Some of the employees at Goldman Sachs refer to their
clients as “Muppets,” so we learn from the letter that ex-employee Greg Smith
wrote. What I take from calling clients
“Muppets” is that the investment bankers at Goldman Sachs are pulling their
strings like puppet-masters, controlling what their clients know, say and do.
Their clients are puppets with nothing in their heads except what they put in
there.
How could a firm be so arrogant and show such distain for
their most important stakeholders: their
customers? Plainly Goldman Sachs’ analysts and bankers still
consider themselves to be masters of the finance and investment universe. They are so smart and all-knowing. Didn’t they top their class at Harvard and Princeton ? Are
they not the few that got through the tough selection process and won a job at
Goldman Sachs?” Are they not the best
and brightest of their generation?
Thanks to Greg Smith, we have been given an insider’s
glimpse of the way things really are within investment banking firms. There is no reason to think that other firms
are greatly different from Goldman Sachs.
How ugly and how disrespectful it shows them to be towards their clients
who have trusted them to invest their millions and billions wisely and well. It appears that nothing has been learnt and
nothing has changed since U.S.
What will happen at Goldman Sachs as a result of this
revelation about clients being their “muppets”?
Maybe a client or two will leave them in the short-term and go to other
investment banks. In the medium to
longer-terms, probably not much will change in the culture of Goldman Sachs and
the bankers will go on with the same thinking, the same words and the same
actions.
What is likely to “stick” to Goldman Sachs is the damage to
their employment brand from these recent revelations. Will the best and brightest graduates still
want to get into Goldman Sachs? Will it
make a difference to graduates to work at a firm or corporation that
demonstrates respect and appreciation for their clients? Instead of investment banking, will the best
and brightest graduates choose to go into another financial services sector or
profession that is untarnished or, more accurately, less tarnished? Or will Goldman Sachs and other investment
firms just offer even more dollars to sign them up and they will park their
reservations about the firm’s culture?
Following are three points for personal career management arising
from the recent Goldman Sachs’ revelations:
·
Go beyond the glossy marketing and public
relations that large companies and firms use to woo you; find out what it is
really like to work there from someone who is currently or has recently been employed
there. Ask her/him open questions such
as: What do you like about working
there? What don’t you like? What would you have liked to be different
about working there? Why did you leave?
·
Do your personal values mesh well with the ways
that the employer operates their business or organisation? In other words, you don’t want to be going
into work thinking about being on the horns of another dilemma that day, every
day. Just one example, if you respect
your clients and regard them as your raison d’etre, you will be most unhappy
working in an organisation that does not share your values. Can
you write down your core personal values?
If not, it is important to find out what your values are; in other
words, what do you believe in and what gives you fulfilment in your life and
work?
·
Listen to what your heart and gut are telling
you when making decisions about your next employer and don’t just go on your
logical reasoning. Your logical
reasoning might be indicating, “OK, there is $5,000 more in this offer than the
other offer. Even though I am drawn to
the other company, it makes sense to go for more remuneration.” Yes, when all other things are equal, it
makes sense to take the top offer but at other times you are experiencing some
niggling doubts about whether you would really like working there. Those niggling doubts are your emotional
intelligence (your heart and gut) jumping up and down, saying “It’s not the
right move for you! Don’t do it!” With respect to the money, you will be OK
because, when you are working well and achieving highly, the money will always
come too.
Lynne Lloyd
Managing Director
People Results
Executive Coaching and Talent Development
Telephone: +617
39101003
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