As an analyst at Goldman I was fortunate to work with two top associates.
Goldman Australia was a small office at the time, a dozen or so crack troops who absurdly thought of ourselves like SEAL Team Six.
We were the elite of the elite, we had to be.
To get the only job Goldman offered in Australia in my year, I had the best grades— likely of anyone in the country.
Joining Goldman I thought I was the bees knees. Little did I know I had only been playing baby bee.
I was lucky to work with two leaders (both went on to run big businesses) who day and night showed me that to keep playing on this team I had to keep raising the bar.
In school I thought I had worked around the clock, but watching the sunrise from my seat on the 48th floor of the Governor Phillip Tower overlooking Sydney Harbour, at Goldman I learned this was literal. I had another 20 to 30 hours a week in me.
I thought I had strong attention to detail and I set for myself incredibly high standards, but they showed me there was a higher level.
Although I was regularly working 100+ hour weeks, I absolutely loved that first year at Goldman, testing and pushing my limits.
A new standard had been set for me and I was 100% engaged in meeting it.
While this led me to great results, being promoted early to associate after just two years, the greater benefit was learning I could keep pushing my limits.
This is the power of setting for yourself higher and higher standards.
Often people tell me that they are doing everything they can to get what they want, but it only takes them about three minutes with me to realize they have been playing JV.
My job is to develop processes and tools that drive top human performance and help others reach this standard.
Unlike my Goldman days, however, I show them how to work less to get there…