Lessons From Wall Street

I’m ex-corporate, Wall Street to be specific. I got in early when it was still quiet, and worked through lunch. I didn’t have time for friendly conversation. Even though I worked for companies that I believed in and knew that the products and services we provided our customers were good, the financial world was in no way a core part of my life or my thinking.

One of the reasons I left corporate was to do things my way. I wanted to create products and services that I believed in. It was important to me that I knew my customers and that the work I did had a direct impact on them, their businesses and ultimately their lives.

I was tired of working so hard for a company and promoting their way of thinking.

When I left Wall Street I left everything it represented to me behind.

It was a good decision for me. I have built a business that I love. I have written two books, worked with hundreds of clients, created numerous programs, and had a direct (and positive) impact on people’s businesses and lives. Yet, one thing that I constantly struggle with is getting the work that I need to do done. I know that if I could be as productive as I was on Wall Street I would accomplish so much more.

An interesting topic came up while I was speaking with a client of mine.

He had just come back from a workshop and told me that, even though he’s been running a business for years he doesn’t remember working as hard as he did during this workshop since his days in corporate.

We wondered why that was.

Like me, he has a corporate background. We talked about how he was, in his words, “programmed” to churn out the work.

If his boss asked him for something he would do it. He hit impossible deadlines and managed to complete projects that there was simply no reasonable way to get done. He was programmed to find a way but now as his own boss he doesn’t.

When I left Wall Street towards the end of 2002, I put it all behind me. I declared to myself that I would never be the person who commuted each day and lived the life of an employee. I would never answer to someone else. I gave it all up. I believed that everything I learned and did was part of another life and nothing I would ever want to do again.

Now I realize that some of the “programming” that I got in corporate was actually good, especially when it comes to getting the job done. In corporate shifting deadlines isn’t an option. Neither is deciding to skip something because you don’t have time.

Yes, you might not like the attitudes. You might not want to do it for someone else. You might not like a lot of things but you know what… cranking out the work really does work. Doing your work, whether you like it or not, means that you produce.

So it’s time to take yourself as seriously as you took your boss. Embrace the “programming” you had in your jobs. Set deadlines and honor them. Push yourself beyond what you think you could reasonably do.

What would you be able to do if your job depended on hitting that deadline because you know what… the success of your business really does depend on it.

What habits have you let slip away that could be helping you today? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.