Do I Tell My Associate He Might Not Get VP
I’m a senior analyst, and my group head called me asking my opinion of one of the Associates who is up for VP soon. He is honestly terrible – friendly and nice to work with and pushes back on unreasonable deadlines which is great, but can’t build an LBO, struggles through a DCF, can’t make realistic, defensible assumptions for a model, etc. Of course those are analyst workstreams, but the Associate cannot step in whatsoever and can’t present the analysis to a client.
The group head straight up told me he thinks the Associate might not be VP material due to a lack of analytical finance skills, but wanted to confirm with someone who works with the Associate everyday. I didn’t know what to say, so I just said “yeah they usually pitch me the analytical work and focus on other workstreams, so I’m not totally sure.” It sounds like the Associate is basically on the chopping block and might not get the VP promote. Do I sit him down privately and tell him what the group head told me, and encourage him to figure it out? Or just let it go? For reference the Associate is post-MBA in his mid-30s and is one of my closer work-friends.
There is no upside to the action you are considering - just focus on yourself
I'd tell you to fuck the bank and let your work-bro know, but downside risk is too high. You don't know how the associate might react - he might go confront the group head, who will end up realizing that you snitched, and then you'd be in trouble too.
For me as example, There has been a lot of things going behind me, especially those underground communities under web3.
I have been supplying so many ideas and knowledges, meanwhile results proven solutions for complex issues. But still, I am being treated as AI without pay, and some are treating it as charity , and meanwhile suffering sophisticated cybercrime to milk my data for lowering down living cost or discount.
All of these just simply because no communication, no one approached me.
I am so sick of these, a relocation to #nyc would be better for now.
what the fuck are you talking about
If he's really such a good friend that you know he won't react in a way that allows the MD to figure out you shared a private convo, then its OK to tell him.
But you need to be sure of that . . that he won't purposefully or accidentally reveal the fact that you told him.
You also probably need to twist the story a small bit because he won't love the fact that you looked the other way when the MD asked you about his technical chops. But that's easy enough to gloss over.
Its a pretty high bar. But if he can meet that bar, let him know.
Don't talk to him about this.
You tell him he might not get promoted and he gets the promote -> you look bad for "speaking behind his back"
You tell him he might not get promoted and he doesn't get the promote -> you look bad as he will think you didn't bat for him
You don't tell him and he gets the promote -> you celebrate together
You don't tell him and he doesn't get the promote -> you grief together
I'd do it but I'm an idiot.
I luhhhh my bros and am big on normalizing normal human behavior within IB/PE, such as giving your buddy a heads up that he should shine up his resume. You're not going to change the situation, if he's a reasonable dude that you really do trust, I'd put my neck out and give him a heads up because I want people to treat me that way and truly believe that if you're an upstanding dude who sticks up for his teammates, yeah there might be small situations where you get punished for it, but in the broader scheme of life you'll ultimately be realized as a good dude and hopefully get the benefit of the doubt when you need it yourself.
But again, I'm an ideologue idiot. "Be selfish" is typically always the most low-risk option...
Everyone here is so heartless … if he is really a friend, why not give him a friendly heads up? Can say you heard a rumor they don’t have enough VP seats or something if you don’t want to share your source, but might as well let him get a running start on networking and updating his resume.
If I was laid off / pushed out and found out that someone I consider a friend not only knew but supported the decision and didn’t give me a heads up, I’d be irate.
I know this is a competitive industry and everything but doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch the back of people that you’re close to
this seems pretty simple. tell him you overheard a conversation between two mds that you think might've been about him. use your imagination based on the dynamics of your office
im sure theres a way to both give this guy a crucial heads up (so he can start recruiting or maybe somehow salvaging his performance) without exposing yourself to risk