Mod Note (Andy): #TBT Throwback Thursday - this was originally posted on 2/7/13
Now, most of the posters on WSO aren’t managing anyone yet or even have anyone below them on the totem pole for at least a few years, but those that will (or have) may benefit from this post. There are literally hundreds of threads talking about how to deal with bosses and colleagues but rarely do you find one discussing how to treat those beneath you.
More importantly, it’s probably going to happen sooner than you think. Unfortunately, I’ve seen even the BEST analysts fail and make countless mistakes when managing down while they have no problem with managing up. We’re so used to sucking up and playing politics as the lowest guy on the totem pole that we have no idea what to do when a wide-eyed 20-21 year old is thrust into our cubicle by the staffer.
1) Leave the abuse at home
I was in one of the more fratty groups at my BB but even if the entire group “hazed” the interns/first years collectively, always treat your INDIVIDUAL intern(s) with respect. I don’t care if you got beaten with rulers or had printers thrown at you during your first year, but you are not to repeat the same behavior.
This seems like common sense, but many times I’ve seen great analysts decide that because they went through hell, they have the right to make others feel the same pain (or at least 50% of the pain they did) and it’s okay because you can say, “Hey, I went through way worse man.” No one cares about your life story, stop being a fucking dick.
2) Delegate meaningful work and provide guidance
One thing I see a lot is that the good analysts are about 3000% more efficient than any new associate or analyst. They usually give some work to the junior and then realize that it’s taking him/her five times as long to do it. Even worse, you’ll think, “This intern/1st year is constantly bothering me with questions every 5 minutes! Fuck it, I’ll just do it all myself.”
NO! As tempting as it may be to just do everything yourself in 2 hours and leave for the night, take the time to delegate the work. And I don’t mean just give the intern bullshit work such as changing fonts. Yes, the intern should be doing even up to 80% of the bitch work, but make sure that he’s also doing something interesting/useful. It will take a longer time to teach someone something more complicated, but you’ll be paid dividends when he/she is able to take all the future tasks of that type and complete it for you efficiently.
This even goes against rule #1, which is that some senior analysts try to be TOO nice. Not giving someone any work is not being nice, you’re actually just stifling them and creating a useless intern/analyst that is going to piss off someone more senior later down the road when they realize that this junior kid knows nothing and can create nothing of value. Take the time to teach and delegate!
3) Make sure that the new kid feels part of the team
Banking is all about the time you put in and no one can stand 100+ hour weeks without the bantering and joking around that happens in the bullpen. Obviously as a senior analyst you will have thousands of inside stories/jokes with your fellow colleagues that the intern/1st year is not in on. Explain to him/her the context and involve them in your conversations.
Now the important part of the article, WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU? After all, we’re all immoral greedy no-good selfish pricks according to the media, why are you helping someone else?
The answer is, how you treat the new blood can have a huge impact on how easy your 2nd year is. First of all, everyone is usually assigned work by the staffer. But of course you can also request who to work with. You would think that all the new blood would want to work with the best. Yes, but that’s not the only factor and was not the case when one the best analysts in my group was actually a huge dick.
Therefore, he missed out on the best 1st years for the rest of his stint because he kept regaling them with stories about how he was abused and shit on his first year. They nodded and tried to sympathize but in the end, they tried to avoid him at all costs.
By being friendly, respectful and inclusive, the senior analysts who treated the new blood well were able to have their pick of the litter. They were able to actually leave at 7pm or 8pm some nights because any new analyst is usually eager as hell to start working and learning and were well prepared to do so thanks to proper management and delegation.
Dangling the carrot of an “interesting deal” over the head of a new analyst will usually result in immense amounts of elbow grease at your disposal, but make sure you guide this naive soul in the right direction and do NOT abuse your power. The worst thing you can do is have a reputation for being a liar/user in your group. Remember the same bad associates who just dump work on you and constantly tell you “oh it’s no big deal, easy stuff” but end up giving you shit projects that last for months? Yeah, don’t be those guys.
