The 10 Most Important Things I’ve Learned About Trust信任之最重要的十件往事

喬治·P. 舒爾茨 譯/王莉

George P. Shultz is a former U.S. secretary of labor， treasury and state， and was director of the Office of Management and Budget. 喬治·P. 舒爾茨曾任美國勞工部長、美國財政部長、美國國務卿、白宮管理和預算辦公室主任。

Dec. 13 marks my turning 100 years young. I’ve learned much over that time， but looking back， I’m struck that there is one lesson I learned early and then relearned over and over： Trust is the coin of the realm. When trust was in the room， whatever room that was—the family room， the schoolroom， the locker room， the office room， the government room or the military room—good things happened. When trust was not in the room， good things did not happen. Everything else is details.

There are countless examples of how that lesson was brought home to me across the past century， but here are 10 of the most important.

1. I first saw the concept in action at home by observing how my parents treated one another and their friends and family. One hundred years later， I can still sense the steadfast love that my parents had for each other and for me， their only child. My mother made our home comfortable and welcoming; my father took me on jaunts out into the world， from his Wall Street office on Saturday mornings to a cross-country train trip when I was 8 years old. My early boyhood memories underlined the joy of family closeness and how it creates powerful bonds of trust.

2. During World War II， I served in the Pacific theater in a Marine outfit that included a sergeant named Palat. I have forgotten his first name， but I have never forgotten the respect and admiration—the deep-seated trust—that he inspired. When Palat was killed in action， it brought home to me more than ever how pitiless war can be. Later in life， I thought about the loss of this trusted， beloved sergeant when I advised President Ronald Reagan about military action： Make sure it is just， I said—and equip the troops for victory.

3. As a graduate student at MIT in the late 1940s， I worked with Joe Scanlon， a former research director for the United Steelworkers union. He would visit steel plants where costs were out of control and rearrange their practices， giving workers a voice in how their jobs were set up and， in many cases， a chance to receive a bonus based on increased productivity. This was later called the Scanlon Plan. I saw how Joe rebuilt bonds of trust between the workers and management that had been frayed or broken. Ultimately， both sides benefited， as did the country.

4. In the 1960s， I was part of a committee studying changes in the meatpacking industry. Armour planned to open a plant in Worthington， Minn.， an all-White small town. Black workers from a closed plant in Kansas City had seniority claims on the new jobs. In that era of great racial friction， trouble might have been expected. Yet the town’s civic leaders made it clear to us： Black families would be welcomed. Many of those families scouted Worthington and liked what they found. The visitors from Kansas City turned out to be tithers， so the churches in Worthington competed for them. Their faith led to trust. Trust was built—and quite a few families made the move.

5. President Richard M. Nixon formed a Cabinet committee in 1970， when I was labor secretary， to address school segregation persisting， illegally， in seven Southern states. We formed biracial committees in each state to advise us. The discussions were civil， but there was little trust in the room. Then， by arrangement， Attorney General John Mitchell joined us. Mitchell was regarded by many White Southerners as “their” man. I asked him what he planned to do about the schools. Mitchell growled， “I am attorney general， and I will enforce the law.” Then he left. No nonsense. Opponents of school segregation could trust the administration.

6. Trust was essential in every aspect of the desegregation effort. As we moved each of the seven states’ advisory committees to agreeing on how the schools would be desegregated， we usually waited until the matter was essentially settled before bringing in the president to add the final touch. But with the Louisiana group， not as much progress had been made as I had expected before Nixon’s scheduled noon arrival. I apologized to him and said， “This time， you’re going to have to finish the job yourself.” But it wasn’t a gamble. I knew the president and trusted that he would rise to the occasion—and he did.

