I conducted a parachute jump at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

我在北卡羅萊納的布拉格堡指揮帶領一次跳傘

It was a routine training jump, like many more I'd done

這就是一次例行的跳傘訓練，

since I became a paratrooper

和我27年前成為一名傘兵後

27 years before.

的許多次跳傘沒什麼不同。

We went down to the airfield early

我們提前到達機場

because this is the Army and you always go early.

因為軍隊就是這樣，你永遠都要提前。

You do some routine refresher training,

做了一些例行的複習訓練，

and then you go to put on your parachute and a buddy helps you.

然後就在一個同伴的幫助下，穿上降落傘，

And you put on the T-10 parachute.

降落傘的型號是T10。

And you're very careful how you put the straps,

你要非常留意綁帶子的環節，

particularly the leg straps because they go between your legs.

尤其是腿上的帶子，因為它們穿過兩腿中央。

And then you put on your reserve, and then you put on your heavy rucksack.

然後再背上備用傘，然後是死沉的帆布背包。

And then a jumpmaster comes,

接著一位跳傘指揮員走過來，

and he's an experienced NCO in parachute operations.

他是有著豐富跳傘訓練經驗的軍士。

He checks you out, he grabs your adjusting straps

他負責檢查你的裝備，抓著你調整那些帶子，

and he tightens everything

把能拉緊的都拉緊。

so that your chest is crushed,

緊到胸口被擠壓，

your shoulders are crushed down,

肩膀被拉扯向下，

and, of course, he's tightened so your voice goes up a couple octaves as well.

當然隨著他的收緊，你的聲音都會高上幾個八度。

Then you sit down, and you wait a little while,

然後就坐下來，等上一會兒，

because this is the Army.

因為軍隊就是這樣。

Then you load the aircraft, and then you stand up and you get on,

然後就要登機了，你站起來，走上飛機

and you kind of lumber to the aircraft like this, in a line of people,

你登機的樣子有點笨拙像這樣——排成一排——

and you sit down on canvas seats on either side of the aircraft.

然後坐在飛機兩側的帆布椅子上。

And you wait a little bit longer,

這時你要等的時間會稍微長些，

because this is the Air Force teaching the Army how to wait.

因為空軍就是這麼教給我們陸軍的。

Then you take off.

然後就起飛了。

And it's painful enough now --

到這會已經非常不舒服了——

and I think it's designed this way --

而我覺得它是故意這麼設計的——

it's painful enough so you want to jump.

它就是讓你不舒服到想趕緊跳下去

You didn't really want to jump, but you want out.

你並不是真的想跳，但你想出去。

So you get in the aircraft, you're flying along,

於是你爬上飛機，飛到半空中，

and at 20 minutes out, these jumpmasters start giving you commands.

飛了大概20分鐘以後，這些跳傘指揮員開始給你下指令。

They give 20 minutes -- that's a time warning.

他們告訴還有20分鐘——這是一個倒計時提醒。

You sit there, OK.

你坐在那裡，好吧。

Then they give you 10 minutes.

接著他們告訴你還有10分鐘。

And of course, you're responding with all of these.

當然，你要對這些一一做出回應。

And that's to boost everybody's confidence, to show that you're not scared.

那是為了鼓舞大家的士氣，告訴別人你不害怕。

Then they give you, "Get ready."

然後他們會說：“準備。”

Then they go, "Outboard personnel, stand up."

然後說：“出艙人員，全體起立。”

If you're an outboard personnel, now you stand up.

如果你是一個要出艙的人員，你現在就要站起來了。

If you're an inboard personnel, stand up.

而如果你是一名艙內人員，你也要站起來。

And then you hook up, and you hook up your static line.

然後你要掛上鉤，就是鉤上你的強制開傘拉繩。

And at that point, you think, "Hey, guess what?

到這一刻，你會想：“嘿，怎麼樣？

I'm probably going to jump.

可能我還是要跳。

There's no way to get out of this at this point."

到了這會兒已經沒別的退路了。”

You go through some additional checks, and then they open the door.

你再做些額外的檢查工作，然後他們就打開了機艙門。

And this was that Tuesday morning in September,

就在那個九月的星期二早晨，

and it was pretty nice outside.

外面一切都很美好。

So nice air comes flowing in.

新鮮空氣涌進機艙，

The jumpmasters start to check the door.

跳傘指揮員開始檢查艙門，

And then when it's time to go,

然後時間到了，

a green light goes and the jumpmaster goes, "Go."