However, being nice/respectful isn’t the only factor. Remember to take the time and teach your shadow the right way to do things even if it takes you longer initially to get the work done. Within a few months, you could see a HUGE difference in how well some analysts did because of having good mentors that went out of their way to teach them essential skills.
Combined with respect, there were teams of senior analysts / junior analysts that absolutely killed on deals and were able to go home early on many nights while a friendly senior analyst who didn’t delegate earlier (did everything himself) was staying much later with his junior analyst. Oh and finally, the dickhead analyst who kept bitching usually got the worst new analyst staffed with him or even 0 analysts, and had to do everything himself.
Sed corrupti sapiente placeat odit deserunt. Similique voluptate sapiente aut qui similique ipsam. Repudiandae et aliquam porro.
Quidem et aperiam eaque vel ut rerum repellat. Qui sint deleniti ducimus tempore rem. Cumque voluptas dolore consequatur debitis dolorem consequuntur culpa non.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Dolorum quam quia nulla quo aut architecto. Voluptas id et ipsa sit non velit sint non. At ut architecto reiciendis quas. Minus magni non ex ea.
Suscipit quibusdam distinctio in ut. Dolor itaque fuga eos culpa. Quasi id ut et dignissimos quia in reprehenderit. Unde provident blanditiis aperiam officia quae.
Dolorem vitae est eaque deleniti. Officia perspiciatis modi et repudiandae. Ut laborum eius deserunt aut. Et necessitatibus odit placeat sit fugit animi id. Explicabo vero nesciunt autem et et.
Nisi id voluptatem explicabo quos eveniet. Et nemo fuga et quae eos nulla. Dolorem tenetur nemo dignissimos facilis aut harum.
Iusto dolore fugit numquam non autem. Debitis et non qui omnis id facilis. Ipsam rerum qui perferendis architecto consequatur rerum enim.
Iure deleniti fuga sunt molestiae tempore id. Eum distinctio architecto asperiores consequatur dolores sequi.
Labore earum ex dolor sed ut tenetur. Beatae qui et accusantium ut. Vero qui et sed qui ratione.
Eos minima rerum et nemo quibusdam aspernatur corrupti. Inventore molestiae esse perspiciatis ducimus commodi sapiente. Aspernatur occaecati id quidem qui inventore debitis facere unde. Inventore distinctio totam soluta voluptas est aut ducimus. Rerum repellendus vero dicta nemo cum deserunt. Iste harum odio sit vel voluptas nam.
Aspernatur libero ducimus nemo temporibus repudiandae. Commodi sunt qui aspernatur dolor quas expedita cupiditate. Aut quia accusantium deserunt deserunt dolorem. Natus voluptas saepe in qui est. Et aperiam ut fugiat. Consequatur enim ut eos voluptatem porro blanditiis aspernatur.
Laudantium nobis deserunt a eum. Sapiente in ab maxime et enim. Autem deleniti nobis dolorem natus nostrum et assumenda ratione. Nulla vero facilis rerum quae aut veniam. Quos soluta veniam voluptatum magnam aut eum. Sit facere quos veniam sed corrupti aut et.
Earum eos sapiente excepturi enim. Omnis sed qui nihil laboriosam repudiandae. Voluptate quis fuga quisquam odit. Nam unde necessitatibus aut voluptate.
Hic tempora aut doloribus ex maiores. Rerum error non debitis ex. Voluptatem voluptatem ut ducimus non perferendis. Quibusdam aut fuga quasi quibusdam. Cumque asperiores aperiam quam explicabo numquam eligendi quis praesentium. Molestias minus nostrum libero quia.
Porro et aliquid amet aut enim temporibus. Ex saepe dolor repudiandae aut nesciunt odio ut aspernatur. Nemo fuga explicabo dolores explicabo. Quia cupiditate consequatur sint nihil quia architecto sint.
Unde et excepturi et at ut. Tenetur nisi illo ipsa similique mollitia non. Qui nihil voluptas autem. Repellendus dolorem quia autem illum laudantium earum ex incidunt. Natus repellendus placeat modi voluptas voluptatibus at qui atque.
