生如夢魘：高管自殺之謎

????凱茨?德?弗里斯表示，高官們不應該被不斷地推著走，不需要那么迅速地作出反應。“我給CEO講課時，總會先看看他們的議程安排。我常發現他們的日程排得滿滿當當的。這些人什么時候有空思考？空出幾天時間，或花上一個下午在公園漫步，這也許是利用時間的最好方式?！?/p>

????另一個導致壓力的因素是企業文化本身?！肮蓶|的短期盈利主義和無法達成指標數量的羞恥感是無情的，尤其是在公開上市交易的公司中。要解決這個問題，上下級關系的好壞與否至關重要?！?/p>

????對于蘇黎世的首席財務官皮埃爾?瓦塞勒來說，就是這一點出了問題。他在遺書中提到了他的老板約瑟夫?阿科爾曼。哈佛醫學院（Harvard Medical School）的精神病學臨床講師杰拉德?克萊恩說：“在瓦塞勒的朋友和同事的描述中，他平時平易近人，非常理性，而且很冷靜。但是極端的內部矛盾和追求成功的完美主義太冷酷了。自殺前幾個月，他在新聞中透露，這種壓力讓他無法從工作中解脫。我感覺他處于嚴重的過度覺醒狀態，陷入了死結，導致他唯一逃離痛苦的辦法只能是死亡?！?/p>

????凱茨?德?弗里斯補充道：“高管需要一個傾倒內心垃圾的地方。說出真正的問題和焦慮有助于身體健康。有些人有很好的同伴、妻子或丈夫來幫助自己排毒。但是許多高管則沒有這么幸運。你以為私人教練這個行當為什么在過去幾年來出現了爆炸式的增長？就是因為這些高管們正在試著找到一個可以傾訴的對象?！?/p>

????克萊恩表示，嚴厲刻板、完美主義、讓一切事物出于控制之中，這是全世界高管的共同特質，德國甚至瑞士的民族文化或許也在其中起到了影響?！熬佑诟呶坏淖院栏惺侨绱藦娏遥绷饔峦俗兊秒y以實現。某種程度上，這就像日本高管感到羞恥，走投無路，認為除了自殺以外已別無選擇一樣。在他們看來，辭職帶來的羞恥感比死亡更令人痛苦?！?/p>

????克萊恩認為，美國公司的企業文化給人帶來的負荷較輕。“在美國，我們不會覺得你不成功，你是個悲慘的失敗者。我們的國民觀點是：如果你找回自我，重新嘗試，終有成功的一天。”

????“此外，美國高管被解雇實在太正常了，因此羞恥感沒那么強烈。20年前，首席執行官的任期平均在六到七年，現在僅能勉強達到以前的一半。被炒魷魚或者主動辭職已經成為了生意場權力游戲的一個組成部分?！保ㄘ敻恢形木W）

????譯者：嚴匡正??

????Instead of constantly being pushed in real time, executives need reflective inactivity, says Kets de Vries. "When I start working with a CEO, I always take a look into their agendas first. I always find them completely full. When do these people have time to think? Cross a few days out, or spend an afternoon walking in the park. That might be the best use of your time."

????Another stress factor is corporate culture itself. "The short-termism of shareholders and the shame of not being able to make your numbers can be relentless, especially in publicly traded companies," says Kets de Vries. "To deal with this, the quality of the relationship between superior and subordinate is very important."

????That is where it seemed to have gone wrong for Zurich CFO Pierre Wauthier, who left a suicide note mentioning his boss Josef Ackermann. "Wauthier was described by his friends and colleagues as easygoing, rational, and calm in his normal state," says Gerald Kraines, clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "But the combination of extreme internal conflicts and a perfectionistic need to be successful became unrelenting. Some months before his suicide, he spoke in the press about how all this pressure made it intensely difficult to switch off from work. My sense about him is that he was in a state of severe hyper-arousal and entrapment, to a point where the only way to get out of the pain was to die."

????Adds Kets de Vries, "Senior executives need a place to dump their garbage. Being able to talk about your real problems and anxieties can add years to your life. Some people have a good partner, a wife, or a husband who can help them detox. But many executives are not so lucky. Why do you think the coaching profession has grown so explosively over the past couple of years? All these executives are trying to find someone to talk to."

????While rigidity, perfectionism, and the need to be in control are common traits among executives worldwide, national culture may play a role in countries like Germany and even Switzerland, says Kraines. "In the top, there is a tremendous sense of pride that makes quitting very difficult. In some ways, it's like when Japanese executives get shamed or trapped and feel they have no choice but to kill themselves. In their mind, the humiliation of resigning would be more painful than just dying."

????The business culture within American corporations is less taxing, argues Kraines. "In the U.S., we don't tend to think that if you're not successful, you're an abject failure. We have this sort of national belief that if you pick yourself up and try again, you'll make it some day.

????"Besides, there is such a norm of American executives being canned, that there is less humiliation and shame in it. Twenty years ago, the average tenure of a CEO was six to seven years. Now it's barely half of that. Getting fired or quitting has become part of the game."??