提到首席執行官，也許映入你腦海的是一位優秀的公共演說家和社交能手的形象。但最新研究表明，最成功的首席執行官的共同之處其實是性格內向。

Getting up early, wearing the same clothes every day, eating eggs for breakfast… there are various thing we’re told CEOs do that may hold the keys to their success.
早早起床，每天穿一樣的衣服，早餐吃雞蛋……我們得知首席執行官們做的這些五花八門的事情也許是他們成功的關鍵。

But what if the one thing the most successful have in common is in fact not something they do but the way they are?
但如果最成功的首席執行官的共同之處其實不是他們做了什么，而是他們做事的方式呢？

The results of a new study certainly suggest this is the case. And the shared attribute? Introversion.
一項新研究的結果告訴我們，的確是這樣。而他們共有的特點是什么？那就是內向。

Researchers from ghSmart, a Chicago-based consultancy firm, spent ten years analysing the personalities of 2,000 CEOs and reached the conclusion that the majority of the successful ones were introverts.
總部位于芝加哥的咨詢公司ghSmart的研究人員花費了10年時間分析了2000位首席執行官的性格，并得出結論說，大部分成功的首席執行官都是內向的人。

This flies in the face of the image most people have of a typical charismatic, confident, extroverted leader.
在大多數人的眼中，領導都是有魅力、有自信的外向者，而研究結果與此不同。

The study, called the CEO Genome Project, includes a test anyone can do to find out whether they have what it takes to be a CEO.
這項研究名為CEO基因組計劃，其中包括一項任何人都可以參與的測試，來發現他們做一名首席執行官是否稱職。

“When we flip on the news, or check our social media feeds, we are bombarded with images of well-groomed, Ivy league-educated icons of the Fortune 100,” the study authors write. “And we can’t help but think, I could never be them.
研究報告的作者寫道：“當我們瀏覽新聞，或者查閱社交媒體信息時，我們看到的都是衣冠楚楚、常春藤盟校畢業、上榜財富100的偶像。我們不禁這樣想，自己永遠也成不了其中一員。”

“In fact, they come from surprisingly varied backgrounds. Of the six million CEOs of companies in America, only seven percent went to an elite school—and eight percent didn't graduate college at all. Some are immigrants; many worked their way up through the ranks from entry-level positions.”
“事實上，他們的背景非常多樣，這令人驚訝。在美國600萬名公司首席執行官中，僅有7%曾在名校就讀，還有8%壓根就不是大學畢業生。一些是移民，還有一些是從基層崗位升上去的。”

To reach their conclusions, the researchers made a database of assessments, including comprehensive performance appraisals and extensive biographical information, which documented everything from behavioural patterns and demographic information to career history and previous job performance.
為得出結論，研究人員制作了評估數據庫，包括綜合績效考察和大量的個人簡歷信息，其中記錄了行為類型、人口統計信息、職業經歷和以前的工作表現等等。

From these findings, they were able to work out who amongst us are most likely to become a CEO.
從這些發現中，他們能找出我們當中的哪些人更可能成為首席執行官。

They found that the four most important traits for CEOs are:
他們發現，首席執行官四種最重要的特點是：

Reaching out to stakeholders
與股東溝通

Being highly adaptable to change
對變化有高度適應性

Being reliable and predictable rather than showing exceptional, and perhaps not repeatable, performance
可靠，行為可預見，而不是展現出異常的，或許不可重復的表現

Making fast decisions with conviction, if not necessarily perfect ones.
有信念快速決斷，不一定是完美決策

About half of the candidates had at least one of these characteristics.
大約半數被調查者至少有上述一種特點。

英文來源：獨立報
翻譯&編審：yaning