7. Often in my career， I saw that genuine empathy is essential in establishing solid， trusting relationships. In 1973， when I was treasury secretary， I attended a wreath-laying ceremony at a World War II memorial in Leningrad with the Soviet foreign trade minister， Nikolai Patolichev. As we walked， Patolichev， a tough old guy， described the staggering death toll in the Battle of Leningrad. Tears streamed down his face， and his interpreter was sobbing. When we were about to leave， I said to Patolichev， “I， too， fought in World War II and had friends killed beside me.” Looking out over the cemetery， I added， “After all， these were the soldiers who defeated Hitler.” Facing the cemetery， I raised my best Marine salute， and Patolichev thanked me for the show of respect. Later on， to my surprise， I found that I had earned the trust of Soviet leaders as a result of this visit.

8. One day， as secretary of state in the Reagan administration， I brought a draft foreign policy speech to the Oval Office for Reagan to review. He read the speech and said， “That’s fine，” but then began marking it up. In the margin on one page， he wrote “story.” I asked what he meant. “That’s the most important point，” he said. Adding a relevant story will “engage your readers. That way， you’ll appeal not only to their minds but to their emotions.” Telling a story， he made me understand， helps make your case in a way that no abstraction can： A story builds an emotional bond， and emotional bonds build trust.

9. Reagan brought his own ideas about trust to Cold War adversarial relations. He nurtured a trusting relationship with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev， one that basically helped to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons. Reagan’s famous formulation： Trust， but verify. The agreement was self-bolstering， because successful verification enhanced the sense of trust， and greater trust promoted verification.

10. “In God we trust.” Yes， and when we are at our best， we also trust in each other. Trust is fundamental， reciprocal and， ideally， pervasive. If it is present， anything is possible. If it is absent， nothing is possible. The best leaders trust their followers with the truth， and you know what happens as a result？ Their followers trust them back. With that bond， they can do big， hard things together， changing the world for the better.

2020年12月13日是我風華正茂的100歲生日。在這100年里，我懂得了許多道理，但是回首往昔，我猛然發現，有個道理我早已知曉，卻一直在反復領悟：信任是成功之本。無論在哪，家庭、學校、球隊、公司、政府或軍隊，只要彼此信任，就會發生好事。但倘若缺乏信任，就不會成功。信任是重中之重，其他都是細節補充。

100年來，教我懂得信任的例子不勝枚舉，這里寫寫最重要的十件往事。

1. 第一次感受到信任，是我在家里看到父母如何待彼此、待朋友、待家人。100年了，仍然能感受到當年父母對彼此以及對我這個他們唯一的孩子的深愛。母親把我們家打理得溫馨舒適。我8歲的時候，每周六早上，父親都從華爾街他的辦公室出發，帶我坐火車全國旅行，游歷大千世界。我最難忘的童年記憶就是親密歡樂的家庭關系和它建立起來的絕對信任。

2. 第二次世界大戰期間，我在太平洋戰區海軍陸戰隊服役，當時有一位姓帕拉特的中士，雖然我忘了他叫什么名字，但卻從未忘記我對他的那種尊重和欽佩，那種深厚的信任感。在一次行動中，帕拉特犧牲了，我越發感受到戰爭是何其殘酷。后來，感慨于這位值得信任且備受愛戴的中士的犧牲，我建議羅納德·里根總統在采取軍事行動時：只行正義之戰，而后全副武裝，確保全勝。

3. 20世紀40年代末，在麻省理工學院讀研時，我曾與美國鋼鐵工人聯合會前研究主任喬·斯坎倫共事。斯坎倫會到一些成本超支的鋼鐵廠整頓工作。他讓工人暢所欲言，交流自身工作情況，產能提升后，多次給工人發獎金。這些后來稱為“斯坎倫計劃”。我看到了喬是如何將已經破裂的勞資關系修復成信任關系。最終，不只雙方連國家也受益。

