Working to Be a Leader

“Firestorm on Wall Street” was the title of the second program in the “More than Money:  An Interview Series with Myron Kandel.”  Since the founding financial editor and economic commentator for over 25 years at CNN had stellar guests previously—Steve Forbes, Editor in Chief of Forbes Magazine; and Joseph Stiglitz, an economist, professor at Columbia University, and winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (2001)—I knew that I didn’t want to miss this event.

After a brief overview of his program, Kandel introduced William D. Cohan, author of House of Cards:  A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street and a contributing writer for Fortune magazine; and Gregory Zukerman,  The Wall Street Journal reporter who writes the paper’s column “Heard on the Street” and author of The Greatest Trade Ever:  The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History.

Offering the background to the headlines, Kandel’s guests shared stories of the executives who individually and collectively ignored the indicators of a financial crisis.  According to his publisher Random House, Cohan’s book on Bear Stearns is “A blistering narrative account of the negligence and greed that pushed all of Wall Street into chaos and the country into a financial crisis.”  Zuckerman described in some detail how the risk-taking Paulson sought out and then earned billions by betting on the housing collapse others—including mortgage, real estate, and investing experts—had missed.  Since Paulson had created a market for his product by using Goldman Sachs as a salesman, the two brilliant business writers weighed in on the government investigation of Goldman.

Wikipedia’s definition of a firestorm “is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system.  It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires, forest fires, and wildfires….Firestorms can also be deliberate effects of targeted explosives.”  A conflagration is defined as “an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, property or ecology.  A conflagration can be accidentally or intentionally created (arson).”  Kandel’s choice of the word firestorm for his event seems very appropriate.

The reason I attended the program was to further my education on the culture of Wall Street, and especially, to hear Cohan speak.  His previous book, The Last Tycoons: the Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co., spins “A tale of restrained ambition, billion-dollar fortunes, Byzantine power struggles, and hidden scandal.”  Cohan’s employment as a vice president at one of the world’s preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms coincided with mine.  However, he was involved in the business transactions while I was on the sidelines watching the action from my position as a temporary secretary.  In my over five years at the firm, I worked with a majority of partners, numerous vice presidents, and many other bankers.

When Zuckerman mentioned that Paulson’s analyst in creating his deals was Paolo Pellegrini, my ears perked up since he, too, was a former Lazard banker.  However, unlike Cohan who moved from Lazard to be a managing director of telecom mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan Chase, Pellegrini according to Zuckerman in an article (“Profiting from the Crash,” WSJ, 10/31/09) had “a career of disappointments” and that “Paulson & Co. likely was his last stop on Wall Street.”  The disappointed analyst earned an estimated $45 million in his first year at his “last stop.”

What I took away from hearing the stories and learning more about Wall Street’s demeanor and greed was nothing new.  It was the same old story:  the behavior on Wall Street won’t change.

Specifically, words that I recorded in my notebook in the darkened auditorium include these thoughts from Cohan on proposed government regulation of Wall Street: “Wall Street buys the sort of regulation they want” … “Their actions are just smart enough not to go over the edge” … “We haven’t changed how Wall Street behaves not even in a small way” … “Goldman people don’t feel comfortable voicing dissent.” … “Nobody is blowing the whistle.”

Cohan made a very interesting statement: “There is no memory on Wall St.”  The younger people on Wall Street make decisions not knowing the history of the previous crisis—like the Internet IPOs in the late 90’s or the housing downturn in the early 90’s—and don’t take time to reflect on the consequences of their behaviors.  Instead, it seems clear, Wall Street moves from one crisis to another, like an addict who seems incapable of staying away from drink, drugs, or other substances to get a high, all the while knowing but not accepting that a big downer follows.  Rather, the user, when he needs it, seeks out another source to get high.

Zuckerman stated that, “We need the best and the brightest to be in financial services.”  To me, that seemed to affirm that what was going on within Wall Street firms was okay.  And that the results, although possibly catastrophic for the majority of America and a good part of the globe, are what matters.  It matters to those who profit from the results.  Do bankers stop to think about those who are negatively impacted by the results?

