刚进这家公司时，我为自己设计了美好的前程，一年之内升职加薪，两年之内做到高级白领。

At the beginning of my work in this company, I portrayed¹ a rosy² future for myself that I should get promoted with a higher salary within a year and become a senior white-collar officer within two years.

虽然职位只是数据组一个普通的职员，但是，有写作的特长可以让我脱颖而出。

Although I was only an average worker responsible for managing data, I was expert in writing, which enabled me to outstand among all the staff. 我充分发挥自己的特长，参加了公司的征文比赛。结果，我像一匹从斜刺里杀出的黑马，压倒了一大群在公司颇有名气的才子才女们，夺得冠军。

I had made full use of my talent and took part in a writing competition launched by my company. Finally, I overtook all of my excellent colleagues like a horse leading well ahead in the horserace and won the champion. 这个良好的开端一下子把我从众多普通职员中浮了起来，很多人记住了我的名字。

This good beginning made me outstanding among all the staff and my name had been living in many people’s mind. 然后，我又报名参加了演讲比赛。担当评委的都是公司各个部门的领导，这是个宣传自己的好机会。我抓住时机，努力表现，声情并茂的演讲打动了很多人，甚至有领导赞美说：这是我听到的最好的演讲！

Then I went on to participate in a speech competition held again by my company. The panel of judges consisted of all the heads of various departments. I deemed it as a great chance to advertise myself. So I grabbed firm this opportunity and spared no effort to demonstrate myself, delivering a vivid and moving speech to the audience. Even some of the department leaders complimented me by saying, “This is the grandest speech I have ever heard!” 公司有什么活动我都积极参加，唱歌，跳舞，野炊，书法，只要能露脸，一个都不放过。时常暗自庆幸，幸亏公司有那么多的文体活动，可以让我尽情展现自己。

Since then, I would actively³ join in whatever activities held by the company, such as singing, dancing, picnicking, calligraphy⁴, etc. So long as there was a chance to display myself, I would never let it go. I would often felt lucky in my heart, for there were so many cultural and sports activities in the company for me to fully demonstrate my abilities. 一年下来，我已经成了公司最负“盛名”的人，上到各部门领导，下到普通员工，都知道一个很有才的人叫吴小敏。连保安看到我的工作证都会一脸崇拜地说：哇，你就是吴小敏啊！

After a year, I became the most “famous” person in my company. My name, Wu Xiaoming, was well known to people ranging from the heads of various departments to average workers. Even the security guards, at seeing my work permit, would exclaim with delight, “Wow! You are Wu Xiaoming!” 虚荣心得到满足的同时，烦恼事也接踵而至。

However, when my vanity was fulfilled, piles of troubles kept coming one by one. 同事被评为优秀员工，把表格推给我：小吴，帮我写一下优秀事迹，我真的不知道怎么写，拜托了。

When my colleagues were rated as excellent workers, they would send me the form and said, “Hey Xiao Wu, sorry to bother you, but could you help me write the column of Excellent Experience in the form? I really have no idea how to write. Thank you very much!”

领导要在大会上致辞，把我叫进去：小吴，赶快写几句，马上要。

When the leaders were about to give a speech in the meeting, they would oftentimes call me in and said, “Xiao Wu, please help me write a speech right now because it is very urgent.” 甚至有同事买了雪碧递到手中：小吴，我小孩转学，要考试，帮忙写个作文行吗？分数不够就上不了学啊，愁死我了！

Even some of my colleagues would by me a tin of Sprite and say, “Xiao Wu, my child would change a school and need to take an exam, so could you please help him write a composition? If he cannot get enough score, he will fail to apply for the school. It is really killing⁵ me!” ……

说实话，有些东西我并不擅长写，但是，如果拒绝的话，不是得罪人吗？时常被弄得焦头烂额。

To be honest, I was not good at writing all sorts of articles. But if I refused others, I would leave a bad impression on their mind. Therefore, I was often busy to death with all these trifles. 在冰与火的煎熬中，很快度过了一年。年底数据组重新做了组织架构，需要提拔一个组长，同时，要裁掉一些人。

Another painstaking⁶ year passed quickly. At the end of the year, my department planned to reshuffle its staff and needed to promote a team leader and meantime dismiss some staff. 我满心期待，以我的名气，区区一个组长应该绰绰有余。

I felt full confidence in myself for being promoted to be the team leader and was well looking forward to it. 可是，结果大大出乎我的意料，组长居然是平时并不起眼的小张。而我，在被裁掉的名单当中。

Nonetheless, unexpectedly, it was Xiao Zhang, a very average and low-key colleague, who obtained the position, while I was listed in the would-be-dismissed staff. 我闯进领导办公室，想要讨个说法，一年来，我辛辛苦苦做了那么多分外之事，难道还不如普普通通的小张吗？

I rushed into my boss’s office and asked for the reason. I had been working so hard and done so many additional things for all the people in our department, but why I would still fail while Xiao Zhang would succeed? 领导语重心长地说：小吴，我很欣赏你的才华，但是，我需要的只是适合这个岗位的人。你记住，专心做一件事并把它做好就够了，太多的才艺只会分散人的精力。

My boss said to me earnestly, “Xiao Wu, I do appreciate your talents. However, what I need is only a person who is fit for this position. You should keep in mind that you only need to focus on your work and do it well. That’s enough. Too many talents would only result in the distraction⁷ of your energy. 一席话，我哑口无言，终于明白自己犯了多大的错误。

His words made me speechless, and I ultimately realized how big a mistake I had made. 企业需要的是能创造利润或提升管理的才华，除此之外的一切，除了吃力不讨好，还有一叶障目的危险，因为别的地方太出彩，会让人忽视了你工作的能力。

What a company needs is the talent that can produce profits or improve its management efficiency. For other talents, they may bring you the risks of blinding your work capability⁸ in others’ eyes, because if you are too excellent in too many fields that are irrelevant⁹ to your work, your work ability may be neglected by others.