????在E.L.?詹姆斯的暢銷書《五十度灰》（Fifty Shades of Grey）中，克里斯蒂安?格雷最討人喜歡的品質之一在于他是一名非常成功的商人。他甚至可能已經兌現了自己的49度灰色性格。 27歲的格雷從哈佛大學退學后在西雅圖成立了自己的公司。根據詹姆斯的博客介紹，格雷擁有“30歲以下最成功美國商人”這一顯赫頭銜——他沒有入選《財富》“40位40歲以下商業精英”榜單，而且永遠也不可能入選，因為他是虛構人物——并被評為美國五大CEO之一。格雷企業控股有限公司最初靠借來的100,000美元起步，短短幾年就發展成為一家價值數十億美元的大公司。雖然格雷控股的具體性質依舊是一個謎，但該公司網站聲稱它是“通信技術、可持續能源和智能系統開發領域的世界領導者”。此外，該公司還致力于并購擴張，往往會收購一些表現不佳的公司，然后進行改造，幫助其走上正軌。雖然克里斯蒂安?格雷是一位虛構人物，但他在董事會和床上的成功，依舊能夠讓我們學到一些領導之道。

????下面是成功CEO們可以從《五十度灰》中學到的七種品質：

????有韌性

????克里斯蒂安?格雷努力保持私人生活某些方面的私密性，但他白手起家（生母吸食可卡因成癮，格雷后來被西雅圖一個小康家庭收養，25歲便成為億萬富翁）的故事已經家喻戶曉。這段由貧窮到成功的歷程讓他獲得了堅韌不拔的品質——他也將這種特質帶到了床上。韌性是一位優秀公司領導人最重要的品質之一，因為大多數商界傳奇人物都是緩慢地攀登上成功頂峰的，比如房屋租賃公司Airbnb創始人在發展業務的同時，不得不依靠出售新奇的谷物早餐來維持運營。最優秀的CEO知道，最好的業務值得努力去追求，失敗只是成功路上的又一次教訓。正如史蒂夫?喬布斯所說：“仔細觀察大多數一夜成功的故事，你就會發現，主人公都經歷了長時間的積累。”

????有激情

????激情是優秀公司發展的推動力。購鞋網站Zappos的創始人謝家華曾經說過：“停止追逐金錢，開始追逐激情吧。”一位有激情的領導者可以招聘同樣富有激情的團隊成員，從驅動型投資者那里獲得資金，使團隊愿意并且能夠投入足夠多的時間來打造一家成功的公司。但激情也可能蒙蔽CEO的判斷，導致他們做出糟糕的選擇，讓領導者對公司的前景產生錯誤的想法。克里斯蒂安?格雷有著非凡的激情，但他能夠完全控制這種激情，不在工作當中爆發——他將激情升華為職業驅動力。出色的公司領導者清楚如何平衡激情，利用激情推動公司發展，同時能夠控制和運用好這種激情。

????找到合適的團隊成員

????克里斯蒂安與安娜初次見面時，可以說，他幾乎瞬間便確定他想要她成為他的團隊成員。他知道安娜具備某些合適的特質，這些特質可以讓她成為一名有價值的伙伴。為了聘用她，他開始著手了解有關她的一切，然后才勸誘她加入他的團隊。謹慎招聘是打造一家成功公司的關鍵。最優秀的領導者清楚他們不可能具備建立和經營一家成功公司所需要的所有必要技能。他們必須自我評估自己的技能，然后利用這些信息招聘具備這些技能的人，作為對他們的補充和支持。CEO也需要了解團隊成員的優點和缺點，并拿出時間來了解哪些崗位能讓他們發揮作用，哪些會讓他們痛苦，又有哪些會讓他們感到興奮。這些知識可以幫助CEO或者像克里斯蒂安?格雷這樣的人，了解在什么情況下使用什么能力，以確保成功。

????致力于學習

????在書中，克里斯蒂安不僅對安娜做出了承諾，還致力于學習如何處理這種伴侶關系。好的CEO知道他們并非萬事通。隨著公司的發展，最有想法、最有效率的領導者會將學習作為日常工作的一部分，尋求建議，向專家咨詢，同時鼓勵團隊成員也這么做。如果學習可以成為公司文化中積極的一面，公司就能在快速變化的環境中保持靈活和敏感。

????做一名建設性的批評者

????CEO最重要的技能之一，是擅長進行困難的對話。在書中，克里斯蒂安最具挑戰性的對話往往發生在臥室，而不是會議室，但CEO們確實需要有能力與員工、投資者和自己進行令人不適的對話。正是由于他有極好的口才，所以他才能告訴安娜斯塔莎自己獨特的性癖好，并提供建設性的批評，讓她可以學習，并成為他的伴侶。好的領導者應該以鼓舞人心而非令人泄氣的方式提供批評意見；他們的反饋應該教會被批評者如何成功。

????有風險意識（并具備風險承受能力）

????建立一家公司或一種關系，就是承擔風險。最優秀的CEO能夠意識到風險，并找出管理風險的方法，比如設立監督團隊，或利用情景規劃提前制定策略，更有效的方式是想辦法將風險轉化為機遇。此外，風險承受能力也很有必要，并且不要承擔可能危害公司發展的風險。

