Mean Street: MBAs, Listen Up!

I received my M.B.A. in 1991 in the teeth of a nasty recession. The economic environment then was similar to today. I was lucky to find a job at all.

Along with 10% of my graduating Harvard MBA class, I went to work for McKinsey & Co. Obviously, original thinking isn’t a priority for the desperate job-seeker. If you are fortunate enough to know what you will be doing next, or even if you don’t, I have some advice.

I have always believed in the inspirational force of music. So here is my advice coupled to some great songs. If you don’t know these songs, you should. Or maybe I’m just getting old.

Love the One You’re With: If you can’t have a job you love, love the job you have. Some of you are bound to have met with disappointment in the recruiting season. Get over it. This is your first job post-MBA. It won’t be your last. About 70% of my MBA classmates had different jobs by our fifth year reunion.

If you are at Merrill Lynch and you wanted to be at Goldman Sachs Group, the only way to get there will be to prove yourself at Merrill. Your colleagues won’t appreciate hearing daily about your regrets.

Beast of Burden: There really is no substitute for hard work, especially in your first job. Be first to arrive at the office and last to leave. Raise your hand for the thankless job nobody else wants to do. Your colleagues may think you are a toadie, but so what? A reputation for busting your butt has never hurt anybody.

London Calling: Take risks. You are offered a posting in London? Don’t hem and haw. Grab it. Every “risky” opportunity, I was offered, I took. Most worked out, some didn’t. But even in failure, I was never worse off than before I took the risk. If you are in your 20s, do you think it will be easier to move to Hong Kong today or when you are saddled with three school-age children 15 years from now?

With a Little Help From My Friends: To succeed, you will need friends throughout the organization. You must develop a mentor who has a stake in your career. And this takes effort and luck.

While the best friends are those higher-up, don’t underestimate the sway of lesser mortals. The woman who did all the presentation processing in my first job at Goldman almost brought my career to a halt. My work was always at the bottom of her pile. After struggling for months, it dawned on me that I needed to grovel. She was as important to the department as the snot-nosed junior banker giving her the work.

All Apologies: Be humble. Many of you already have a fair bit of work experience, and confidence is a good thing. But remember, you have an MBA, not a Nobel Prize. You may be proud of yourself but don’t parade your pride for your boss and colleagues. They will want to kill you. And if they can, they will.

Even Better Than the Real Thing: Early in my career I learned that flattery works in business. Goldman’s relationship bankers were the most skilled practitioners of flattery I had ever seen. And, of course, clients loved them.

It took me years to understand the flattery principle’s corollary: Flattery always works–even when the “flatteree” knows he is being flattered. To those of you in sales or client management, it is imperative for you to grasp the power of this principle. Be careful, though. The unskilled novice can misuse the principle and get himself fired quite easily.

Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later than You Think): Whatever job you end up taking, remember that you only get one shot at life. Stick with the 1980 version of Enjoy Yourself from The Specials, it perfectly captures the right spirit.

Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.
Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink.
The years go by as quickly as a wink.
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.