed and so lots of people may copy them and their style of “sliding by.” So vacationers, unfortunately are modeling another negative model of leadership. Yet in some organizations, vacationers can move up the ladder for a while.