by Anthony Balderrama CareerBuilder

You probably have a list of questions you'd ask your boss if given the chance.

大概只要一有機會你就有一大串問題要問老板。

"You really paid someone for that haircut?"

“這個發型真的是你花錢請人剪的？”

"Must your lunch always include garlic?"

“難道每次午餐你都得吃大蒜嗎？”

"How did someone as nice as you end up marrying someone so unpleasant?"

“你這么一個好人怎么和這樣討厭的人結婚？”

If you have any desire to keep your job, you'll keep those questions to yourself. Unfortunately employees have a tendency to keep all questions to themselves, even when speaking up can help their careers.

如果還想保住工作的話，你最好將這些問題留給自己。不幸地是，員工們往往把一切問題都保留了，即使是那些有助于事業發展的問題。

"Workers choose silence over dialogue because they worry about damaging credibility, fear retaliation from key decision makers or doubt their voice will make a difference. And when employees choose silence, progress suffers," says Kerry Patterson, co-author of "Crucial Conversations."

《至關重要的對話》一書的作者之一 Kerry Patterson說：“人們選擇沉默是因為他們擔心這會影響上司對自己的信任、害怕決策者的報復、懷疑自己的建議不會起作用。當員工選擇了沉默，就不會有進展了。”

Whether you keep quiet because you're afraid of embarrassing yourself or you don't think your questions mean much, you should start speaking up.

不管沉默是因為擔心提問會讓自己難堪還是認為自己的問題沒多大意義，你都應該提出問題。

"A colleague once said to me, 'I can tell more about a person by the questions they ask than by what they tell me,'" says Edith Onderick-Harvey, president of Change Dynamics Consulting, an executive consulting firm. "The same is true for managers. Questions about the broader organization's goals and priorities, your role in achieving those and asking for feedback tell your boss you are focused on a career with the organization, not just a job."

執行咨詢公司Change Dynamics Consulting主席Edith Onderick-Harvey說：“曾經一位同事對我說，‘一個人所問的問題比他所告白的更能讓我了解他這個人。’對于管理人員來說也是如此。問那些關于公司更高層面上的目標和需要優先考慮的事情之類的問題、你在實現這些目標中的角色的問題并尋求反饋，這些都向老板說明了你關注的是公司的發展而不僅僅是自己的那份工作。”

Here are nine questions to ask your boss that can help your career. (Just don't ask them all at once -- your boss is probably a busy person.)

下面九個問題會有助于你事業發展（不要一次全部問完，因為你的老板很可能是個大忙人）。

（1）"How do you measure success?"|

“你如何衡量成功？”

Employees often forget that their performances are graded in some form or another. In order to understand how your work is quantified, you should be speaking the same language as your boss. Find out if your manager is only concerned with numbers and results or if with how you achieve them also matters, Onderick-Harvey advises. Then, you base your future work on his or her priorities.

員工們往往忘記自己的表現是按照某種標準來評分的。為了了解你的工作是如何被衡量的，你應該和老板統一看法。Onderick-Harvey的建議是：看看你的老板是否只注重數字和結果、還是會也注重完成工作的方式。然后你將來的工作就以他/她的關注點為前提。

（2）"What areas do I need to develop to advance my career?"

“為了自己的事業發展，哪些方面是需要改進的？”

This question shows your boss you are in control of your future and are not waiting for someone else to make things happen, Onderick-Harvey says. If you can articulate what your career goals are, your boss can tell you what experience you need to gain before you can move up the ladder.

Onderick-Harvey說，這個問題表明你掌控著自己的未來而不是在等別人實現你的未來。如果你能明確表達自己的職業目標，你的老板就能告訴你為了目標需要獲得哪些經驗。