字神帝國英語天地

✥✥你也許對這種橋段並不陌生：某個平庸員工不知何故被精明幹練、不怒自威的老闆相中，認為他“才華卓著”，不顧周遭反對堅持予以重用。其實，老闆主觀上並非一意孤行、固執己見，他只是患上了“老闆錯愛綜合征”。
　　
Boss crush refers to the situation when an executive falls for someone, loses all judgment, refuses to listen and ensures that trouble will follow.
✥✥“老闆錯愛綜合症”是指當一個主管迷上某個員工時，失去所有判斷力，拒絕聽取旁人意見，然後麻煩肯定隨之而來。
　　
The syndrome, which is a major character flaw of some of the world's finest managers.
✥✥這種綜合症是一種性格缺陷，在全世界最優秀的一些經理人身上也很嚴重。
　　
A version of this was played out recently between David Cameron and Camila Batmanghelidjh. The prime minister developed a crush on the mesmerising, rainbow-turbaned head of Kids Company; large quantities of cash were shovelled into her charity; civil servants asked questions, but nothing happened — until things went so spectacularly wrong the plug had to be pulled.
✥✥大衛•卡梅倫與卡蜜拉•巴特曼海利迪之間就上演了這麼一出“老闆錯愛綜合症”。英國首相迷上了這位魅力四射、包著五彩頭巾的慈善團體“兒童公司”負責人，為她的慈善機構提供了大量政府撥款。公務員們對此提出質疑，但一點兒都不管用，直到這家慈善機構問題嚴重到不可收拾的境地，政府才停止對其撥款。
　　
Like real love, the boss crush is blind. Worse than that, once the boss has publicly singled out the love-object as worthy of promotion, his pride is on the line. The crush object simply has to be good; nothing else will do. All warning signs are ignored, the truth only outs when it is too late. Then the after-effects of the crush are brutal — the former loved one is treated to rage and disdain and usually in the end is fired.
✥✥像真正的愛戀一樣，老闆的迷戀也是盲目的。更糟糕的是，一旦老闆公開對自己喜愛的對象另眼相待，聲稱其值得提拔，他就搭上了自己的自尊。他喜愛的對象必須優秀；否則就不行。一切預警信號都被無視，真相只有在為時已晚的時候才會暴露出來。之後，這種迷戀的後續影響十分殘酷——此前被迷戀的人會領教暴怒和蔑視，通常最終還會被炒魷魚。
　　
The most troubling thing about this phenomenon is that there isn't an answer. You can't ban executives from crushes any more than you can ban teenagers. All you can do is notice the sorts of people who are prone to them, and be warned.
✥✥這種現象最麻煩的地方是它無解。你無法禁止主管們陷入迷戀，就像你無法禁止青少年一樣。你唯一能做的就是注意到有這種傾向的人，並保持警惕。
文章來源：身邊老闆是否患有“錯愛綜合症”