Continued from I love Boards (1) …….     

从“我爱理事会（第一部）”继续讲……

Boards remind me of the charming but hugely effective exercise known as “medical ward rounds,” when the young resident doctor is questioned and challenged, during presentations to his professor(s), and a team of say 10 colleagues and nurses. While he might display his “brilliance,” as he “presents” his patient’s problem and potential solution, and answers his team, his faults and deficiencies also become quite exposed to all. But, in an amazing way, support and solutions come readily and efficiently from different directions, to help him make good decisions for his patient.

理事会让我想起既可爱又非常有效的活动，它叫做“查房”，当一个年轻的住院医生会向他的教授（们）与大约10个同事和护士组成的医疗团队报告病历并接受他们的质问和挑战。尽管他在“报告”病人的问题和可能的解决方案，并且回答团队的问题时，或许能够展示自己的“才华”，但他的失误和不足的地方也会被暴露给所有人。可很奇妙的是从各方而来的切实的支持和解决办法，就会帮助他为他的病人做出良好的决定。

The wise professor leading the team on rounds may not even need to directly say much, but in Socratic manner, just ask the right questions, like “What is the right diagnosis? Why? How do you know that? What is the next step? Why? What if….” And the squirming resident has to dig carefully, deep into his brain reserve files, to pull out the potential answers to all these important questions. Usually, literally on the spur of the moment. No time to pull out a book, no time to check online. As he is forced instantly to organize his responses, however, and connect his experiences with his accumulated medical knowledge, to “defend himself,” he learns so much from the exercise.

带领查房团队的睿智的教授可能甚至不需要直接说多少话，而仅仅以苏格拉底的方式提出正确的问题，比如：“正确的诊断是什么？为什么？你怎么知道的？下一步要做什么？为什么？如果说……”。而那位局促不安的住院医生为了回答这些关键问题，不得不从他头脑里的储备档案深处好好挖出可能的答案。通常这是突然之下的，没有时间拿出一本书或上网去查。可是，当他为了“自我辩护”时，被迫立刻整理好自己的答案，把自己的经验与积累的医学知识连接起来，这种练习会让他学到很多。

It’s really just as simple as that, in my view. Brilliant, but simple. Being ready, and disciplined, to answer all kinds of questions about your work, logically and knowledgeably, leads to wisdom. With, hopefully, a touch of extra wisdom and guidance from the learned professor. And the wonder of ward rounds can be simply translated to the wonder of good boards, whose main job is to sometimes just ask the right questions, at the right time, and give a gentle nudge to you, the advisee.

在我看来，事情就是这么简单。精彩，但又简单。训练有素而做好准备，以合理明智的方式回答各种各样的你工作中相关的问题，带领人走向智慧。最好也带着资深教授给予的一点额外的智慧和引导。查房的奇妙之处也可以简单地被转换为好理事会的奇妙之处——有时候他们的主要任务只是在正确的时间提出正确的问题，给你作为接受咨询的人一些鼓励。

And so, in my last phase of my life, our family has attempted to provide a good transition and foundation for continued support of young missionaries, especially those who, for many years we have mentored and prayed for. We began, in the last decade, a small Heritage Youth For All Nations (YFAN) Foundation and gathered together a very fine board to help oversee the work. This board of dedicated faithful volunteers, drawn from people who have advised us in earlier phases of our lives, have now congregated to continue this advice and support, for a cause we love passionately. Even after we leave this world, the work can continue, which is truly comforting to us. And it is a bonus that they are all “very nice” people!

于是，在我人生的最后阶段中，我们努力把我们自己的责任转让给基金会，为了能够继续对年轻的宣道人提供良好的支持，尤其是多年作为我们辅导和祷告对象的那些人。近十年来，我们建立了小型的传承万国青年基金会(YFAN)，召集了非常好的理事会来帮助监督这个工作。理事会的敬虔的自愿者都是在过去指导过我们的人，而现在聚到了一起，为了我们热爱的事工继续给予指导和支持。即使我们离开了这个世界之后，事工可以继续下去，对我们来说是特别令人欣慰的。而且，一个额外收获是他们都是“非常好的”人！

The Good Book clearly encourages us to have a multitude of counselors, but I am surprised sometimes that well-respected and strong leaders often may not have the support of strong advisors. Some people might think that, “if I have a group of my working team together, that would suffice.”

经文显然鼓励我们拥有众多谋士，但有时候令我惊讶的是，一些受人尊敬的大领导未必有好导师的支持。有人或许想，“只要我把工作团队组织好就足够了”。

Indeed, we can do a lot with a good working team. This team however, in my view usually is basically an “executive team.” It works on projects driven by the leader, who initiates the projects, with or without modification. While that may be efficient, the team leader is missing out on others  who are either his true peers, or have experience and wisdom beyond him.

