About.com Financial Careers

The Measure of Success

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:00:10 +0000

Yesterday's blog post recalls a memorable story I heard recently. During a class reunion at a prestigious university, one especially eminent member of the class was invited to speak. He got everyone's attention with this remark:

Some of us are successes, and some of us are failures.

Then, after a long pause, he added:

And only God knows which of us are which.

Words to ponder.

The Measure of Success originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 04:00:10.

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Unappreciated Efforts

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:00:14 +0000

One oft-repeated recipe for success is to deliver more than you promise and to take the initiative to make life easier for your clients, your boss and those whose help you seek. However, some people demand precise adherence to their instructions and react badly when you deviate the slightest from them, never mind the reason.

I recently ran into just such a situation. A friend asked me about an exciting new business opportunity that has come his way. It's in a field unfamiliar to him, and he asked me to track down some expert guidance. I contacted such an expert on his behalf via e-mail. He instructed my friend to call him.

Hoping to save this expert significant time on the phone, we e-mailed him a background briefing to read at his convenience in advance of the call. It was less than twice the length of this blog post. We thought we were doing him a favor. Wrong.

Instead, the expert was very unhappy with this deviation from his instructions. Short as that background e-mail was, he shot back a terse reply that chided us for imposing unduly on his valuable time. I thus feared that he would be very abrupt with my friend during the subsequent call. To my extreme surprise and great relief he gave my friend all the time he needed to discuss his situation, and the call lasted well over an hour. Go figure.

Lesson: sometimes going the extra mile is a wasted trip.

Unappreciated Efforts originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 04:00:14.

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Exit Jon Corzine

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:42 +0000

When Dwight D. Eisenhower won his first race for the Presidency, outgoing President Harry S Truman observed that he was due for a rude awakening. "Poor Ike, he'll think this is like the army and that'll he'll just issue orders and expect that they get done," or words to that effect. Tuesday's defeat of former Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine in his reelection bid as governor of New Jersey brings Truman's words to mind.

Jon Corzine thrived in the frenetic environment of Wall Street, where things got done quickly, where high achievers like himself advanced rapidly, and where laggards were summarily fired. The often glacial ways of legislatures and government bureaucracies present a stark contrast. Before his first term in the U.S. Senate was over, Corzine apparently had lost patience with the protracted debate that marks its way of doing business, and ran for governor. As governor, he was repeatedly frustrated in dealing with the legislature, even though it was held by his own party. He will leave office largely unpopular and unmissed.

Jon Corzine successfully used his vast fortune to buy name recognition and to win election to high office. Most reports indicate that he has sunk over $120 million of his own money into his three races. However, despite outspending his chief rival by nearly a four to one margin in his reelection bid as governor, Corzine lost. The skills he developed in the world of Wall Street did not prove entirely transferable to the world of high elective office.

Exit Jon Corzine originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 04:00:42.

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Silo Mentality

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:36 +0000

Gillian Tett's column in the October 9 Financial Times deals with an old problem in so many companies, and not just in the financial services industry: silo mentalities. That is, narrow tunnel vision that afflicts managers, especially when their incentive systems push them to maximize their own organizations' results (even to create personal fiefdoms run for their own benefit), sometimes to the detriment of the company as a whole.

Also, as Tett notes, silo mentality has been at the root of many regulatory failures of late. Regulatory agencies have their own narrow concerns and political interests (as do the members of their staffs), and often fail (or refuse) to see the big picture. Result: big problems slip between the cracks.

During my days in the high net worth marketing department at Merrill Lynch, we had ongoing fights with various constituencies in the firm afflicted by their own silo mentalities. Gaining cooperation to present holistic wealth management solutions to our richest and most influential clients often was an uphill battle, as counter-intuitive as that might seem at first blush.

Members of a corporation's financial staffs are in a unique position to battle silo mentality, tunnel vision or tribalism (other synonyms used by Tett), wherever it appears. You technically have a special fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of all shareholders. If you are in a controller's group at a sufficiently high or central level of the corporation, you'll probably be assembling and analyzing various metrics from across the enterprise, offering you the opportunity to see where silos are working at cross-purposes. Don't waste that chance.

Silo Mentality originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 04:00:36.

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Industrial Democracy

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:00:59 +0000

Ever wonder what corporate life would be like if employees could vote incompetent or disruptive managers out of their posts? Some years back, I served as controller in a dysfunctional department whose severe morale problems were largely attributable to one human nocebo on its management team who was firmly entrenched. What to do? While it was not in my formal job description, my duties included being de facto chief of staff for the department head. As such, I strongly recommended that an employee survey should be administered to understand the source of employee dissatisfaction.

As I expected, this survey became a referendum on the human nocebo, and the department head finally took notice and acted upon the problem. Very indirect democracy, but it served its purpose.

Industrial Democracy originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 04:00:59.

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How You Play the Game

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:00:21 +0000

You can bet that the hockey-playing CEO whom we recently quoted regarding teamwork takes note of how fellow players from his company play the game. This offers a window into their character. Never mind talent and skill, do they hustle, are they alert, and are they coachable? Do they try to cheat or cut corners, or are they scrupulously fair and sportsmanlike? Do they savor the challenge of playing against the best?

I'm sure that CEO would not think well of adult hockey players who, in supposedly friendly pickup games, use a variety of gimmicks to shunt all the weakest players onto the opposite team. At a certain rink, a core group of open hockey (pickup game) regulars does just this. Paid participation there is plummeting, as players of all skill levels who want evenly-matched games go elsewhere. Rink management, though, is unaware of this dynamic and treats these regulars as VIPs, yet they cost the rink a very substantial amount by driving away customers.

