Hiring managers will stress that there is no such thing as a “perfect” candidate — but that hasn’t stopped the Goldman Sachs boss from specifying the qualities he looks for in aspiring talent.
Goldman’s partner, Brian Robinson, has revealed a combination of skills that his most successful colleagues and peers possess, and while the list is extensive, it’s not impossible to achieve.
“What do I think it takes to succeed?” Robinson hoped so Wall Street lab Podcast.
He explained that Robinson’s “Framework for Success” includes a series of qualities he honed over his 13 years at Goldman Sachs, which It handles assets estimated at about $1.6 trillion.
These 19 person requirements are: “challenging, commercial, customer-oriented, customer-centered, brilliant, collaborative, competitive, creative, minded, demeanor, personality, communicative, confident, calculating, consistent, calm, communicable, celebratory and curious.” “
Robinson added that the qualities of those who have “Uber success” in the finance industry are also highly transferable skills across sectors.
He explained a number of adjectives, for example a “cool” explanation: “At the end of the day, people want to talk to people who they enjoy talking to and who have something to say.”
He added that cooperation is a “no-brainer”.
Robinson also explained potential tensions between such qualities as, for example, competitiveness and cooperation: “Competitiveness is essential. When you hire people, you try to figure out what makes them tick, what turns them on every day. I think competition — having that urgency and desire to win – very important.
“Being charming when you lose is also important and those times will happen, but it’s about having a strong competitive will that will override when times get really bumpy. In having that team dynamic, you also try to win together.
“If you think about the early days of my career, I was rather selfish in the way I approached winning,” he recalled. “I have learned 100% unequivocally that the best way to win is through a team approach.”
Balancing life experience
Early in his career, Robinson, formerly a managing director at Citi, said he worked three jobs and was Almost always around the clock.
Decades into his career, Robinson says he’s finally found the balance between a “grinding” mindset and basic needs like sleep and recreational activities—for example, Robinson is on the Guggenheim Museum’s board of directors.
“It’s important to find something,” he said. “On the court, I am a commercial hitman who focuses on providing solutions to clients, developing solutions for them, and is very client-centric about everything I do.”
But Robinson — who leads both the prime brokerage sales team and equity hedge fund client segment in the Americas regions — highlighted the need to bring his “whole personality” to the business, including such leisure activities as Japanese pre-period forest bathing and making light paintings.
“Even superheroes snore,” he added. “I always pep my team to make sure they practice every Wednesday and do fun things with their lives rather than just work.”
Maintain priorities
Highlighting his personal framework for success, Robinson also combined the things he was good at to come up with three motivators to work with.
“I would say influencing customers, expanding business and inspiring people. Those are the three things that I think I do and focus on in my role, and as a business leader.
“From this framework this is how I see the world and business. Everything I do must fall under these three things – if it falls outside of these three things,” he explained, “it will not be my priority.”
Inside Goldman
From the outside, Wall Street comes with some preconceived notions: Always work cultureAnd extreme pressure And very competitive.
Just last week, Goldman had to pay $215 million to 2,800 women it accused of sexism in the workplace.
Robinson, who trained as a mental health first aider, insists the culture at Goldman is positive.
“We have a culture of apprenticeships, risk management and risk mitigation – which I think is very important, especially in the environment we’re in now,” said Robinson.
“We’re focused on the very long term. Our business leaders are asking us to make three-to-five-year plans instead of just 60-day-to-one-year business plans. We’re global, broad, deep and relevant. I can engage clients across a wide range of topics and I can do it on on a daily basis which is very exciting.”
He added that the company’s mentality is progress before perfection.
To the outside world, people might think: ‘Oh, Goldman Sachs is like perfection, some results seem certain.’
