It was the worst day of my professional life. I took the train from Princeton to Washington that morning with lead in my stomach, knowing that I had to face my employees. The organization I lead was in crisis, and although I was not guilty of what I was being charged with in the media, I had made some major mistakes. I had lost the confidence of many of my staff and some of my board. The details of that crisis don't matter. We've all had crises in our personal and professional lives. And watching the news today, many of us feel like our countries and the world itself is in deep crisis. What matters is how we respond to crisis. I want to take you with me on what turned out to be a learning journey, one that was hard at times, but ultimately deeply rewarding. I called my board member, David Bradley, then chair of Atlantic Media, and he said, “Run toward the criticism.” He said, “Imagine you’re having an argument with your spouse. It is clear to you that your spouse is 98 percent wrong, but maybe, just maybe, two percent right. Run toward that two percent.” So I did. I called board members, staff members, even my old boss, the former president of Princeton University. I asked them to be straight. I practiced what I’ve come to call radical honesty. As I absorbed what they told me, trying to look into the mirror and see not only what I wanted to see, but also what others saw, I began to change. I learned to reach out to others to check and improve my own thinking. I learned to think about leadership as a collective rather than an individual enterprise. I learned that resilience is a team sport. I’d learned to lead not only from the centre of a web of relationships, but also from the edge to pay continual attention to people on the margin. I learned to share power. I learned, finally, that if you have the strength and courage to face yourself and your past with radical honesty, you have what it takes to do, be or build something new. I came to understand this process as one of renewal. Renewal is neither restoration nor reinvention, neither reform nor revolution, but something in between. It is a journey that looks backward and forward at the same time, looking to the past with honesty and to the future with renewed strength, confidence and hope. What would this process look like for you or for your organization? Many of our organizations are being challenged by our younger staff to confess our failings and root out the racism and bias that are not just out there, but far too often in here. It can be a painful exploration, but it’s a necessary prelude to change. What would this process look like for our countries? Facing our past means broadening our history to include our whole history, the stories that are being told by so many scholars, journalists and novelists. If you’re American and you’re from the south, as I am, it may mean looking differently at your own family. If you’re from the north and live in a neighborhood walled-off for white people by redlining and restrictive covenants, it may mean examining your own or your family's complicity. And for all of us, it means to be willing to recognize the original inhabitants of the lands we live and work on. If you're from another country, your history undoubtedly has chapters of conquest and loss, domination and dispossession. Winston Churchill is supposed to have said, “History is written by victors,” but when it is written by everyone, then the descendants of those victors have to face the ugly side of those victories. While the descendants of the vanquished are finally seen and heard. There are so many stories. But if we can hear them and learn just to listen, sit and absorb, not try to justify or avoid, we will find avenues opening up toward a new future. A future in a country big enough to hold us all. We will begin thinking about what we can build together. What do you want to see happen in the next five years as a prelude to the next 25? Could we rebuild our entire infrastructure to keep the planet clean and green? Could we build an entire infrastructure of care that allows all of us not only to pursue our individual careers and