新编剑桥商务英语高级第三版 第Module7-Module 8
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Module 7
7.1 Strengths and weaknesses (page 67)
1
I
admire my boss
a lot.
He
’
s very
capable;he
knows exactly
what
he
’
s doing
and
he
’
s not
afraid to get his hands dirty,not like some
managers who think they
’
re
above
it
all.
The
one
problem
is
that
he
takes
on
too
much.
I
don
’
t
think
it
’
s
because
he
doesn
’
t trust us
to do a good job--it
’
s
because he likes to be involved in everything.
He
‘
s a bit of
control freak. The result is that he spreads
himself very thin, when he
could hand
more work out to others, and
he
’
s often overloaded and
stressed.
2
Cheryl
’
s
not
particularly
brilliant,
but
she
knows
that.
She
knows
her
own
limitations, which is
certainly one of her strengths. In fact, I
don
’
t think you have to
be particularly bright to be a
manager-- that
’
s more a
quality you need in a leader. A
manager
’
s job is
to bring order to the workplace and the team, so
that people are clear
about
what
they
should
be
doing
and
when
they
should
be
doing
it.
Cheryl
is
very
good
at
getting
everyone
working
in
the
most
efficient
way
and
that
makes
our
working environment much less
stressful.
3
He
’
s not an easy
guy to work for. He has very high expectations of
his staff and he
can be rude and too
direct. Sensitivity is not his strong point. He
often puts you on the
spot:
‘
What
makes
you
think
this
will
work?
’
‘
Have
you
thought
about
the
cost
of
this?
’
and so on .
You have to be prepared to justify your actions a
lot. Some people
can
’
t stand being
challenged like this all the time, but you
can
’
t deny that he gets the
most out of his staff. People do
perform.
4
There
are people who listen to what you are saying, and
people who hear what you
are saying.
Paul is one of the former. He does try to listen
to other people
’
s ideas, but
his
mind
has
often
moved
onto
the
next
thing,
and
he
doesn
’
t
take
on
board
what
you
’
re saying.
It
’
s the same thing when
he
’
s expressing his own
ideas and wishes. He
kind of takes it
for granted that everyone has reached the same
point in their thinking
that he has,
when often they
’
re still two
or three steps behind. Don
’
t
get me wrong,
he
’
s very nice
guy--kind and clever, and he has lots of great
ideas and vision for the
company--but
because of these communication difficulties, he
can be very frustrating
to work for.
5
The financial
rewards in our company are not so huge, but in
spite of that, in my
team we all stay
very motivated because our boss really appreciates
our work. She
’
s
actually very protective of her own
people. She gives us a lot of praise. Other people
in the company say
she
’
s a maverick, a kind of
a loner. They say she
’
s
difficult to get
on
with
and
doesn
’
t
really
have
the
company
’
s
interests
at
heart.
But
I
wouldn
’
t
known about that really, because
it
’
s not the side of her
that we see. What we get is
100%
loyalty and encouragement.