我们确实可以通过好的工作团队成就很多事情。可是，在我看来，这种团队通常基本上是一个“执行团队”。它工作的范围是领导所倡导和开创的项目，无论有没有被调整。虽然这可能比较有效率，但团队的领导会错过来自他的真正同伴或比自己资深和更有智慧的人的贡献。

When I work with my “executive team” they are usually not really my “peers,” but are often my followers, students, or staff, that I have chosen and often coached. Especially in an Asian context, this team often unconsciously will be more deferential to me, and therefore, the challenges to my ideas and thinking will be, by definition, more nuanced, and likely, less frank, consciously or unconsciously.

当我与我的”执行团队“工作时，他们一般不真正是我的“同伴”，而常常是我所选择和辅导过的学生、员工或其他跟随我的人。尤其在亚洲文化的氛围下，平时这个团队会下意识地对我更加恭敬，所以对我想法的挑战，当然，就会比较细腻而很可能不那么坦率，无论是有意还是无意的。

In my own view, the combination of a team of executors, backed by a team of advisors/board members, provides a much better accountability and solid advice for the leader, that will go much beyond the normal executive team. The board of advisors is definitely freer to challenge the leader, or suggest out-of-the-box ideas, and future or expanded visions.

在我个人看来，把执行团队跟支持它的咨询者或理事会成员的团队组合起来，会给代领人提供更好的问责制和更扎实的建议，远超过普通执行团队的能力。咨询委员会一定可以更加自由地挑战领导人，或提出打破常规的想法和未来的或扩大的愿景。

This is I believe how, in all my years of work at the hospital and in various ministries, I could capture great ideas that were novel and truly visionary. After meeting and being inspired by my board of advisors, I translate the many great ideas through my executive team, to put them into action. There is a logical and mature transition from wise visionary idea generation, to wise and effective execution.

我相信，在我多年参与医院和不同服侍的工作中，这正是我为什么能够抓住既新鲜又富有远见的好想法。我与理事会见面，被他们激励之后，我通过我的执行团队把所获得的许多好想法实践起来。这么一来，从有智慧和远见的创意生成到有智慧和效率的执行整个转化过程是顺理成章而成熟的。

Plus, it really helps that the leader doesn’t go crazy with totally wild ideas, which are best refined when they are presented before a board of wise mature advisors. Imagine that I am dreaming of a vision that is so wild that my advisors are shocked at first, but as I’m presenting my proposal to them, I already sense in my mind that it doesn’t sound as good as I originally thought. So, I “catch myself” in mid-presentation, and make a sensible “course correction,” before it becomes “too crazy.” There is nothing like verbalizing your thoughts before a thoughtful group, that forces you to sharply focus and clarify the thinking in your own mind. Just like on medical ward rounds.

此外，把想法先讲给一组成熟导师的委员会，以避免带领人开始发表一些疯狂的想法是有好处的。想象一下，我有一个天马行空的梦想，一开始都令我的导师们很吃惊，但我向他们讲我的计划时，我已经意识到它不像我原来想的那么合理。于是，我会在讲解中途“管住”自己，做合理的“航向修正”，免得讲得“过于疯狂”。为了迫使你有明确的焦点并理清思路，莫过于在一群深思熟虑的人面前把自己的想法说出来。就像查房一样。

However, it is also possible that my wild idea catches the imagination of my board of advisors, who then fly with me, and encourage me to develop the idea further. This then might result in heated discussions, but I have the assurance and freedom to dream and explore. My board of advisors, being less deferential to me, will speak “truth to power” more readily, which is the “magic” of boards.

然而，我疯狂的想法也有可能激发我理事会的想象力，使他们跟我一起“飞起来”，鼓励我进一步发展这一构想。进而，这也许引起热烈的讨论，但我已经获得去自由地探索和追求梦想的保障。我的理事会对我没那么恭敬，更容易敢于“对权力说实话”——这就是“神奇的“理事会。

Of course, there are actually at least 2 main kinds of boards. A board of advisors, which is what we have mostly been talking about, should be composed mainly of advisors, and not executives, so it defeats the purpose if we start filling the board with executives. Further, this board is not my boss, in contrast to legal boards, who may give great advice, but their “advice” comes with a “stick,” since they usually pay my salary, and so are my boss. So, for the advisory board, I might not really even have to “take their advice.” Which means that I have the best of both worlds: I get the best advice, but I don’t necessarily need to “follow the advice totally.” Isn’t that wonderful? But of course, I do want their advice, because the advice is freely given, and potentially full of good wisdom. So, I should definitely think through this advice, even though it might not impress me at first.