一盞綠燈亮了，跳傘指揮員說了聲“跳”！

The first guy goes, and you're just in line,

第一人跳下去了，你在後面排著，

and you just kind of lumber to the door.

你搖搖晃晃走到門口，

Jump is a misnomer; you fall.

說跳其實不太恰當，你其實是掉下去。

You fall outside the door,

你從艙門掉出去，

you're caught in the slipstream.

掉進螺旋槳捲起的氣流裏。

The first thing you do is lock into a tight body position --

你首先要做的就是擺出一個緊張的姿勢——

head down in your chest, your arms extended,

頭貼近胸部，雙臂張開，

put over your reserve parachute.

抱住你的備用傘。

You do that because, 27 years before,

之所以這麼做是因為27年前，

an airborne sergeant had taught me to do that.

一位空警就是這麼教我的。

I have no idea whether it makes any difference,

我也不知道這麼做有什麽意義，

but he seemed to make sense,

但他似乎有他的道理。

and I wasn't going to test the hypothesis that he'd be wrong.

我也不想驗證假設他是不是錯的。

And then you wait for the opening shock

然後你等待降落傘打開的瞬間

for your parachute to open.

把你嚇上一跳。

If you don't get an opening shock, you don't get a parachute --

如果你沒被嚇一跳，那就是你沒帶降落傘——

you've got a whole new problem set.

那你面對的就是另外一類問題了。

But typically you do; typically it opens.

但一般來說，你會被嚇一跳；一般來說，你的傘會打開。

And of course, if your leg straps aren't set right,

當然，如果你腿上的帶子綁的不對的話，

at that point you get another little thrill.

傘打開的時候你還會額外吃一驚。

Boom.

嘭！

So then you look around,

然後你環顧四周，

you're under a canopy and you say, "This is good."

你的副官說：“還不錯。”

Now you prepare for the inevitable.

現在你要為之後無可避免的事做好準備。

You are going to hit the ground.

你就要降落到地面了。

You can't delay that much.

你拖不了太久。

And you really can't decide where you hit very much,

而且你也不太能決定自己降落的地點。

because they pretend you can steer,

因為雖然他們假設你可以掌握方向，

but you're being delivered.

但你其實是被丟擲下來的。

So you look around, where you're going to land,

所以你東張西望，看看自己將會落在什麽地方，

you try to make yourself ready.

努力讓自己準備好。

And then as you get close, you lower your rucksack below you on a lowering line,

當你逐漸靠近地面時，把你背後的背包放低一些，

so that it's not on you when you land,

這樣當你降落的時候它不會砸到你身上。

and you prepare to do a parachute-landing fall.

這樣你就做好了跳傘著陸的準備了。

Now the Army teaches you

這時部隊教過你

to do five points of performance --

要注意5個地方——

the toes of your feet,

腳趾，

your calves, your thighs,

腿肚子，大腿，

your buttocks and your push-up muscles.

屁股，和你的背肌。

It's this elegant little land, twist and roll.

就是類似這樣帶點小優雅的著陸，蜷起身，一滾。

And that's not going to hurt.

這樣就不會受傷。

In 30-some years of jumping, I never did one.

在30年來的跳傘生涯里，我一次都沒完成過。

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

I always landed like a watermelon out of a third floor window.

我的著陸總像從三樓窗戶扔出來的西瓜。

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

And as soon as I hit,

我一落地，

the first thing I did is I'd see if I'd broken anything that I needed.

第一件事就是看看有沒有把什麽地方摔斷了。

I'd shake my head,

我搖搖頭，

and I'd ask myself the eternal question:

總是問自己那個問題：

"Why didn't I go into banking?"

“當初我爲什麽不去搞金融業？”

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

And I'd look around,

然後我環顧四周，

and then I'd see another paratrooper,

看到其他的降落傘，

a young guy or girl,

年輕的男兵或女兵，

and they'd have pulled out their M4 carbine

他們已經端起他們的M-4自動步槍

and they'd be picking up their equipment.

收拾起他們的裝備。

They'd be doing everything

他們所做的一切

that we had taught them.

都是我們之前教給他們的。

And I realized

我意識到，

that, if they had to go into combat,

如果他們不得不投入戰鬥，

they would do what we had taught them and they would follow leaders.

