Possibly the best thing about working for oneself is that you don’t have to do any arse-kissing.

为自己工作最棒的一点或许是，你不需要拍任何人马屁。

Now obviously that is not entirely true, because there are always some people to whom you have to grovel – bankers, investors, regulators, even customers. But, generally speaking, the self-employed are required to tolerate and dispense considerably less insincere bullshit than is the norm within big organisations.

如今，这一点显然并不完全正确了，因为你总是不得不在一些人面前低声下气：银行家、投资者、监管机构、甚至客户。但总的来说，自谋职业者需要忍受和说出的虚伪废话，要大大少于大公司内的标准水平。

This must be a good thing. Being phoney for a living is corrosive and I’m sure it is bad for one’s health – and takes up lots of time that could be used productively. Unfortunately, it is a prima facie requirement for ambitious executives who want to climb the greasy pole to any prominent boardroom. Hence, if you are not prepared to sign up to this type of lifestyle – fawning to those in power, immersed in office politics, pretending to like colleagues whom you hate – then I suggest you plan your corporate exit, or dump your ambitions.

这肯定是件好事。靠虚伪谋生是有害的，我确信这不利于人体健康，而且占用了许多原来可用来做些实事的时间。遗憾的是，对于那些雄心勃勃、希望攀登滑溜溜的职业阶梯、爬上显要董事位置的高管而言，这是必需的。因此，如果你不准备接受这种生活方式——对有权势之人阿谀奉承，浸淫于办公室政治，对你憎恨的人摆出一副笑脸，那么我建议你还是着手计划离开公司，或者放弃往上爬的雄心壮志。

Arguably, I am unqualified to give advice in this sphere, since I have been my own boss for the past quarter of a century. Before then I fear I was a disruptive member of staff. I recall during my early twenties, when I worked in an investment bank, I swore loudly at my buffoon of a boss across the trading floor. It confirmed I was unfit to progress within such a structure and I left within a year.

可以说，我没有资格在这个问题上提供建议，因为在过去25年里我一直是我自己的老板。在此之前，我恐怕算是个爱捣乱的员工。我记得，20出头时，我曾在一家投行工作，当时我隔着交易大厅大骂过一个蠢蛋老板。事实证明我不适合在这样的架构下发展，不到一年我就离开了。

I have spent periods sitting on the boards of rather more formal institutions where I am not an owner. It is hardly my natural milieu, but straight talk does at least clear away a lot of the plotting, deceit and subterfuge that tends to infect management gatherings. All that backbiting and guile is both demoralising and distracting to those who are worthy of their job. But institutional boardrooms tend to attract quite a few of those who indulge in pretence and intrigue. Such manoeuvres have never been my strong suit: I find all the plotting too tiring and unproductive.

我也在一些比较正规的、所有者不是我的公司里担任过董事。很难说这是我的本性，但有话直说确实至少会在很大程度上消除管理层会议中常见的阴谋、欺骗和花招。背后说人坏话以及背信弃义那一套，既会让那些工作尽职的人士气低落，又会分散他们的精力。但企业董事会中往往不乏喜欢使诈的伪君子。玩弄阴谋诡计从来不是我的强项：我觉得这些阴谋都太麻烦，而且毫不创造生产力。

In theory, free speech is encouraged in large organisations. In reality it destroys careers. Outspoken employees are not seen as team players; independent views are discouraged, for they can undermine the illusions that keep the whole edifice standing. Groupthink is the fatal disease that leads to the demise of big companies – and it is primarily fuelled by a culture of sycophancy and ingratiation.

理论上，大公司是鼓励自由发表意见的。但在现实中，自由发表意见会毁掉一个人的职业前途。直言不讳的员工被视为无法与团队合作；独立观点会受到打击，因为它们可能会破坏维系整个体系不倒的种种错觉。集体错觉(groupthink)是一种致命的疾病，会导致大公司的灭亡，而这种疾病主要是阿谀奉承的风气所致。

I’m fortunate in that I can say what I want (within reason) to journalists or on public platforms, and write provocative stuff in this column. If I were an employee – even a CEO – I’d have to toe the party line a great deal more. Such freedom is one of the advantages you enjoy when forgoing the power, perks and relatively risk-free existence that being a corporate wage slave entails. If you join the corporate tribe you might one day get the sack but you’ll probably get a juicy pay-off and you are unlikely to have your house repossessed – which occasionally happens to some unlucky entrepreneurs.

我很幸运，能够（在合理范围内）对记者或者在公共平台上说我想说的话，并在这个专栏里发表一些比较“劲爆”的言论。如果我是一名雇员、甚至是一名CEO，我就得服从公司要求、远不能像现在这样想说就说。当你放弃了权力、津贴以及身为工薪阶层的相对安全状态，这些自由是你换来的好处之一。如果你为公司打工，那么或许有一天你会被解雇，但很可能你会拿到一笔数目可观的遣散费，你的房子很可能也不会被收回——而一些倒霉的企业家有时却会遭此厄运。

Of course, being in a position to say whatever you want is not entirely a good thing. There have been occasions during negotiations when I should have held my tongue instead of saying what I actually thought. Unfortunately, so much in the business world – indeed in life itself – is artifice, blandishments and flattery that expressing a blunt opinion can be an expensive habit. These days carrying out a job interview or dismissal is an exercise in contrivance, thanks to fatuous employment laws and an over-litigious society.

当然，能够想说就说并不全然是件好事。在谈判中，我有失言的时候，把本不该说出的真实想法说了出来。遗憾的是，商界充满了诡计、讨好和奉承（事实上生活中也是如此），以至于直言不讳的表达观点可能会让人们付出巨大的代价。近来，由于愚蠢的劳动法规和整个社会对法律手段的过度使用，进行工作面试或辞退员工变成了一种阴谋演练。

Moreover, a lifetime of never having to kiss arse can have a coarsening effect. I have seen it in action with those who have possessed huge wealth for many years. Pride, vanity, the visceral need for control, and the ability to wield it – can be a dangerous cocktail. While Lord Acton coined the phrase “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”, he followed it with an equally perceptive comment: “There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” Bosses of all kinds should take note. Even if you are truly able to speak your mind, it is not always a wise policy.

另外，如果你一辈子都不用拍马屁，你有可能会变得缺乏修养。我看到，这种现象在一些多年拥有巨额财富的人身上有所体现。骄傲、虚荣心、极度的控制欲、以及将这种欲望付诸实践的能力，这些加在一起，可能变成一杯危险的毒酒。尽管阿克顿爵士(Lord Acton)说过一句名言——“权力导致腐败，绝对权力导致绝对腐败”，但他随后又说了一句同样精辟的话——“再也没有比官方神化掌权者更坏的异端邪说了。”所有的老板都应谨记这些。即便你真的能直抒胸臆，这样做也并非总是明智。