From the pinnacles of power by Fortune editor at large Patricia Sellers
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July 1, 2009, 12:11 pm

Goldman Sachs CEO’s best advice

Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs (GS), phoned from Madrid a few weeks ago to share “The Best Advice I Ever Got.” This is the cover package in the current issue of Fortune. And you can read wisdom from Blankfein and lots of other power players –Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt–in the issue and online.

Beyond Blankfein’s “Best Advice” that appears in the issue, he told me some best advice that he likes to pass on at Goldman Sachs–and I’ll share it with you here. Blankfein said that executives, on their way up, tend to forget that they become role models. “People’s sense of  themselves is a lagging indicator,” he told me. He went on to say that he talks with folks at Goldman to make sure that they recognize the impressions they leave:

I ask our people, “When you were on the way up, who had the job that you have now and how did they respond to you? It’s shocking to think that people respond to me like I responded to  [former Goldman Sachs CEO] John Weinberg. I don’t feel that way about myself.

I also say to people here, ‘Okay, take that person who was in your current position when you were growing up in the company. How often did you talk about that person to your spouse or your boyfriend or your girlfriend? A lot. Well, guess what. Those people who are subordinate to you—they’re talkin’ about you now. So whatever you did, however you behave—it may be over in your mind. But it’s not  over in theirs. They’re still talking about you, saying, ‘He or she is unpleasant or thoughtless.’

Blankfein went on to say that this sort of self-awareness has been particularly important amidst the global economic crisis and backlash against Wall Street.

I tell people here, ‘We’re going to get through this crisis. However you perform  now–well or badly–we’re going to get through it. But how you behave will affect your reputation for the rest of your career. Do you show courage or not? Do you act big or small? Are you a statesperson or are you selfish?  Everybody’s going to notice and remember.

Think about it: Who was in your job back when you were starting out? What did you think of that person? And what impression will you leave today?PATTIE signature

Nice advice…
I should have listened this some years ago…

Posted By Tom, Bla, Blum : August 22, 2009 7:54 am

Blankfein went on to say that this sort of self-awareness has been particularly important amidst the global economic crisis and backlash against Wall Street.

Be prepared for a LOT more backlash, Blankfein – WE, the people are FED up with you, Wall Street in general and Goldman Sachs in particular.

“I tell people here, ‘We’re going to get through this crisis. However you perform now–well or badly–we’re going to get through it. But how you behave will affect your reputation for the rest of your career. Do you show courage or not? Do you act big or small? Are you a statesperson or are you selfish? Everybody’s going to notice and remember.”

Thanks to Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone we know EXACTLY how GS is going to get through it.

Never thought Rolling Stone would be the 1st place I’d look for honest and indepth reporting on Wall Street, but apparently they are one of the very few not owned and operated by Goldman Sachs.

Posted By Courtney Los Angeles CA : July 2, 2009 6:31 pm
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Pattie SellersPatricia Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Can Meg Whitman Save California?", Melinda Gates ("The $100 Billion Woman"), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). And she has broken ground with insightful pieces on career management issues such as ego ("Get Over Yourself!"), and "Charisma: Do You Need It? Can You Get It?" Pattie chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. And she has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" cover package since its launch in 1998. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big consumer brand companies.
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Jessica ShamboraJessica Shambora started with Fortune as a reporter in June of 2008, following a stint as assistant editor at Travel+Leisure Golf. Shambora has written for Sports Illustrated, SI Latino, Women's Health, and Triathlete. She is a frequent contributor to Postcards.
Every year Fortune and the U.S. State Department sponsor the Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership, which brings rising-star women from developing countries to the U.S. to work closely with participants of the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit - among them CEOs Andrea Jung of Avon, Ann Moore of Time Inc., and Ursula Burns of Xerox.
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