4. 20世紀60年代，我在肉類加工行業研究委員會工作。阿穆爾打算在明尼蘇達州沃辛頓的白人小鎮開一家工廠。堪薩斯城一家倒閉的工廠的黑人工人更資深，適合到新工廠工作，但在那個種族沖突嚴重的年代，這可能會帶來很多麻煩。不過，沃辛頓的市政領導向我們明確表示：歡迎黑人家庭。那些黑人家庭紛紛打聽沃辛頓，對那里很滿意。原來他們也是交納什一稅的基督教徒，所以沃辛頓的教堂競相歡迎他們。信仰帶來了信任。因為彼此信任，所以許多黑人家庭都搬到了沃辛頓。

5. 尼克松總統于1970年成立內閣委員會，負責解決南部七州非法持續的學校種族隔離問題，當時我擔任勞工部長。我們在七個州都成立了由黑人和白人組成的委員會，向我們提供建議。雖然討論時大家彬彬有禮，但是幾乎不信任彼此。后來經過安排，司法部長約翰·米切爾加入了我們。米切爾被許多南方白人視為“自己人”。我問他打算怎么處理這些學校。米切爾咆哮道：“我是司法部長，我會執行法律。”然后就離開了。直截了當。那些反對學校種族隔離的人可以信任政府。

6. 結束學校種族隔離制度的每一項工作中，信任都舉足輕重。當動議七個州的咨詢委員會就如何結束學校種族隔離制度達成一致意見時，我們通常會等到問題基本解決后，再邀請總統參會做出最后決定。但是路易斯安那州的工作組在與尼克松預定的中午到會時間之前，沒有取得多少預期進展。我向他道歉說：“這次您只能親自完成這項工作了。”但這不是一場賭博。我了解總統，相信他能主持大局——他確實成功了。

7. 在我的職業生涯中，常常發現真誠的同理心對建立牢固的信任關系至關重要。1973年，我擔任財政部長時，曾與蘇聯外貿部長尼古拉·帕托利切夫在列寧格勒第二次世界大戰紀念館敬獻花圈。我們同行時，堅強的老人帕托利切夫向我講述列寧格勒保衛戰中驚人的死亡人數，潸然淚下，他的口譯員也泣不成聲。在我們即將離開時，我對帕托利切夫說：“我也參加了第二次世界大戰，也見過戰友在我身邊犧牲。”我望著公墓說：“畢竟，他們是打敗希特勒的軍人。”我面向公墓敬了海軍陸戰隊軍禮，帕托利切夫向我表示謝意，感謝我向二戰烈士致敬。后來，出乎我的意料，這次訪問使我贏得了蘇聯領導人的信任。

8. 擔任里根政府國務卿的時候，有一天，我向白宮遞交了一份外交政策演講草稿，供總統審閱。他看了之后說“很好”，但隨后開始修改，在一頁的空白處，寫了“故事”這個詞。我問他是什么意思。他說：“這點最重要。”加入一個相關的故事可以“吸引讀者，不僅可以吸引他們的思想，還可以吸引他們的情感。”他讓我明白，講故事的效果比說大道理好得多：故事能產生情感共鳴，而情感共鳴可以建立信任。

9. 里根將自己關于信任的理念用于處理冷戰對抗關系。他與蘇聯總書記米哈伊爾·戈爾巴喬夫建立了互信關系，這大體上幫助達成了禁止使用中程核武器協議。里根著名的表述是：要信任，但也要驗證。該協議約束效果提升，因為驗證成功增強了信任感，而更深的信任又能促進驗證成功。

10. “我們相信上帝。”是的，我們處于最佳狀態時也會彼此信任。信任是基本的、相互的，在理想情況下，信任無所不在。只要彼此信任，一切皆有可能。如果缺乏信任，則皆不可能。最優秀的領導信任自己的部下，真言相告。你知道結果是什么嗎？部下也信任他們。有了彼此的信任，他們可以協力完成壯舉、克服難事，讓世界變得更加美好。

【本譯文受到國家留學基金委與行業合作項目資助，項目編號：NO.201903240006。】