Last year, I wrote a special report entitled, “Temping with Tycoons:  Lessons from My Leadership Reinvention” —an account of what I learned at Lazard about the firm’s culture, group behavior, and individual actions. Documenting what I observed and reading about the firm, I used Lazard as the business school I could afford.  And it was during those years experiencing the hubris of bankers, the carelessness of analysts, and their overall ignorance of the real world that inspired me to teach future leaders about the human side of business.  “Temping with Tycoons” is required reading at the beginning of “A Management Approach to Organizational Behavior,” a course I teach to undergraduates at the Zicklin School of Business within Baruch College, the nation’s most ethnically diverse campus.  Primarily working class and first generation, the students are able to learn about some behaviors on Wall Street. They are also often aghast and angry at what they read.

One of my students put it very simply, “Why is there such a divide?”

I don’t know exactly.  Future posts will include notes from “M.B.A. Under Siege:  Reimagining Management Education,” an all-day conference held at Fordham University where business school educators from as far away as Kazakhstan in Eurasia listened to presentations from highly regarded business school professors and participated in discussions.  Especially of interest was the role that management—or lack of it—played in the collapse of the global economy.  Watch this space for more information on the culture and management of Wall Street.

May is Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month.  Thanks to the efforts of Perry Hoffman, Ph.D., President, and members of the Board of Directors of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA-BPD), the U.S. House of Representatives on April 1, 2008, acknowledged the need to bring the attention of the disorder that impacts all areas of one’s life to the attention of the general public.  “All aspects of one’s life” include the workplace where managers are often at a loss to know why employees act out, demonstrate wide mood swings, or engage in self-destructive behaviors.   Below is information that may help you understand your staff better.

Perry Hoffman; Marsha Linehan, Prof. of Psychology, Washington; Dale Terilli; at NEA-BPD's "Meet and Greet the Experts"

Perry and I met in 2006 when we both had suites on the same floor in an office building.  Also on the same floor was the office of The Connections Place (TCP), an innovative job preparedness program for those with BPD, which was co-founded by Beth Elliott, Ph.D., and Dale Terilli.  When asked if I would volunteer for TCP, I agreed to conduct mock interviews with their clients, hire those ready to get a job for project work, and give short presentations on workplace issues.  Perry invited me to attend a “Family Connections” training session so that I could better understand the dimensions of BPD behaviors and the impact it has on loved ones.

A serious mental illness diagnosed more often than schizophrenia or bipolar (manic-depressive illness) combined, BPD is prevalent in an estimated 10 million Americans.  According to NEA-BPD, symptoms of BPD include impulsivity, rage, bodily self-harm, recurrent suicidal behavior, unstable relationships, and frequent career changes.  Often diagnosed in young adults, BPD is also diagnosed in adolescents.

A special NEA-BPD Conference, “Genetics to Treatment:  Leaders Speak about Research Findings and Implications” was held at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in early March.  Curious about the role genetics play in the disorder—I see both clients and students who fit that diagnosis plus that was my diagnosis thirty years ago—I attended the conference coordinated by Patricia Woodward, M.A.T., Secretary/Treasurer of the NEA-BPD Board.   Audio and video recordings of the “Genetics to Treatment” conference are available at the NEA-BPD website.

“The degree to which Borderline Personality Disorder is caused by inborn factors called the ‘level of inheritability’ is estimated to be 68%,” states Dr. John Gunderson in a booklet entitled, “A BPD Brief:  An Introduction to Borderline Personality Disorder—Diagnosis, Origins, Course, and Treatment.”  BPD itself is not inherited, he and the other excellent presenters stressed.  It is the biogenetic dispositions that are passed along he emphasized during his presentation on the “Development of BPD” which included the genetics of BPD.  An elder in the field of BPD, Dr. Gunderson is both a Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and Director, Center for Treatment and Research on BPD, Mclean Hospital, Belmont, MA.

The first presenter of the day thankfully was Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler, Rachel Brown Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the Virginia Commonwealth University; Professor of Human Genetics; Director, Psychiatric Genetics Research Program; Director, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.  I was very glad that my mind was sharp early in the day and that I was sitting in the third row; I could focus my total attention on the details of the research he shared and actually understand the information he conveyed.

Instead of the details, however, following are some of the conclusions of Dr. Kendler’s presentation:  “All major psychiatric and drug use disorders are heritable, although the degree of genetic influence differs substantially across disorders.  For many disorders, gene action on psychiatric disorders is not static but rather is developmentally dynamic.  For many disorders, genetic and environmental risk factors do not just ‘add’ together.  Rather, genes influence:  sensitivity to the pathogenic effect of environment stressors; probability of exposure to high risk environments.  Discovering risk genes for psychiatric disorders is not purely academic as they provide the best chance we have for understanding the biological substrate of these disorders and identifying potentially new drug targets.”