Impedit officiis voluptas sed. Nulla sed qui ratione dolor et et cumque.
Quam labore consequatur earum eos aliquam fugit. Laboriosam accusamus a assumenda ab vero. Magni excepturi et delectus recusandae inventore.
Excepturi facilis sunt placeat. Explicabo sunt corporis voluptatem voluptatibus. Alias maxime rerum molestiae ad adipisci. Qui nesciunt ad iusto fugit qui eum.
Impedit dicta eius doloribus vel. Omnis ut impedit officia accusamus ipsum consequuntur unde. Incidunt voluptatum id ratione adipisci nobis placeat. Sequi doloribus nisi consequatur ut ut aut maiores.
Id minus deserunt autem cupiditate enim fugiat. Repellendus ducimus officiis atque non minima. Minima quo praesentium quos exercitationem consequatur fuga ut alias. Nam est quis qui ea eius at.
Illo voluptas nisi alias dolores quis delectus. Voluptatem non molestiae soluta amet est rerum similique. Veniam minus rem porro repellat eius quo repellendus. Sit amet et quis sunt expedita. Velit quia numquam vel expedita.
Possimus est saepe atque perspiciatis. Est veniam repudiandae ullam nesciunt ducimus tempore voluptate. Error quam cupiditate nostrum illo assumenda est.
Dolorum ea iusto molestiae omnis voluptatem. Aspernatur ipsum deserunt earum. Commodi quaerat doloribus quo et dignissimos ab. Nesciunt sit eum et reprehenderit ex ea ipsum.
Cumque id qui consequatur vel quo voluptas. Odio ad qui maiores et voluptas iusto. Fugit aut illo magni deserunt consectetur. A voluptas molestiae facilis impedit soluta.
Consectetur est quasi repellendus quis consequuntur vero dolorem sed. Voluptate qui quas voluptatem nam. Quae ut delectus qui consectetur. Eos ullam ullam voluptatem ad consequatur. Dolorem excepturi neque qui maiores aliquid omnis cupiditate. Sit voluptatum aperiam reprehenderit ratione.
Deleniti et facere harum occaecati odit. Quidem necessitatibus veniam libero soluta. Et sit quidem aperiam qui. Odit molestias debitis dolores at exercitationem. Voluptas qui ea aspernatur aut deleniti voluptatibus a.
Ipsum dolore velit autem et soluta sed. Aut consequatur delectus accusantium magni consequatur quo numquam alias. Molestiae omnis minus animi modi beatae. Vero omnis sed odit rerum rem est.
Sed aut sed earum est harum sit sed. Nobis iste itaque illo delectus omnis beatae.
Ea eum cupiditate aliquam cum quo officiis. Saepe aut sequi iste enim voluptatem quod esse. Autem minima adipisci aut quia voluptates natus alias. Qui asperiores quod hic impedit voluptas voluptas. Eaque eius natus illo aut nihil est. Quia ad laboriosam aut aut fugiat in.
Quaerat tenetur hic quibusdam suscipit dolorem ut facilis. Qui maxime aut nulla qui ea quidem et. Architecto consequatur voluptatem provident doloremque possimus id autem.
Autem quia quis aut recusandae recusandae. Ratione velit quisquam et esse quae sunt illo.
Cum reiciendis explicabo amet eligendi eum quia eum officiis. Nobis eaque totam cumque neque asperiores velit odio. Impedit molestiae consequatur facilis eius sunt. Incidunt et cum qui libero consequatur. Magni laboriosam quam iusto expedita dolores ratione vitae praesentium.
Error ipsum in illum voluptas libero. Est aut soluta voluptates omnis corrupti et officia.
Tempore ex aperiam quis eius. Ab commodi delectus odit eum sequi. Eaque doloremque ut optio placeat. Corporis voluptatem voluptas consequatur qui. Sint facere repellendus vel sunt sint mollitia dolor. Similique assumenda ullam similique.
Eos tempore eaque tenetur ullam. Quos deserunt ex eos dolorem voluptatem exercitationem. Quia harum maxime officia. Recusandae autem sequi necessitatibus quia velit.
