What I Learned Working at Goldman

Ditching the leadership training playbook.

I don’t brag about it often, but I worked at Goldman Sachs.

For a day. To be fair, it was long.

I was brought in to help female analysts be heard. As they lamented the current condition—being ignored, interrupted, or diminished when they spoke—I'd heard it all before. I’d read about it, spoken about it, and trained around these conditions for women at work since childhood, when my mom, a women's leadership expert, taught me to use my “assertive voice.”

And so I pulled out my leadership training RXes. My “If, then…”s.  

If ignored, then graciously repeat your statement. 

If interrupted, then kindly call attention back.

If diminished, then enlist allies to amplify your voice!

“That won’t work," they replied to each suggestion. At first nicely, then growing in shared conviction. “No, no, no, no, that will not work!,” they intoned, a Grecian chorus. Their male colleagues would plow graciousness, pillage suggestions, yell, scream, walk, threaten—anything it took to be heard over them.

The conditions were worse than those I had read about, spoken about, and trained around. My training was a bust.

At least I can say that on this day, these women were heard. Clearly. They broke me of my early-career arrogance of conviction. I’d believed more in my tools than I’d believed in their experience.

To this day, I do not provide “dos and don'ts" or predetermined blueprints for leadership. I don't pretend to know more about your job than you do. You're the expert on your life and career.

My work with clients is to assess the given circumstances and their capabilities. What strengths can you utilize, and how do you need to develop to thrive in this imperfect place? Or should you find a better fit?

I hope Goldman’s become a more welcoming place. I suspect it has. We all learn through failure.

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