John G. Gunderson, MD; Robert O. Friedel, MD; Kenneth S. Kendler, MD

How does all this information apply to managers in the workplace and what they need to know about employees’ behaviors?

 One way to answer that question was part of the presentation by Dr. Robert O. Friedel, Distinguished Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Professor Emeritus, University of Alabama at Birmingham, who spoke about “The Treatment of BPD with Medications:  A Neurobiological Approach.”  Dr. Fiedel is the author of Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified:  An Essential Guide for Understanding and Living with BPD.  He wrote the book for two reasons:  to fill the need for more factual information on the disorder and, since he knew how his sister had suffered with BPD, to try to help those with BPD.

One of the first slides he put on the screen was a picture of his sister Denise, a poignant look at a woman whose life was interrupted by a range of behaviors that evoked much pain and sorrow for her and her loved ones.  Thanks to innovative therapeutic approaches and the research by the presenters and their colleagues around the world, there is a greater understanding of how to manage the appropriate medications creating a more positive  prognosis for recovery from BPD.

Attending the “Genetics to Treatment” conference was challenging and extremely informative.   It has given me greater confidence in having conversations with students who I think would find a visit to the college’s counseling center helpful.  Using the appropriate language for a referral as an instructor is important.  It is also important if you are a manager and need to suggest that an employee would benefit from speaking with someone and that they can, for instance, contact the Employee Assistance Program coordinator at your company for help.  I never mention exactly why I think someone should see a counselor; that would be a diagnosis and I am not qualified to do that.  What I mention is that talking with someone might be helpful to get through a stressful period or to deal with an issue now rather than later in life.

Often individuals, managers, or loved ones think that if a person tries hard enough, they can control their moods or behaviors at work or home.  In truth, that’s not always the case, as I know from personal experience.  People need treatment for disorders like BPD, treatment with a mental health professional who may or may not prescribe medications.  However, as is becoming clearer and clearer in the field of personality disorders and other mental illnesses, genetics are lighting the path to the development of effective medications, a breakthrough for an even brighter outlook for those with BPD.

What’s your recipe to be an effective manager?  Don’t know what I mean?  If not, you might find this post of interest in helping you create a new receipe or learning how to enhance the one you currently use.

Last August, my niece and I went to see “Julie & Julia”—a delightful movie about the life of Julia Child who, in 1948 and in her mid-thirties, discovered her career as a French chef and educator then evolved into a major cookbook author and television personality and making public appearances until her death in 1992.  The character “Julie Powell” was portrayed in the movie as a young writer whose job was to answer phones for those needing help after 9/11.  She felt frustrated at work and started a blog about Julia Child.  She also decided that she was going to cook 524 recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking co-authored by Julia Child in 365 days.

This spring, this same  niece lent me her copy of My Life in France, an autobiography of Julia Child written with Alex Prud’homme.  I started reading it at a pace of about 10 pages a day.  However, when I was about 100 pages into the book last weekend, I thought, “Why am I reading this?  I don’t really like French food!  I grew up on the basics, I cook the basics and I eat out to savor complicated dishes.”  Not one to give up on a book, however, I began to think about why I should continue reading and that brought me to remembering the first time I heard about Julia Child.

When I was a junior at the University of California at Berkeley, I had a part-time job as a work-study student in the Art & Music (A&M) Department at the Main Branch of the Berkeley Public Library.  As a Librarian’s Assistant, I helped patrons locate books, albums (!), and prints of major artists.  And I was also to report the behavior of a regular visitor—one of the many “characters” who at times put mirrors on the top of their shoes and stood very close to a female patron who was wearing a skirt.

Bruce Munly was the Librarian for A&M and manager of one full-time and many part-time employees.  Other part-time people included four middle-aged (and slightly older) women married to college professors and another Berkeley undergraduate student (he later became my husband).

“What did you think of Julia?” was Mr. Munly’s ritual greeting when one of the women arrived in the department.  They then would proceed to talk about the delicacy that Julia had prepared on the latest episode of “The French Chef” on our local public broadcasting station.  It was “all about Julia” for the first ten to fifteen minutes of a woman’s shift—and would often be revisited, many times when another gourmand arrived to talk about what Julia had prepared.