dreams, but also to be there for those we love? Could we invest more in the education of our children than in the training of soldiers and the buying and selling of weapons? Could we create new political systems to forge a representative multiparty democracy that represents the interests of the people rather than the powerful? Can we look around and embrace the diversity of our countries as a source of prosperity and innovation? Stop now for just a moment, and imagine to take one example. That Chicago is the epicenter of this transformation. Beginning right now, the Chicago Historical Society would start preparing for America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 by providing funds for young journalists in every part of the city to start interviewing elders and combing through archives to uncover the full stories of the land and the neighborhoods that they live in. A people’s history, One that includes racism and bigotry, violence and corruption. But that also tells a story of a city rising from the prairie on the edge of a great lake, home to wave after wave of immigrants. Immigrants in the 19th century from every country in Europe, stretching east to Russia. Each group with their own neighborhoods and festivals. Immigrants in the 20th century from countries on every continent, each group with their own neighborhoods and festivals. Imagine Chicago embracing a new American motto and making it real. Instead of E Pluribus Unum, “out of many one,” Chicago learns how to be Pluris et unum, “many and one,” at the same time. Chicago itself, the quintessential city of the big shoulders, becomes the city of the wide arms, stretching out in welcome and embrace. That is one possible journey of renewal, a journey of running toward the criticism, looking backward to face the past and forward with as many others as we can gather to build a new future. A journey we all can take. Our destination is transformation. Thank you. (Applause)
那是我职业生涯中最糟糕的一天。 那天早上,我搭火车 从普林斯顿到华盛顿, 胃像灌了铅一样沉, 因为我知道我得面对我的员工。 我的公司处于危机之中, 虽然我没有犯下 媒体对我的那些指控, 但我确实犯了一些严重的错误。 我不再信任很多员工 和一些董事会成员。 这场危机的细枝末节并不重要。 个人生活和职业生涯中, 危机是难免的。 很多人今天看了新闻, 觉得我们国家 和整个世界都深陷危机。 但真正重要的是, 我们如何应对危机, 请你和我一起,回看我的这段经历, 看看我从中学到了什么, 这段经历困难重重,但回报颇丰。 我给董事会成员大卫·布拉德利 (David Bradley) 打了电话,又打给大西洋传媒的主席, 那位主席说:“迎头直上,直面抨击。” 还说,“假设你和伴侣吵架, 很明显,有 98% 的几率, 你伴侣说的不对, 但有 2% 的几率,他可能没错。 你也要直面这 2% 的可能性。” 我就是这么做的。 我给董事会成员、员工, 甚至是我以前的老板, 普林斯顿大学的前任校长, 都打了电话。 我请求他们直接给我意见, 不要拐弯抹角。 我将“绝对真诚”化为实际行动。 我认真听取他们的意见, 努力看着那个镜子, 然后不止看到我希望看到的, 同时也看到他人的看法, 我开始改变。 我学会了寻求别人的看法 来检验、提升我自己的思想。 我也开始明白 做领导者需要听取团队意见, 独善其身并不可取。 团队协作才能让企业快速复苏。 还有,领导者不仅要从 关系网的中心位置出发, 还要从边缘角度出发思考行动, 一直关心处于边缘的人们。 我学会分享权力。 我终于明白, 如果你很坚强, 有勇气用“绝对真诚”直面自我, 直面自己的经历的话, 你就能够尝试新事物、 改变自我、创新创造。 这个就是更新的过程。 更新不是重蹈覆辙, 也不会导致翻天覆地的变化, 不是改革,也不是革命, 而是处于两者的中间地带。 更新是向后看, 同时也向前看的过程, 向后看时真诚反思, 向前看时带着 新力量、新信心和新希望。 对你或你的公司来说, 这个更新之路会是什么样的呢? 我们旗下很多公司都面临着 来自年轻员工的质疑, 需要我们直面失败, 根除种族歧视和偏见, 它们不仅流窜在大街小巷, 还常住人们心中。 自查的过程可能令人痛苦, 但有自查才有后来的改变。 我们国家的自查会是什么样? 直面我们的过去就是要 进一步了解历史的全貌, 了解许多学者、 记者、作家所讲述的故事。 如果你和我一样 是来自南部的美国人的话, 了解历史全貌可能会 让你从不同角度看待自己的家庭。 如果你来自美国北部的话, 生活在白人社区, 而银行拒绝贷款和限制性条例 将其他人拒之门外, 了解历史全貌意味着扪心自问, 自己或是家人是不是同谋。 对所有人来说,这意味着愿意承认 在我们生活着,工作着的大地上, 原住民的存在。 即使你来自他国, 你们国家的历史也毋容置疑 有描写征战和失去的篇章, 有描写统治和掠夺的篇章。 传闻温斯顿·丘吉尔 (Winston Churchill) 曾说过: “历史由胜利者书写。” 但当所有人都是历史的记述者, 那些胜利者的后代就要面对 胜利的另一面,也是丑恶的一面。 人们终于看见、听见战败者的后代, 他们的许多故事。 但如果我们能听他们讲述, 学会坐下认真听讲, 而不是急于辩解或避开, 我们就能找到通往新未来的道路。 在这个崭新的未来, 这个国家容得下我们所有人。 我们开始想象 我们齐心协力能建造什么。 先想想你对未来 5 年的展望 是怎么样的? 那未来 25 年呢? 我们能否重建基础设施, 打造无污、绿色的地球呢? 我们能否打造一整套 以人文关怀为导向的基础设施呢? 这样的基础设施 便于我们追求职业成长、追求梦想, 也让我们能常伴所爱之人。 我们能否在儿童教育上加大投入, 而非追加对军事训练、 武器买卖的投资? 我们能否建一个新的政治体系 来建立代表制多党民主, 让民主代表人民利益而非权贵利益呢? 我们能否环顾四周, 拥抱我们国家的多元, 多元正是繁荣与创新的源泉。 现在先停一停。 举例来说, 芝加哥正是这场变革的中心。 此时此刻, 芝加哥历史协会正着手准备 2026 年的美国建立 二百五十周年纪念, 出资让年轻记者去芝加哥的每一处 采访老人, 理顺历史档案, 揭开这片土地的历史全貌, 揭开不同社区的历史全貌。 这是人民的历史, 是种族主义、 偏见、暴力、腐败的历史, 但也讲述了这座在大草原上 崛起的城市的故事, 芝加哥坐落在湖边,湖面广阔, 一波又一波的移民如水浪涌来, 在这里安家。 19 世纪的芝加哥移民来自 西至欧洲各国到 东至俄罗斯的各个国家。 他们带来了自己的社区和节日。 20 世纪的芝加哥移民来自 各个大陆的各个国家, 也带来了他们的社区和节日。 想想芝加哥这座城市拥抱 新的美国座右铭, 并使其成为现实。 抛弃以前的座右铭——“合众为一”, 芝加哥学会如何同时做到 “求同、存异”。 芝加哥这座城市 挑起了美国的大梁, 也敞开了宽广的怀抱, 大开双臂迎接和拥抱。 这是一条走得通的更新之路, 一条迎头直面批评抨击的道路, 回首直面旧历史, 向前创造新未来, 团结我们所能团结的, 一起建造崭新的未来。 这是一条我们都可以选择的路。 路的尽头是新未来、新局面。 谢谢。 (掌声)