An interesting article in the NYT caught my eye : it mentioned that staff at Goldman Sachs are required to keep a low profile about their extra-curricular activities. Several Goldman staffers who gave public performances in music during their leisure hours have been "encouraged" to leave the firm as this was not in line with company policies. "Bankers should behave like Bankers. You are not supposed to be known for anything else or stand out for anything besides your work" was how industry observers interpreted this stance by Goldman Sachs towards what their employees did during their leisure hours.
Several years ago at the beginning of my career in MR, I was in a similar predicament. I was very keen on learning music during my leisure hours, and I actually enrolled for music classes after office hours. Unfortunately I did not bother to keep it a secret, and very soon I started getting subtle and not-so-subtle messages that pursuing extra-curricular activities was not in line with what is expected from a junior Market Research executive - unless of course he is not serious about his career and lacks ambition. All serious and ambitious MR executives should be slogging away in the office late into the night as an indication of how seriously they took their career. I seemed to have unfortunately sent the message that I had the time to pursue a hobby - and was not keen to sharpen my professional skills.
Managing one's career is a lot about managing perceptions - especially during the formative period in the career when a person is expected to be dedicated only to his career. After the person has made his mark, then of course, one has slightly little more liberty in openly doing what one wants to do in his leisure hours.
I quickly corrected myself therefore - and made my affair with music such a closely guarded secret that not even my close colleagues were aware of it - and all because I was worried about being perceived as "non-serious" and uncommitted to my career.
Much has changed in the MR industry since then - and I am glad to say that the industry has become a lot more relaxed, and does encourage diversity in its talents. I came out of the closet a few years ago - and am no longer embarrassed about talking about my passion for music and the fact that I play the harmonium.
So, I felt a bit strange reading the NYT article - I had expected the banking industry (especially investment banking) to have evolved a lot more quickly than the MR industry - but then life is always full of surprises.
Several years ago at the beginning of my career in MR, I was in a similar predicament. I was very keen on learning music during my leisure hours, and I actually enrolled for music classes after office hours. Unfortunately I did not bother to keep it a secret, and very soon I started getting subtle and not-so-subtle messages that pursuing extra-curricular activities was not in line with what is expected from a junior Market Research executive - unless of course he is not serious about his career and lacks ambition. All serious and ambitious MR executives should be slogging away in the office late into the night as an indication of how seriously they took their career. I seemed to have unfortunately sent the message that I had the time to pursue a hobby - and was not keen to sharpen my professional skills.
Managing one's career is a lot about managing perceptions - especially during the formative period in the career when a person is expected to be dedicated only to his career. After the person has made his mark, then of course, one has slightly little more liberty in openly doing what one wants to do in his leisure hours.
I quickly corrected myself therefore - and made my affair with music such a closely guarded secret that not even my close colleagues were aware of it - and all because I was worried about being perceived as "non-serious" and uncommitted to my career.
Much has changed in the MR industry since then - and I am glad to say that the industry has become a lot more relaxed, and does encourage diversity in its talents. I came out of the closet a few years ago - and am no longer embarrassed about talking about my passion for music and the fact that I play the harmonium.
So, I felt a bit strange reading the NYT article - I had expected the banking industry (especially investment banking) to have evolved a lot more quickly than the MR industry - but then life is always full of surprises.
3 comments:
thoughtful writing - in fact in all the fields they must encourage music as it is a stress buster. music helps be more creative :)
I think... yeah as you say here, it is all about perception. If the employee knows to separate his 'professional' passion from his 'personal' passion and switch accordingly and appropriately depending on his working or leisure hours, then the employer shouldn't worry or feel concerned. There is a need to feel concerned perhaps only when, the priorities for the two passions intermix.
The Goldman Sachs action looks strange to me. But totally agree with the perception part, especially before you prove your passion & committment to the career. And I have to say that you succeded in keeping your music passion away from us !
Post a Comment