It takes a certain amount of narcissism¹ to claw your way up the ranks of a company. But it takes as much humility² to be successful once you’re there.

要爬上公司的领导层当然需要一点自恋的精神，但是当你已经置身领导级，要想在这里取得成功，还得具有与自恋同样多的谦逊态度。

Executives who curb³ their confidence in their vision by admitting mistakes and limitations and acknowledging the contributions of others tend to command the most respect and loyalty⁴ from their teams, who thereby⁵ deliver results, according to a new study from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. However, humility, like meditation⁶ or golf, may take some practice.

根据美国杨百翰大学麦里特商学院新近的一项研究表明，如果一位管理人员能够节制自己的主观观念，承认自己的错误和能力的局限性，能够首肯他人的贡献，他将更能够得到团队成员的尊敬和忠诚心。不过，这种谦逊精神就像冥想术或高尔夫球一样，也需要勤加练习才能得心应手。

And even so, narcissism is often a necessary tool for success -- as it was for the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, whose obsessive⁷ commitment to his vision for the iPhone maker⁸ helped shape it into the world's most valuable company.

不过即便如此，自恋往往仍是成功的必备要素——比如说已故的苹果公司联合创始人，史蒂夫·乔布斯就是一个颇为迷恋、执著于自己的观点的人，正是他这种固执己见将苹果公司塑造成为了世界上身价最高的公司。

“Humility is not meant to replace some of the quintessential aspects of leaders,” Bradley P. Owens, assistant professor of business ethics⁹ at the university, told The Huffington Post. “It’s meant to supplement and buffer¹⁰ them from the extremes of narcissism.”

该校商务伦理学助理教授布雷德利·P·欧文对《华盛顿邮报》记者说，“对那些管理人员来说，谦逊精神不应该取代他们身上的那些精神精髓。”“谦逊精神只是用来对他们极端的自恋主义做补充和缓冲的。”

The study surveyed 876 employees at a large Fortune 100 health insurance company and asked them to rate 138 leaders in the company on their humility and effectiveness, and how motivated the employees were by their supervisors¹¹.

这项研究对876名在一家跻身财富100强名单的大型健康保险公司供职的职员进行了调查，研究人员请他们为这家公司的138名管理人员进行测评，选出他们的谦逊程度，工作效率高低，以及后者是否能够对职员起到激励作用。

Researchers measured the narcissism of the leaders by asking them to describe themselves by choosing between statements such as “I am an extraordinary person,” or “I am much like everybody else.”

研究人员还对管理层的自恋程度作出了测评，请后者在“我是一个无与伦比的人物”或“我和其他人没什么不同”等陈述中选出最符合自己的陈述。

“The leaders that performed the best were those who had high narcissism and high humility.” Owens said.欧文称，“最好的管理者是那些即有高度的自恋态度又有高度的谦逊精神的人。”