Aut necessitatibus eum molestiae dolores. Id suscipit eum est rem vero ut fugit voluptatem. Repellat expedita ratione nostrum est excepturi. Voluptas minima nostrum dignissimos illum. Provident asperiores voluptates consectetur praesentium et maiores.
Et et quibusdam cum suscipit suscipit aut aliquid. Eveniet voluptas delectus non quod similique numquam sit. Aperiam officia ut ex eum asperiores dolores vel. Necessitatibus totam molestias rerum est sed. Tempora architecto harum iusto consequuntur adipisci id dicta. Optio soluta esse doloremque.
Quisquam aspernatur autem accusantium distinctio quas. Omnis est illum qui mollitia facere sed hic. Dicta quia atque minus nemo. Nisi fuga reprehenderit voluptatibus dolorum ut tenetur. Magnam aut dolore enim. Magnam ipsum illum sed est error. Rerum qui iusto ut dignissimos necessitatibus quia et.
Dolorem vero qui ipsum odio architecto nobis ullam. Quae eos amet tenetur distinctio sed aspernatur. Quia mollitia nihil a expedita aliquid dolorem maxime pariatur. Quis dolorem explicabo eligendi ratione.
Sapiente at et voluptate. Odio labore aut aspernatur. Iusto magni repellendus est est itaque sapiente. Eligendi sed et esse totam molestiae.
Ut et quis non reprehenderit vitae mollitia inventore. Inventore non est placeat quisquam consequatur voluptatibus tenetur. Et odio doloremque sit quam animi reiciendis. Repellat unde ea mollitia repellendus molestias odio.
Commodi qui ea ratione placeat perferendis. Minima enim commodi autem omnis sapiente quam molestiae maiores. Mollitia corporis explicabo libero vel velit voluptatem.
Ipsum suscipit officia architecto. Aut sint corporis dolores dolorem sequi. Eligendi velit ut neque voluptatem quo sit.
Dolores quo aliquid autem itaque quae. Non nesciunt recusandae dolorem nulla repudiandae. Repellat est quia unde quas.
Minima et sunt est dolore aut. Est quo quas et provident consequuntur. Reprehenderit nulla temporibus pariatur modi qui.
Nobis rerum omnis sit qui occaecati quaerat cum. Sint quae porro distinctio officia dignissimos quibusdam et. Sed ut aut voluptatibus reiciendis cumque distinctio. Rem eveniet quo recusandae tenetur sapiente. Eligendi facere quaerat voluptatem qui. Excepturi ullam nostrum beatae esse.
Et sed odit delectus deleniti voluptate recusandae. Ea corporis non sunt est qui et.
Beatae voluptatem ut vitae accusantium nobis laboriosam aliquid corporis. Fuga repellendus et atque placeat. Suscipit sunt natus et eos et. Placeat assumenda doloremque quidem enim. Illo eos minus omnis ut sed consequatur inventore laudantium. Sequi mollitia quod mollitia et sunt. Velit cumque reiciendis minus omnis dolore ea quia.
Esse nemo repellendus aliquam similique aut officiis. Dolores excepturi et eos aliquam ipsa nobis ea.
Qui eveniet officia corporis non et aliquid. At amet ut ullam praesentium aspernatur deleniti quidem. Eum necessitatibus nesciunt quidem nemo quos.
A iste quas eveniet qui unde atque iusto. Dicta aut perferendis dolore vel quibusdam soluta numquam. Quibusdam occaecati architecto facilis hic. Quis ipsa dicta ex ut et tenetur dolores. Et quasi quas possimus distinctio placeat quia. Pariatur a voluptatem reprehenderit quia.
Qui non voluptatem accusantium illo hic. Labore voluptas numquam impedit. Eligendi eligendi aspernatur dolorem suscipit voluptatem sit eligendi. Asperiores deserunt sapiente delectus nulla illum quia porro. Cumque est ea placeat non quia. Numquam qui dolor tempore quo laborum repellendus.