Cashing the Check

Cashing the Check

For my many years in senior management on Wall Street, friends would regularly tell me that I was too nice for Wall Street. That was a polite way of saying that I was a pussy and refused to treat people harshly. Don’t get me wrong, I have had to downstaff thousands of people over the years, but I also always gave people the benefit of the doubt and tried never to take advantage of them. I always felt that the people mattered more than the relatively small amounts of money that would come into contestation. I never felt that the needs of the army came ahead of the individual. That’s not unheard of, but it also is not the norm. I have had more than one person suggest that I thought I could turn dross into gold when it came to people. I always felt that it was my obligation to seek out the value in our people, which often translated into tolerating performance issues and repotting low performers.

Treating people well and with respect became my modus operandi from one assignment after another. My rationale for it was quite simple and I felt quite compelling. If I treated people well they would be more motivated and therefore more successful. They would follow my lead because they would want to follow not for fear of failure, but because they believed it was in our mutual best interest. To my way of thinking, that was the best way to manage people. I am not so alone in that view and, in fact, I believe they even have a name for it and call it Theory Y Management. It is a collaborative approach to management. It is about self-motivation and self-realization and is mostly about empowerment through mutual respect, and that takes a positive attitude towards your people. I understand how fruity that sounds to some people, mostly those who believe in Theory X Management, which assumes that people don’t like work and are devoid of ambition. These managers tend to believe that the “carrot and stick” approach, with a heavy emphasis on the stick rather than the carrot, is the best way to drive people forward. It should come as no surprise that almost all people prefer to be managed in a Theory Y manner than a Theory X approach. I’m sure the Theory X crowd would say that’s no surprise, but their fundamentally negative outlook about people make them think that its a naive approach doomed to failure.

Therein lies the fundamental difference that I most strongly believe in. It is in the belief of optimism, and mostly in being optimistic and having faith in people. I understand that it can lead to disappointment, but that is a price I am willing to pay for the positive aspects of optimism. I can’t say for sure that my managerial approach always worked better than the more Theory X ways, but I feel that my approach worked particularly well in new or start-up ventures that required lots of creativity and innovation. The more process oriented tasks may well have been better served by the Theory X approach since “turning the crank” in repetitive manner would seem to lend itself to a less motivational approach, one that is more about rote repetition. But the most notable aspect of my approach has shown itself to me most often years later when I encounter people who worked with me on one assignment or another. I have often heard from them that their experience working with me was the best experience of their careers. I know I am not imagining this because they have even talked to Kim about it without me present. I have often noted that such a reaction is the most gratifying thing about my work experience. The financial results fade, and the grandness of the scale of the business fade, but what stays bright is the recognition of self-actualization and the positive take-away it engenders.

Let’s be clear about something. I did not manage this way to gain kudos from my employees years into the future. That would be absurd. I managed that way because I thought it was the best way to manage and because respect always seemed like the right path. The results generally came well enough and the recognition by my superiors was also a good indicator that something I was doing was right. I had no idea I would be creating these positive feelings down the road in my team members. I also had no idea that their feelings about our work environment were so unique or so much better than many others they would encounter over the years. That was simply something I learned later on. I would often hear comments from these people, many of whom I stayed loosely in touch with over the years, that if there was ever anything they could do for me, they would be happy to oblige. It seemed like a nice thing to say, but I doubted that I would ever tap that offer. It was less about doubting the sincerity and more about not being able to imagine the need or circumstances.

Yesterday, someone I care about lost their job. He has worked in the finance arena for about fifteen years. I have always thought his particular arena had a sell-by date and while I understand why someone might stay with what they know and what they are good at, I always knew this day would come, one way or another. It suddenly dawned on me that I might be able to help. I am largely out of the loop on Wall Street, but I put on my thinking cap and started to come up with some ideas of people that were very much in the loop that could possibly help. The first person I called is my private banker, who used to work for me twenty-five years ago and to whom I have referred many new clients over the years. He has always been very appreciative of what I have done for him and I am just about the easiest client you can imagine. He said he would be happy to help. The second person I called is an old college friend who I have lent my vacation house to countless times and who I gave a job to a dozen years ago. He too was happy to help. The next two calls went to people who worked for me years ago. They were both anxious to help and one of them reminded me that I had helped him out when he had lost his job years ago (something I had forgotten). He said he would do everything he could to help and that he really wanted to pay me back for what I had done for him. And the other person, who has gone on to be a very successful finance professional told me that she remembered how much she enjoyed working with me and wanted to do all that she could to help.

Then I also remembered someone who is also in a powerful position and might be very influential in helping in this situation. I once lent my home to him for a family event and just recently I agreed to testify in a civil case that he cares about and that I could be very helpful with (but had no real obligation to help). I haven’t heard back from him yet, but I suspect he will help out. I never treat people well, whether they are employees, friends or colleagues, in order to get payback, but at times like these I realize that I have made an inordinate deposit into the bank of goodwill. One never knows when the need will arise, if ever, but it is nice to realize that having some currency in the bank and being able to cash that check for someone you care about, is a nice feeling.