Leading with Awareness
I know who caused the global financial crisis. I met him in 1994 at the very private Wall Street investment bank where we both worked. He was young then, fresh out of business school with an M.B.A. in finance no doubt. I have no doubt because he shuffled through the corridors with his head bowed looking intently at his pocket calculator, like a rabbi studying the Talmud (if I saw the M.B.A. today, I’d describe him as a passenger in a crowded, stalled subway train intent on finding a tune on his iPod).
Since my desk was outside that of a partner, I could hear the M.B.A. describe this new product that promised to bring in high returns. The product that this associate “derived” was a derivative.
The fragile state of our global economy is due in part to complicated financial products such as derivatives, products developed through mathematical models with little awareness of their long-term impact on markets or individuals.
“Derivatives are dangerous,” Warren Buffet, Chairman, CEO, and Head of Investing of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., wrote in his company’s 2008 report. ”They have dramatically increased the leverage and risks in our financial system. They have made it almost impossible for investors to understand and analyze our largest commercial banks and investment banks.”
I’m not an economist and won’t go further because, well, I’m not an economist. I’m a management consultant and leadership coach. And I’ve earned a reputation for being very effective in part because of my expertise, education, and experiences. (The other parts are a fierce sense of humor, innovative solutions, and practical perspective.)
The primary contributor—and enhancer—to my now current professional status was the time I spent as a temporary secretary at the investment bank Lazard Freres & Co. and observed people like the above-mentioned M.B.A., partners, secretaries, etc.
The reason I temped at Lazard was because I needed a job. What started as a two-week assignment on August 21, 1989, somehow evolved into over five years working with top bankers on Wall Street. Well, I know exactly why my time there extended over months, then quarters, then years.
There was a recession in the early 1990’s and temping with tycoons was a way to get a regular paycheck, explore opportunities and face challenges to reinvent myself, and learn about leadership and business.
How I got my education in the workplace was being aware of what was going on around me, making notes like a student in graduate school. To read more about my journey at Lazard, download the PDF of LTR’s level playing field special report “Temping with Tycoons: Reinvention Lessons for the Laid Off Leader.”
temping-with-tycoons-by-leigh-henderson.pdf
This professional “time out” to temp greatly increased my awareness about organizational behavior and employee needs. It also prepared me for the work I do today helping leaders level their playing fields of obstacles blocking optimum performance and career advancment.
My success coaching leaders and educating students who are leaders-to-be at the Zicklin School of Business is best summed up in one core message. I suggest to individuals to pick their heads, remove their hands from their keyboards and their ears from their cell phones in order to become aware of their environment and the people who occupy that space. Then I invite them to think about how their decisions will impact not just their performances and satisfy their needs but how their actions will radiate out to the employees at their workplace and in the world beyond their corporate walls.
That’s good advice for anyone.