????雖然克里斯蒂安說：“我從來不會為有風險的決定煩惱，”但他在揭開自己最大的秘密之前，還是要求安娜斯塔莎?斯蒂爾簽署了保密協議。

????尊重別人

????好的CEO明白，必須爭取客戶、員工、投資者和整個行業的尊重。而要贏得尊重，你要學會傾聽，要像對待普通人一樣對待自己的員工，而不是永遠一副高高在上的架勢；努力工作，認可和獎勵員工的工作，真誠待人。尊重他人也可以帶來快樂，而你的客戶越快樂，就越可能留下來，與你的公司一起發展，并將你推薦給其他人。團隊成員、投資者以及男女朋友之間同樣如此。克里斯蒂安盡量尊重安娜斯塔莎的界限，但他拒絕在兩人的關系中妥協，最終導致（小小劇透一下）她流著淚離開了他。盡管在后面的兩本續集中，克里斯蒂安與安娜重歸于好，但在商業中，一家公司可能不會有第二或第三次機會去贏回客戶。從最開始便以尊敬的態度對待所有人，才是更有成效的選擇。（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????審校：任文科

????In E.L. James’ bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey, one of Christian Grey’s most endearing qualities is that he is a very successful businessman. So successful he may have purchased 49 of his 50 shades. The 27-year-old dropped out of Harvard to start his own business in Seattle and now, according to James’ blog, Grey holds the illustrious title of Most Successful U.S. Businessman Under the Age of 30 (no, he hasn’t made Fortune‘s 40 Under 40 yet—and never will, since he’s not real) and ranks among the Top Five American CEOs. Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc., (GEH) was launched with $100,000 of borrowed cash and in just a few short years has become a multi-billion dollar business. While the exact nature of GEH’s business is a bit mysterious, the company’s website claims it is “a world leader in communication technologies, sustainable energy and intelligent systems development.” The company also focuses on mergers and acquisitions, buying underperforming companies and, ahem, whipping them into shape. While Christian Grey may be fictional, there are still some valuable lessons to be learned from his success in the boardroom and the bedroom.

????Here are seven traits that successful CEOs can learn from 50 Shades of Grey:

????Be Resilient

????Christian Grey may be private about some aspects of his personal life, but his rags-to-riches story (born to a crack addict mother, adopted by a well-to-do Seattle family, a billionaire by the age of 25) is well known. His journey from poverty to success taught him resilience—a lesson he took into his bedroom, too. Resilience is one of the most important traits of a good corporate leader, because business lore is filled with the stories of slow climbs to success, including the one about how Airbnb’s founders had to resort to selling novelty cereal to keep the lights on as they grew their business. The best CEOs know that the best businesses are worth pursuing and that failure is just another lesson on the road to success. As Steve Jobs said, “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”

????Be Passionate

????Passion is what drives the best companies. As Zappos founder Tony Hsieh said, “Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.” A passionate leader can recruit equally passionate team members, raise capital from driven investors, and keep their teams willing and able to put in the long hours necessary to build a successful company. But passions can also cloud a CEO’s judgment, lead to poor choices, and mislead a leader about their business prospects. Christian Grey has very singular passions, but keeps them completely controlled and entirely out of the workplace— sublimating his passions into career drive. Great corporate leaders know how to balance passions, letting them drive a company, but keeping them in check and in perspective.

????Find the Right Team Members

????When Christian first met Ana, he almost instantly knew that he wanted her to become his, shall we say, team member. He knew that she had certain desirable characteristics that would make her a valuable partner. To recruit her, he set about learning everything he could about her before wooing her on to his, um, team. Careful recruiting is the key to growing a successful business. The best leaders know that they alone don’t have all the required skills to build and run a successful company. They must self-assess their own skill sets and then use that information to hire people with skills that will complement and buttress their own. CEOs also need to know their team members’ strengths and weaknesses and take the time to learn what makes them tick, what makes them miserable, and what makes them excited. This knowledge can help a CEO — or someone like Christian Grey —know which skill to apply in which situation to ensure success.

????Commit to Learning

????Over the course of Fifty Shades, Christian makes a commitment not just to Ana, but to learning how to be in a committed relationship. Competent CEOs know that they don’t know everything. As companies grow, the most thoughtful and effective leaders make learning an active part of their day, seeking advice, consulting with experts, and encouraging their team to do the same. If learning becomes an active part of corporate culture, companies can stay agile and responsive in a quickly changing environment.

????Be A Constructive Critic

????One of the most important skills for a CEO to have is the ability to be great at difficult conversations. While in Fifty Shades Christian’s most challenging conversations were usually held in the bedroom and not the boardroom, CEOs do need to be able to have uncomfortable talks with employees, investors and themselves. Because of his capable way with words, Christian was able to tell Anastasia about his singular sexual proclivities, and offer constructive criticism so she could learn and grow as a companion. Good leaders need to be ready and able to deliver critical feedback in a way that that is encouraging and not demoralizing; to give feedback that teaches the recipient how to succeed.

????Be Risk Aware (and Tolerant)

????Building a business—or a relationship—is all about taking risk. The best CEOs recognize risks and figure out ways to manage it whether bringing in oversight teams or using scenario planning to devise strategies in advance or, even better, devise ways to leverage risk and turn it into opportunity. Still, there is being risk tolerant and there is taking unnecessary risks that can jeopardize a business.

????While Christian says, “risky decisions have never bothered me,” he did have Anastasia Steele sign a Non Disclosure Agreement before revealing his big secret.

????Be Respectful

????A good CEO knows that respect is something you earn: from the customer, employees, investors and, eventually, the industry at large. To earn respect, listen to people, treat your employees like people; not like subordinates, work hard, recognize and reward effort and be genuine. Treating people with respect also breeds happiness and the happier your customers are the more likely they will stay, grow and refer others to your company. Same goes for team members, investors, and, of course, boyfriends or girlfriends. Christian tried to be respectful of Anastasia’s boundaries, but his refusal to compromise about their relationship resulted in [SPOILER ALERT] her leaving him in tears at the end of the book. While Christian had two sequels in which to make it up to Anastasia, businesses may not get a second or third chance to woo a customer back. Treating everyone with respect from the get-go is a far more productive choice.