Getting to no

My name is Jonathan Franco, and getting to Alpha involves plenty of painful and uncomfortable questions. Questions the majority of Wall st is unwilling to answer. I took the Jesse Livermore approach. I come to you today with an open mind asking WSO how does someone like me who is not willing to be a yes man and unwilling to agree with everyone find a seat at the table? A bad business model can be attributed to failing to ask the simple question, "what's true?". In my search for I've come to the realization that the majority of Wall st has honed the skill of office politics. Although i have great respect for the Wall st culture i feel that if we want better than average returns there are simply little leaks in our financial boat that are blind sighted by the new culture of our business. If i learned anything it's because i've made the mistake of ignorance, hope, fear and greed. They all came from thinking i was right and having further biased analysis backed up by my ego. I've learned to always prepare for the worst because the worst will happen when you least expect it. I've only followed the advice of wisdom and it has left me with a failing grade in office politics and an A+ in market analysis. But isn't that what successful investing is? To be greedy when others are fearful and vice versa. So how does someone like me get a chance to really show the world how to get to Alpha? I write this purely for understanding and to gain better knowledge in search of Alpha, i take a look around and the majority is consumed in beta.

10/10 would invest in your fund

Franco, this is GS HR. We liked your profile and would like you to come in for an interview with two of our VPs from our TMT teams next week. Please PM me your credit card number for a credit check.

-GS HR

This is some of the most abstract stuff I've read in a long time. Unfortunately/fortunately, you've mentioned some valid points, but your inability to effectively convey what you think, your excessive use of buzzwords and philosophical ramblings make it difficult to take you seriously.

It's not easy to approach your post OP.

The dynamics that govern someone's personality and how it interacts with various environments are so vast and complex, that it's difficult to pinpoint where to start in determining how you get to your specific goal of being a confident non-yes man.

Most people simply conform to the herd mentality because they are not strong enough to stand on their own and confidently articulate their thoughts and opinions in an understandable manner to support themselves. In a sense, it's easier to just shut up and color.

Not everyone has the ability to do that and it's no fault of your own. Everyone develops differently in life and we make do with whatever our strengths and weaknesses are. But I would advise you to take a VERY introspective (being completely honest with your faults) and analytical approach to how you are interacting with the people you feel you shouldn't be a "yes man" around. It's usually not a matter of whether you are a yes-man or not but how you conduct/present yourself that matters because that's what your co-workers have to interact and mesh with.

Do they trust you? If so, why? If not, why? Do you have concrete and solid reasons to support your positions if challenged? Are you realistic? Overly-negative? Overly-positive? Do you remain calm when discussing work-related topics? Or defensive? Do you get anxiety? Do you perform very well at your job? How good are you at looking at multiple perspectives beyond your own and factoring them into your own thoughts and conclusions? What are your personal feelings on the value of ego, how it can affect your decisions, and how vulnerable it can make you? Are you more concerned with being right for the sake of being right or more concerned with being fair?

This is a journey only you can embark on because it's about self-discovery. Everyone is always continually trying to develop themselves, some for the better, some for the worse. Just be brutally honest with yourself, understand your flaws (which I'm sure you have), and fix them up to be a better person. Everything will naturally fall into place, just don't be afraid to do it.

This is OP: https://www.reddit.com/r/starterpacks/comments/44u3dj/guy_who_calls_him…