Paper Lessons on Money and Career ...

A few selected pointers which will be hopefully be useful in your journey

It’s common sense that time is the most valuable teacher. Moreso, if you use it wisely and actively, of course! I always had an observing eye within me when dealing with people in corporates. As you know, I had the pleasure of working in a few large institutions throughout my career. There is immense value in observing how certain corporates work, but more so it’s a lesson about humans and how they tick.

Reflecting on those years there are obviously tons of things you wish you would have known. A journey however is exactly this, you envisage reaching point B only to discover that what you have hoped for when leaving point A has turned out differently. So your perspectives on things change, you learn, and you ideally build a value system and understanding of yourself and how you want to live your life going forward.

When finishing my studies I did not want to join a bank or traditional financial institution. I saw my purpose within a corporate, and I interviewed with a large pharmaceutical company to join their treasury and corporate finance team. I was interviewing with the head of the treasury, a cool dude. He asked me what the most important thing is for my career. I, of course, gave him all my well-prepared ready-to-deliver answers about integrity, motivation and drive. He shook his head, took a pen and wrote something on an A4 paper. He turned it around, and it read:

“Your Boss”

I didn’t take the job as I had an opportunity to work in London, for a bank, of course. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I taken the role. You don’t know, but long story short, that guy was damn right!

Anyway, just one of many lessons, so let’s dig in where I will keep it to the point. Paper sharp so to speak.

Money & Wealth

Look, money/dough/bakshish is what most people are after, especially when you are working in finance. For many, it’s the scoresheet of success, and they might have a point. It leads you to feel good and be part of a selected group of people. It has a very addictive allure, with many forgetting pretty much all their principles when pursuing a higher score.

Paper Alfa comes from humble beginnings, I didn’t have parents who could afford me nice holidays or the latest sneakers. While at University, I had a part-time job and that was my first smell of earning decent enough money so I could go on holiday or buy pretty things. It gave me a sense of pride, but that’s natural as a youngster. Many of my friends were from wealthier backgrounds, so I naturally wanted to be regarded as an equal.

As I progressed in my career I experienced how money can obviously afford you nice things and great experiences. After a while, however, that all wears off. Don’t get me wrong, I love a nice holiday or meal but there is certainly a declining utility in getting more money, similar to what psychological studies suggest.

One of first bosses once took me aside and told me about the problem with the pursuit of more money. He was a partner at the firm and was certainly well off but he opened up that the frustrating thing about earning and having more money was that you meet people who had an multiple of more wealth than yourself. He was damn right.

So money, yes its great, many say it gives you freedom. But freedom of what? If you want true freedom, you don’t need more money, I would argue, you need the correct expectations and a firm idea how you want to live your life. That knowledge has insanely more power to delivering freedom than money ever will. More money, more problems, Biggie was right.

Career

Imagine a highwway. The road is basically built right in front of you. That is usually the visibility of the time ahead when you embark on your working journey. You see what your superiors are doing and you envisage being in their shoes one day. If you are lucky, you are blessed with a great mentor or boss in your earlier years. Believe me, hold on to those as there are not many around.

As you climb the ladder of corporate responsibility you will soon learn that the ability to climb them does not always correlate with intelligence or special skill-set. A career into a higher stratosphere requires way more than hard work and being very good at what you do. You need to know how to present yourself and how to build relationships and trust. That’s no easy task as there are going to be plenty of people that want the same and therefore will do pretty much anything to derail your ambition. Yes, anything. It will be the ultimate test of your character and your values. I was in many situations where I basically was offered to trash my peers and valued colleagues I called friends. It’s a tough one, but you’d be surprised how many would throw anyone under the bus just to progress their own chances of success. I am luckily or unluckily not one of them.

The most important thing for your career will ultimately be how good your relationship with the “upstairs” is and how well regarded they ultimately are. In addition, I always observed it to be extremely valuable to have someone who is not your line manager or in your team to have your back and stand up for you. Someone as senior as possible you can get. Build your support system, top-down.

Also, don’t be too shy to speak up. Those who speak, rule. Regardless of what they say it would seem. I have seen so many yappers leap really skilled people in promotions, just because they just are constantly speaking in meetings. Self-marketing at its best. If you don’t speak, people won’t notice you. Sad, but that’s the reality. I know many brilliant people, who are just amazing at what they do, but they hardly ever speak up and if they do they just go straight to the point without the fuss and bullshit. Unfortunately those people are rarely given the respect they deserve.

Careers of course are also about luck. Not many would argue so but they are. I have been promoted a few times where I was just literally at the right time and the right place. Don’t fight it as it undoubtedly will work the other way around on other occasions.

Careers will also fizzle out when you’re probably in your early to late 40s. The majority of people will hold on to their jobs and be content to keep their job titles while their overall ambitions fade. End of the highway for many. The problem there is that many just become easy to replace and some form of hysteresis kicks in as most fail to acquire more skills and knowledge. It happens more often than you think. So keep learning and be curious.

That’s it for this time. I hope you enjoyed the little but hopefully useful lessons I tried to convey in this short post. I am planning on adding a few more. So if you are curious about a certain topic in particular just put it out in a comment.

Music

Je vous presente: The Rebels of Tijuana. Long intro and a bit trippy but its an easy listening tune if you’re in need of just that bit of positive energy in dark afternoons. Enjoy!

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Paper Alfa