他們做的都是我們教給他們的，而且他們將跟隨他們的指揮官。

And I realized that, if they came out of combat,

我還意識到，如果他們能從戰鬥中安全歸來，

it would be because we led them well.

那也是因為有我們好好的帶領他們。

And I was hooked again on the importance of what I did.

我再次感受到我的工作的重要性。

So now I do that Tuesday morning jump,

這就是那個星期二清晨的跳傘訓練，

but it's not any jump --

但那是一次不同尋常的訓練——

that was September 11th, 2001.

那天是2001年的9月11日。

And when we took off from the airfield, America was at peace.

當我們從機場起飛時，美國還是太平無事。

When we landed on the drop-zone, everything had changed.

而當我們在降落區著陸時，一切都不同了。

And what we thought

曾經我們以為

about the possibility of those young soldiers going into combat

這些年輕士兵投入戰鬥的可能性

as being theoretical

只是理論上的，

was now very, very real --

但現在卻是非常非常真切的了——

and leadership seemed important.

而此時領導力似乎非常重要。

But things had changed;

但情況已經發生變化——

I was a 46-year-old brigadier general.

那時我是一名46歲的準將。

I'd been successful,

我一直都是順風順水。

but things changed so much

但是在劇變發生時，

that I was going to have to make some significant changes,

我不得不做出一些重大改變——

and on that morning, I didn't know it.

而在那個清晨，我對此還一無所知。

I was raised with traditional stories of leadership:

我是讀著傳統經典將領的故事長大的：

Robert E. Lee, John Buford at Gettysburg.

如李將軍和巴福德的格底斯堡戰役。

And I also was raised

在我成長過程中，

with personal examples of leadership.

身邊就有軍事領導能力的活榜樣。

This was my father in Vietnam.

就是參加過越戰的父親。

And I was raised to believe

我從小就堅信

that soldiers were strong and wise

戰士就應該是精明強幹，

and brave and faithful;

勇敢堅定——

they didn't lie, cheat, steal

他們不欺騙不作弊不偷竊，

or abandon their comrades.

也不會拋棄他們的戰友。

And I still believe real leaders are like that.

我至今仍相信真正的領袖都是這樣的。

But in my first 25 years of career,

但是在我的軍事生涯的頭25年，

I had a bunch of different experiences.

我的很多經驗卻大相徑庭。

One of my first battalion commanders,

最早期的營長之一，

I worked in his battalion for 18 months

我曾在他的營隊呆過18個月，

and the only conversation he ever had with Lt. McChrystal

他和身為少尉的我的唯一一次談話

was at mile 18 of a 25-mile road march,

發生在某次25英里行軍的第18英里。

and he chewed my ass for about 40 seconds.

他狠狠教訓了我大概40秒。

And I'm not sure that was real interaction.

我甚至不敢肯定那算不算真正的互動。

But then a couple of years later, when I was a company commander,

但是幾年後，當我成為一名連長，

I went out to the National Training Center.

來到全國訓練中心

And we did an operation,

我們進行一次軍事演習，

and my company did a dawn attack --

而我的連隊要發動一次拂曉進攻——

you know, the classic dawn attack:

你知道，就是最經典的拂曉進攻：

you prepare all night, move to the line of departure.

你整夜備戰，然後運動到衝鋒線上。

And I had an armored organization at that point.

當時我的團隊都是全副武裝。

We move forward, and we get wiped out --

我們沖上去，然後就被幹掉了——

I mean, wiped out immediately.

我是說：秒殺。

The enemy didn't break a sweat doing it.

敵人完全不費吹灰之力就把我們幹掉了。

And after the battle,

戰鬥結束後，

they bring this mobile theater and they do what they call an "after action review"

他們搞了一出活報劇，進行所謂的“事後回顧”

to teach you what you've done wrong.

來教育你什麽地方做的不對。

Sort of leadership by humiliation.

通過羞辱你來培養你的領導能力。

They put a big screen up, and they take you through everything:

他們架起一個大屏幕，帶你回顧整個過程。

"and then you didn't do this, and you didn't do this, etc."

“那時你沒做這個，然後你又沒做這個，等等。”

I walked out feeling as low

我走出去的時候感到

as a snake's belly in a wagon rut.

自己簡直一文不如。

And I saw my battalion commander, because I had let him down.

我找到我的營長，因為我讓他丟臉了，

And I went up to apologize to him,

於是就跑過去向他道歉，

and he said, "Stanley, I thought you did great."