An effective manager who made the most of this diverse group, Mr. Munly organized a staff dinner once or twice a year.  This potluck supper was held at his or one of the women’s homes, often one in the Berkeley Hills with a spectacular view looking out beyond the Golden Gate Bridge.  When it came time to volunteer to bring food to the dinner, Mr. Munly and the women would decide which dish they would bring—usually a “Julia” dish.  The college students and the full-time employee would bring wine, bread, and possibly dessert—first asking the “elders” for specific instructions on what to buy.

Memories of one—if not the best—workplace experience of early career came flooding back to me last weekend as I turned each page of My Life in France.  Ignoring the world outside, I gave myself the afternoon to follow Julia’s journey through her writing career which she embraced enthusiastically and spent the evening learning how she had found her way to television.  Reading her book was like eating a good meal; I finished it feeling satisfied and satiated with good memories.

Looking back at his management style, I see how Mr. Munly maximized the talent he had in his small department.  He created a congenial atmosphere—based in part on Julia’s recipes—where he engaged and motivated his team to be productive through food, a love of the arts, and a great spirit.

At the close of each episode of “The French Chef”—and at the very end of her book—Julia wishes everyone a bon appétite!

As I asked at the beginning of this post, what is your recipe to be an effective manager?  No matter your “cuisine,” or your particular management style, I wish you time to think about how you manage.  Specifically, what is the thread of the conversations you have with your staff members and how do you connect with them on a regular basis?

While you are creating and enhancing your own recipe of effective management, I wish you bon appétite!

“Addiction Treatment: Past, Present, and Future” was the topic for the April meeting of the New York City Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA).  I’m a member of the organization and Co-Chair of the EAPA-Women’s Issues Committee and I found the meeting an interesting historical look at the evolution of treatment centers and the predictions the audience made on how to address unmet and complex needs of addicted individuals and families.

EAPA’s purpose is to help meet an employee’s needs to fulfill their responsibilities at work by providing referrals to counselors and offering educational and wellness programs to those who are having problems with their job performance.  Addiction is a major reason for employee referrals.  In addition to alcohol and drug addictions, current approaches to addiction issues include the expansion of treatment of food, gambling, sex, and other process addictions—including work.  Yes, people can work too much—and that can be a sign of substituting work for nurturing relationships in one’s personal life.

Todd Whitmer

Todd Whitmer, Vice-President-Development, Caron New York and Caron Treatment Services, engaged the audience as almost co-presenters of the program.  Whitmer’s effective approach led to an interactive and very interesting meeting during which he asked the many people he knew in the audience to give their input on the history of field and the current parameters of treatment.  There were at least two professionals in the audience—which included EAP providers, psychotherapists, marketing directors of treatment centers, etc.—who had been in the field for over 30 years.

The professional reason I joined EAPA and attend meetings such as this was to expand my knowledge base.  Since 2000, I’ve both coached psychotherapists and gotten numerous client referrals from psychotherapists to address the workplace dimension of their clients’ lives.  I also attend these meetings to gather and pass on relevant information to my executive clients about why one of their employees might be acting the way they are and not living up to expectations.  And, I go because I want to gather and share statistics and treatment options with my undergraduate management students at the Zicklin School of Business for their own development and in their roles as managers.

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies, Inc., (NCADD) about 22.2 million people in the U.S. are addicted to alcohol and other drugs.  Of that number, 15.4 million are addicted to alcohol alone, 3.6 million illicit drugs—no alcohol, and 3.3 million illicit drugs and alcohol.

The annual cost of alcohol and drug problems—productivity, accidents, etc.?  $400 billion!

Whitmer spoke about the treatment options that Caron offers, including a young adult program for 18-26 year olds.  When I asked, “How many young adults are addicts?” he replied, “Lots.”  No one in the audience knew.  This specific population is not easy to quantify yet probably easy to identify by family, friends,  and educators.  In fact, a growing topic of discussion and action is, “Internet” addiction, something that is making headlines—and it’s not just the behavior of young adults that is drawing attention.

Nearing the end of the program, Whitmer asked the audience to form into groups of four and brainstorm to “Predict five years from now addiction treatment will be improved by__________.”  This was an interesting and insightful process with many groups coming up with innovative and thoughtful ideas.  In my group, we emphasized a continuous need for tools for treatment of this chronic condition, treatment that would be supported by health insurance; a chip that could be implanted in an addict’s brain (not my idea) that would help manage the impulses for addictive behavior; and, my idea enhanced by my group, videos and digital games that could be used to address both prevention and treatment.

Thanks, Todd, for a great program.  It obviously has helped my working to be a better leader.