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Normally, I’m too busy trying to keep up with the current in my 99% life that I don’t have much time, energy or desire to check in and see what the 1% is up to.
But when a colleague passed along a New York Times editorial featuring a Goldman Sachs executive leaving the firm in a fiery blaze of glory, I found that the exec’s words touched my 99% existence — at least the professional part.
You can read the full editorial here http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=4&pagewanted=all; frankly, most of it is what you’d likely expect from someone leaving a company on bad terms. But the part that struck me the most — as a manager and as someone who keeps tabs on talent management issues as part of my job — was this:
The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence … I attend derivatives sales meetings where not one single minute is spent asking questions about how we can help clients. It’s purely about how we can make the most possible money off of them. If you were an alien from Mars and sat in on one of these meetings, you would believe that a client’s success or progress was not part of the thought process at all.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know what derivatives are, or how or why one might sell them. But I know enough to know that if an employee at your company—regardless of whether you sell derivatives or donuts—thinks that true leadership is lacking and that sincere customer/client service isn’t its first priority, you’ve got big problems with culture and employee communication. Because if one employee feels that way, it’s like crumbs: if you see one, it won’t be long one before you see another.
The keys, of course, are to make sure company leaders are setting the right tone for the organization’s mission and principles and that employees feel properly rewarded for meeting the mission and principles.
It’s something I work toward/struggle with regularly. What about you? How does your company make sure leaders are communicating the right cultural messages to employees? And how do you recognize employees for living the culture through their job performance? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Normally, I’m too busy trying to keep up with the current in my 99% life that I don’t have much time, energy or desire to check in and see what the 1% is up to.
But when a colleague passed along a New York Times editorial featuring a Goldman Sachs executive leaving the firm in a fiery blaze of glory, I found that the exec’s words touched my 99% existence — at least the professional part.
You can read the full editorial here; frankly, most of it is what you’d likely expect from someone leaving a company on bad terms. But the part that struck me the most — as a manager and as someone who keeps tabs on talent management issues as part of my job — was this:
The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence … I attend derivatives sales meetings where not one single minute is spent asking questions about how we can help clients. It’s purely about how we can make the most possible money off of them. If you were an alien from Mars and sat in on one of these meetings, you would believe that a client’s success or progress was not part of the thought process at all.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know what derivatives are, or how or why one might sell them. But I know enough to know that if an employee at your company — regardless of whether you sell derivatives or donuts — thinks that true leadership is lacking and that sincere customer/client service isn’t its first priority, you’ve got big problems with culture and employee communication. Because if one employee feels that way, it’s like crumbs: if you see one, it won’t be long one before you see a bunch more.
The keys, of course, are to make sure company leaders are setting the right tone for the organization’s mission and principles and that employees feel properly rewarded for meeting the mission and principles.
It’s something I work toward/struggle with regularly. What about you? How does your company make sure leaders are communicating the right cultural messages to employees? And how do you recognize employees for living the culture through their job performance? Share your thoughts in the comments.