当然，实际上至少有主要两种不同的理事会。一种是我们主要交流过的咨询委员会，它的大部分成员应该是导师而不是执行人。如果我们开始用执行人填满这个委员会，结果适得其反。再说，这种理事会不是我的老板，这与法律委员会是相反的：他们可以给出很好的指导，但这个指导是带着“棍子”的，因为我的薪水一般是他们给的，也就是说他们是我的老板。所以，对咨询委员会而言，我不一定需要“接纳他们的建议”。这意味着我享有两全其美：我可以获得最好的指导，但我不一定必须“完全遵循建议”。是不是太美妙了？可是，我当然想要他们的建议，因为是自愿给予的，而有可能充满智慧。所以，我绝对应该好好考虑他们的指导，即使一开始我对它的印象不怎么样。

Give the advice some thought, let the advice sit for a while, pray for divine wisdom, and we will all really get the most blessings. Once I had a very tough, but extremely wise Jewish advisor, who gave me a rather wild but decisive advice, after an excellent analysis of a difficult crisis I had in my hospital department. After some thought and prayers, and after consultation with my chief of the hospital, I chose to ignore his advice, but accept his clear analysis. It worked out very well, even though I did not take the conclusion of his advice! I knew that he was “only an advisor,” and not my boss! And history confirmed that my decision was ultimately the wisest decision.

要考虑一下建议，把它放下一段时间，寻求来自天上的智慧：这样我们都会得到最好的祝福。我有过一位很苛刻而非常有智慧的犹太导师。他对我的医院部门所面临的艰难危机做了很周到的分析，最后给我一个相当荒谬的，但又果断的建议。经过一段时间的思考和祷告，还有与医院院长协商，我选择忽略他的建议，而接受他的清晰分析。结果算很好，虽然我没有接纳他的指导结论！我知道他“只是顾问”，并非我的老板！历史也证明，最后我的决定是最智慧的。

Of course, clearly the selection of any board is of utmost importance. You always want faithful people of wisdom, who are not on your board for reasons of ego or self-pride. Specific expertise will be helpful, but a divisive spirit will make life very hard for your board, and for you. It will be a bonus if they are strong supporters of you personally, and your overall vision, but occasionally you do want someone who is harsh, and maybe not exactly your supporter, especially when you need to hear some tough honest advice.

当然，任何委员会的拣选很明显是极其重要的。你一直要的是忠诚有智慧的人，而不是因为自负或自尊心的理由加入委员会的。具体的专门知识会有帮助，但制造分裂的精神会让你和理事会的生活很不好过。如果他们是你个人和你整体愿景的坚决支持者，那是一个额外的收获，但偶尔你会想要一个苛刻的，未必完全支持你的人，特别是你需要听到一些严厉坦诚的建议的时候。

It’s possible that you can work with this kind of a person on a one-to-one basis, so that he can be frank with you, and you can learn directly from him. I did that when I needed some frank critique of a difficult research project: I actually found a one-off advisor, whom I knew was practically an “enemy,” to personally review my research grant. While this could be risky, it turned out really well, because he gave some very critical advice, which I put to great use.

跟这种的人一对一合作是可能的，这样他可以跟你坦率说话，而你可以直接向他学习。当我在一个复杂的研究项目上需要一些坦诚的意见时，我就是这样做的：其实我找到了一个我知道基本上是我“敌人” 的人来做一次性的导师，亲自审阅我的研究补助金申请。虽然这可能有一些风险，结果是很好的，因为他给了一些非常关键的，我可以充分利用的建议。

I think he was impressed that I was willing to take his advice. And in a nice twist of blessing, he was actually barred from later officially judging my research grant application, because he was now sort of considered an advisor, which could be potentially a “conflict of interest!” So, I got good advice and, unintentionally, removed a tough competitor as judge.

我想，我愿意接受他的建议给他留下了深刻的印象。而一个好的祝福的转折是，之后他被禁止参与正式审核我的补助金申请，因为他现在被认为是顾问角色，有“利益冲突”的可能性！于是，我获得了很好的建议，还无意中从审核员行列中铲除了一个有力对手。

Viewed from many angles, professional and ministry, personal and organizational, the “multitude of counselors,” (or in modern words, boards of faithful advisors) will give you the greatest support and impact. Try this approach, if you haven’t done this before: I assure you, it is very effective! And fun!

无论是从职业和服侍，个人和组织的角度来看，“众多谋士”（或者用现代的话：忠诚导师组成的理事会）都会给你带来最大的支持和影响。你如果之前没这样做过，你试一下这种方式吧。我能保证，它很有效！而且有趣！