Most impressive person you've encountered?

To anyone who's ever interviewed or met particularly interesting people, who was the most impressive person you've ever come across?

What made them the top 1% apart from the average? Did they have a very unique expirience or skillset? Why were you, personally, impressed?

12 Comments
 

The most impressive people I've ever met made very little impression initially and a huge impression over the long term. They had nothing to prove, so they weren't trying to show off their skills or anything. I would've thought nothing of them had it not been for the few times I did actually get to see them perform. I've met one quant at my previous job that made me think I was on stupid juice my whole life, and initally I thought nothing of him because he wasn't really trying to show off. 

Impressive people don't need validation or reinforcement of their abilities. They are just great at what they do. 

 

usernameladiesman217

The most impressive people I've ever met made very little impression initially and a huge impression over the long term. They had nothing to prove, so they weren't trying to show off their skills or anything. I would've thought nothing of them had it not been for the few times I did actually get to see them perform. I've met one quant at my previous job that made me think I was on stupid juice my whole life, and initally I thought nothing of him because he wasn't really trying to show off. 

Impressive people don't need validation or reinforcement of their abilities. They are just great at what they do. 

I don’t know about that I’ve met impressive people with and without an ego. I don’t think there’s a huge correlation either way

 

most impressive people were probably some top MDs that just had aura. First day you walk into your internship/interview/job and people would just tell you how much of a big swinging dick those guys were.

and u can just tell from the way they communicate and speak. How they are able to hold the room. I think that is what most impresses me these days. No amount of pedigree with degrees, schooling, polish really impress me. 

Internal > External.

 

Real Gs move in silence like lasagna 

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I've always found it impressive, without exception, when someone rises to the top after starting from some of the toughest places imaginable. Haven't met him personally, but there was some MD/Partner at a NYC bank (somewhere 2005-2015) from an African country who once gave an interview saying he used to go to school barefoot as a kid, somehow ended up applying to a U.S. university, and the rest was history (think he was at GS, but unsure)

I also find it inspiring when people overcome drug abuse, violent lifestyles, or come from abusive or traumatic backgrounds and still manage to build themselves into something (met more people with such stories). Same goes for the Asians/Indians/Africans who come from extreme poverty with no guidance yet somehow made it (some more, some less, but for sure all of them are doing better than the life they would have had if they stayed in their starting point). 

I do like those stories because it shows the best of raw human nature: grit, endurance, and the will to rise above what your environment tries to limit you, almost like a test of how much a human can achieve starting from 0 (or sometimes even negative). So I find that infinitely more inspiring and respectable than whatever privileged guy in Silicon Valley with a father who was an ex-IBM director or a diamond mine owner achieves, even if his startup is worth 1 tn. and all FT/CNBC/WSJ talks about him (which is just capitalist degeneracy at the end of the day).

incentives trumph ethics
 

Yeah, I think that kind of story takes the cake. Easy to appear impressive when you've grown up around bankers, PE people, etc. and it has always felt natural. Fucking insane to think of growing up in a war torn african country and still beating/competing with people who were handed everything. 

 

I was dropping off a paper in B School to the faculty offices and walked by Gene Fama. He rightly had a "who the f is this guy staring at?" look on his face. Might as well have been my version of Taylor Swift/Mick Jagger etc etc

 

Bill F---ing Murray. 

If you know, you know. If not, I recommend watching Caddyshack, and both Ghostbusters movies to start.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

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