Want to perform your best? It might be time to quit your job

想做最好的自己，你該換個(gè)工作

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?

對(duì)于商業(yè)精英們而言，這是一個(gè)永恒的話題：一個(gè)人如何才能達(dá)到最佳表現(xiàn)?對(duì)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(yùn)動(dòng)療法可以讓人達(dá)到認(rèn)知能力的高峰?是否有一本商業(yè)智慧圖書能有所幫助?需要進(jìn)行多少次冥想?

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

一些高管給出的答案更簡(jiǎn)單：換個(gè)工作。

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.’”

默克公司(Merck)執(zhí)行副總裁兼顧客關(guān)懷部門總裁布里奇特•海勒，曾在強(qiáng)生公司(Johnson & Johnson)擔(dān)任高管，當(dāng)時(shí)她產(chǎn)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(dāng)自己頭腦清晰地直面這個(gè)問題時(shí)，“我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己經(jīng)常遇到同樣噩夢(mèng)般的情景：有一個(gè)聲音在說，‘你應(yīng)該做出改變。’”

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.

上周一，在加州尼格爾湖召開的《財(cái)富》(Fortune)最具影響力商界女性峰會(huì)(Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit)上，海勒出席了“挖掘你的天賦”座談會(huì)并發(fā)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(fā)表了看法。

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.”

其實(shí)，海勒有許多留在強(qiáng)生公司的理由。她回憶道：“我要養(yǎng)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(shí)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。”

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.”

于是她離開了強(qiáng)生，現(xiàn)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(fā)現(xiàn)，在合適的工作當(dāng)中，“推動(dòng)增長，作為團(tuán)隊(duì)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。”

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

要達(dá)到最佳表現(xiàn)，一個(gè)關(guān)鍵要素是找到合適的環(huán)境，但到達(dá)那里可能需要經(jīng)歷一段艱險(xiǎn)的旅程。

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.”

塔瑪拉•倫德格倫現(xiàn)任美國史尼澤鋼鐵公司(Schnitzer Steel Industries)CEO及美國商會(huì)(U.S. Chamber of Commerce)董事會(huì)主席。其領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的史尼澤鋼鐵市值達(dá)到26億美元。她表示，每當(dāng)自己感到厭倦的時(shí)候，她就知道應(yīng)該繼續(xù)前進(jìn)了。作為一位富于創(chuàng)造力的跳槽者，她一度非常喜愛律師業(yè)與銀行業(yè)。她說道：“每次改變職業(yè)的時(shí)候，都是類似的情況。我渴望嘗試新的職業(yè)。”

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

只要有來自其他行業(yè)的邀請(qǐng)，她都會(huì)做出回復(fù)。她回憶道：“人們?cè)谖仪彘e的時(shí)候找到我。我說：‘為什么不呢?’”

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.”

成功的沃土通常都有一些共同點(diǎn)：宏大的目標(biāo)，適度的壓力，以及致力于一個(gè)比自身更大的事業(yè)。咨詢公司Gap International的創(chuàng)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(shí)與他們自己無關(guān)。這并不關(guān)乎他們自己能否實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)，或他們自己的成功，而是關(guān)乎一個(gè)比自身更大的事業(yè)。”

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.

耶拉姆讓認(rèn)為，樹立遠(yuǎn)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(biāo)，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(yáng)名立萬相比，設(shè)法做好工作是截然不同的思考狀態(tài)。”

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.

在考慮是否應(yīng)該改變職業(yè)時(shí)，牢記一點(diǎn)非常有幫助：失敗并非致命的。哈維穆德學(xué)院(Harvey Mudd College)院長、微軟(Microsoft)董事會(huì)成員瑪利亞•克拉維說道：“我想改變這個(gè)世界。所以我一直在經(jīng)歷失敗。”