While I worked at Merrill Lynch's old corporate campus near Princeton, New Jersey, I had a boss who entered his group as a team in the company's co-ed softball league. There was a softball diamond on-site, making it especially convenient to participate. He urged us all to play, regardless of skill. He mainly wanted us to have fun, but he also saw this as a (yes) team-building exercise. Under the surface, though, I'm sure he was taking note of the character traits displayed on the field, and took these into consideration when making future personnel decisions, especially when he advanced to new positions and had open staff slots to fill.

Do share your own stories about insights gathered from how other people play games and sports, and how this has affected business decisions and business careers. Please leave a comment, or discuss in the forum.

How You Play the Game originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 04:00:21.

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Final Curtain for Amato Opera

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:00:14 +0000

The story of the Dr. Frank Winery is a positive scenario for a family business: a clear, thoughtful plan for training the next generation, and multiple generations dedicated to the enterprise, including the founder's high standards.

The situation at Penn Brewing is less happy, but familiar: the business is sold when the younger generations are uninterested in taking up the reins. This story has an interesting twist, with the seller deciding to come out of retirement when the new owners fail to maintain his own high standards.

The non-profit Amato Opera is a much more curious case. Tony and Sally Amato founded this beloved institution in 1948. From 1964 it occupied a tiny building on Manhattan's Bowery, with a diminutive stage and seating for 107. Legendary rock club CBGB used to be next door. Unknown performers, a miniature "orchestra" and tickets at $35 or less. No stars, no spectacle, but lots of love and joy.

Sally died in 2000. A niece took over the business side. Tony started grooming young conductors, and, in time, rarely took up the baton himself. At every performance, Tony would mount the stage during intermission, repeating his dream that the Amato Opera would long outlive him, and asking for donations to assure its future. In both public and private remarks over the years, his niece echoed this intent.

It looked like a succession plan was firmly in place, quite unlike the Jean Cocteau Repertory, a long-established and respected off-Broadway theater company that had performed across the street, in the Bouwerie Lane Theater. They folded when the woman who was their founder, chairman and chief benefactor died without having planned for the existence of the company without her.

Then Tony did a complete about-face in January 2009. Announcing his complete retirement at age 88, and claiming that he feared a decline in the quality of productions without him, he said that the Amato Opera would close for good after the last performance of the season on May 31. It later surfaced that he already had sold the building for an astonishing sum in December 2008. I would imagine that many unhappy donors might seek refunds of their gifts, but I have found no stories to this effect.

Was Tony primarily motivated by a desire to cash out, albeit at a very advanced age? Maybe. On the other hand, so much of his identity had become intertwined with the institution that Sally and he had created. After so many years of planning to make it a monument that would live after them, it seems that, in the end, fears of its eventually unraveling overcame his hopes. I have tried in vain to get a comment from the Amato organization.

Final Curtain for Amato Opera originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 04:00:14.

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Sustaining Family Businesses

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:00:27 +0000

Sustaining a family business depends on training the next generation to take the reins. What is the best way to do this? In many family businesses, the next generation is expected to join the business early in life and learn the ropes, often by working up from purely menial tasks to managerial and leadership roles. Other family businesses see great merit in having the younger folk gain experience and professional credibility on the outside, before assuming spots in the family concern.

In August, while visiting New York's Finger Lakes region, I paid a visit to several wineries, including one of my longtime favorites, the renowned Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars. Dr. Frank pioneered the transformation of the region from producing cheap, excessively sweet dessert wines from native lambrusca grapes to crafting fine European-style table wines from Old World vinifera grape varieties. During this visit I learned something new about the company's history. Dr. Frank demanded that his son Willy start his career in other vineyards and rise to a senior managerial position before returning to the family business, which was founded in 1962.

This is very interesting. I can see two motivations for Dr. Frank:

Have Willy get other, fresh perspectives on the business
Have Willy prove his worth by advancing in a setting where nepotism cannot be a factor

Of course, in some industries there might be a big impediment to executing this sort of career development plan. In a business that relies on proprietary technology or know-how, you should be very hesitant to train a competitor. With that caveat, this nonetheless is an interesting approach to preparing the younger generation. Willy Frank died in 2006 and a third generation of the family, led by Fred Frank, is now in charge.

Sustaining Family Businesses originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 04:00:27.

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Are You Stigmatized?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:24 +0000

We've written numerous times about dangers of being tainted by unfortunate associations. A prime example is how former employees of Bernard Madoff have become blacklisted, purely as a result of guilt by association.

Several weeks ago, I got an offline inquiry from someone who does indeed fear that he has been unjustly blacklisted. He had the misfortune of working at one firm that was rocked by criminal malfeasance, and later another that failed. He bore no responsibility for the problems at either, and was never implicated in any way. Instead, he had received stellar performance reviews at both firms.

Nonetheless, he believes that he is being scapegoated by the former firm. He has indications that they deny his ever having worked there, when potential new employers inquire. This, plus his unfortunate association with the failed firm, has rendered him unemployable. He cannot afford a lawyer, and is at a loss regarding what to do. Can anyone offer any advice? Please post a comment here or in the forum.

Are You Stigmatized? originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 04:00:24.

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Priorities and the 80-20 Rule

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:00:59 +0000

Capt. Sully Sullenberger's observations on "goal sacrificing" tie in nicely with something that one of my great mentors never tires of preaching about, the 80-20 rule.

Keeping a clearly-ordered set of priorities also should be reflected in making sure that your time and effort are deployed in a fashion that maximizes your returns from them. This is, essentially, what the 80-20 rule is all about. That mentor of mine was relentless in its application, and it served him very well in his career. Look to put it at the center of your approach to work, and to all life's tasks.

Priorities and the 80-20 Rule originally appeared on About.com Financial Careers on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 04:00:59.

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