然而他說，“斯坦利，我覺得你做的很好。”

And in one sentence,

就這麼一句話，

he lifted me, put me back on my feet,

他就讓我振作起來，重新抬起了頭，

and taught me that leaders can let you fail

他教會我，領袖可以讓你不及格，

and yet not let you be a failure.

但又不會讓你成為一個失敗者。

When 9/11 came,

當911來臨，

46-year-old Brig. Gen. McChrystal sees a whole new world.

46歲的我作為一名準中將看到了一個全新的世界。

First, the things that are obvious, that you're familiar with:

首先，形勢很明顯，那些你所熟知的：

the environment changed --

環境在改變——

the speed, the scrutiny,

每件事的節奏，監管，

the sensitivity of everything now is so fast,

以及敏感性現在都加快了，

sometimes it evolves faster

有時它們變得如此之快

than people have time to really reflect on it.

以至於人們幾乎沒時間去真正思考。

But everything we do

但我們現在做的每一件事

is in a different context.

都處於一個不同的背景。

More importantly, the force that I led

更重要的是，我所領導的隊伍

was spread over more than 20 countries.

散佈在20多個國家。

And instead of being able to get all the key leaders

現在已經不可能做到召集所有的主要領導

for a decision together in a single room

聚集在一個房間里一起做一個決定

and look them in the eye and build their confidence

也無法直視他們的眼睛堅定他們的信心

and get trust from them,

并獲得他們的信任，

I'm now leading a force that's dispersed,

我現在所領導的隊伍是分散的，

and I've got to use other techniques.

我必須利用其他手段。

I've got to use video teleconferences, I've got to use chat,

我必須利用視頻會議，聊天軟件，

I've got to use email, I've got to use phone calls --

電子郵件，以及電話——

I've got to use everything I can,

我必須利用我所能用的一切手段

not just for communication,

不僅是為了溝通，

but for leadership.

更是爲了領導他們。

A 22-year-old individual

一名22歲的單兵，

operating alone,

孤身行動

thousands of miles from me,

距離我幾千英里

has got to communicate to me with confidence.

他可以確定可以和我溝通。

I have to have trust in them and vice versa.

我們必須彼此信任對方。

And I also have to build their faith.

我也必須樹立他們的信心。

And that's a new kind of leadership

這是一種新的領導方式

for me.

對我而言。

We had one operation

曾經有一次行動

where we had to coordinate it from multiple locations.

我們必須在多個地點協同作戰。

An emerging opportunity came --

一個偶然的機會出現了——

didn't have time to get everybody together.

沒時間知會所有人。

So we had to get complex intelligence together,

所以我們必須都瞭解這一複雜的情報，

we had to line up the ability to act.

我們必須依次逐級採取行動。

It was sensitive, we had to go up the chain of command,

這件事很敏感，所以我們又必須逐級上報，

convince them that this was the right thing to do

說服他們這樣做是正確的，

and do all of this

所有這一切

on electronic medium.

都要通過電子通訊。

We failed.

結果我們失敗了。

The mission didn't work.

任務沒能完成。

And so now what we had to do

所以現在我們必須要做的就是，

is I had to reach out

我必須四處活動

to try to rebuild the trust of that force,

試圖重建那支部隊的信任

rebuild their confidence --

重樹他們的信心——

me and them, and them and me,

他們對我以及我對他們的信心和信任

and our seniors and us as a force --

以及我們的上級單位和我們之間作為一個團體的信心——

all without the ability to put a hand on a shoulder.

在做這些努力的時候都不具備和對方促膝長談的條件。

Entirely new requirement.

這是全新的要求。

Also, the people had changed.

而且，人員也在發生變化。

You probably think that the force that I led

你可能以為我所帶領的部隊

was all steely-eyed commandos with big knuckle fists

都是眼神堅毅的突擊隊員，四肢粗壯，

carrying exotic weapons.

裝備精良武器。

In reality,

事實上，

much of the force I led

我所領導的大部份人

looked exactly like you.

看起來就像在座各位。

It was men, women, young, old --

就是些男人，女人，年輕人，年長者——

not just from military; from different organizations,

不僅僅來自軍隊；也來自其他組織，

many of them detailed to us just from a handshake.

很多人都只是一面之緣，就開始合作。

And so instead of giving orders,

所以我要做的不是發號施令，

you're now building consensus

而是要取得一致，

and you're building a sense of shared purpose.

建立其一種共同的使命感。

Probably the biggest change