You are on page 1of 3

Goldman Sach believed that its people have driven its success for 130 yrs and the

best way to leverage that advantage is through recruiting, training, & mentoring people Goldmans Management Committee had selected a diverse, e perienced group to form the !eadership "evelopment #dvisory Committee$ %heir official charter was to&assess the future training and development needs of Goldman 'achs, with particular focus on the need for a more systematic and effective approach to developing managing directors (M"s)$ #fter si months of brainstorming, discussions with Goldman 'achs colleagues, interviewing e perts, and benchmar*ing best practices, the Committee was scheduled to outline its plan for the Management Committee$ +n the investment ban*ing sector during 1,,0 there were number of mergers and ac-uisition which were result of tremendous mar*et potential, deriving out of technology advancement, dotcom boom etc$ (this resulted in war for talent) %hough Goldman 'achs remained an employer of choice for many graduates, it was not immune to broader industry dynamics$ %he companys ob.ective was growth on all fronts, both to ta*e advantage of new opportunities and to maintain and e tend its competitive position among leading full/service investment ban*s$ Structure: #s the number of partners increased the firm named 00 new partners between 1,,0 and 1,,1 alone, the decision ma*ing structure evolved as well$ +n 1,,2, Goldman replaced the 13/member Management Committee with a new, si / member 4 ecutive Committee whose members spo*e for the firm as a whole which was later changed to 12 members committee$ 5ar more than other investment ban*s, Goldman relied on teams of two or even three line managers to .ointly lead departments and divisions$ 6hich had an advantage as 5irst, it allowed the firm to ma imi7e the benefit of complementary s*ill sets$ 'econd, having multiple &co/heads8 with different lengths of service made transitions easier by guaranteeing built/in overlap$ 5inally, small leadership teams increased representation and ownership, and the e tra leadership opportunities helped retain top players Culture: %eam wor* and shared accomplishment were most valued, &feedbac* see*ing8 behaviour and an openness to criti-ue$ #lumni too* pride in associating their name with G'$ Human Capital: %he firm choose high achievers which they generally termed as gold stars$ 5ocus was on team i$e$ &we8 rather than &+8

Leadership Development: 9istorically, Goldman 'achs managers learned how to lead by apprenticeship, by wor*ing closely with other senior leaders within the firm$ 'upport for this mentorship$

%hroughout 1,10s and 1,,0s professional development happened almost entirely on .ob Most development was handled informally and decentrali7ed across business units #s Goldmans rapid e pansion continued, some e ecutives came to believe that a more systematic approach to leader development was re-uired but the biggest -uestion was team culture to a recognition that everything really starts with outstanding leadership$ 'o the -uestion became how to establish a leadership culture within what is already a well/established team culture Co/C:: ;ohn %hornton had admired ;ac* 6elchs success at General 4lectric$ 9e was particularly impressed with G4s ability to grow leaders through innovations such as &wor*outs8 (intensive team/based problem/solving sessions) and creative developmental programs at G4s Croton centre$ G4s approach to leadership development aimed not only to train managers, but to align individual and team practice with company strategy and to reward good performance$ %ogether with %hain and %hornton, a small group of senior Goldman leaders began to build a case
i$ ii$ iii$ iv$

!eadership "evelopment #dvisory Committee< %he committee determined that G' approach to professional development should be guided by four *ey ob.ectives which are
Developing the firms key asset< Winning the War for Talent< Building a cadre of outstanding leaders< Maintaining quality and cultural strength amidst rapid growth<

5or the ne t few month s e tensive data was collected through surveys and best in class firms on how they developed their leaders Key Issues: =ather than simply adopting what wor*ed for other companies, the Committee decided to synthesi7e the best practices research with what Goldman managers themselves defined as the most important elements of leadership, and build the program from the ground up$ Form and location/6here would the programme be physically located Faculty/%alented ban*ers may not be talented teachers Content and format- 6hat topics should be covered> 6hat types of interventions are most effective> 6hose model of leadership should be adopted> Method/ +n addition to classroom instruction, what other types of developmental e periences should be included in the !eadership "evelopment #dvisory Committees proposal Target Audience/ 6ho should be developed, with whom, and why> Committee members *new that their primary focus was to be on Goldmans managing directors, a relatively new but rapidly growing and increasingly diverse group of senior leaders$ Governance and sponsorship/ =egardless of content and design, who should own leadership development within Goldman 'achs and how should it be organi7ed>

=esolving each individual design -uestion was one thing$ ?roposing an integrated and systematic leadership development approach@one that the Management Committee would support@was -uite another$ 6hatever the !eadership "evelopment #dvisory Committee proposed, it would have to meet the ultimate test< 6ould the program be perceived as worthwhile enough to compel an e tremely accomplished and demanding group of Goldman 'achs M"s to attend> 6ould it persuade hard/nosed ban*ers to leave their des*s and invest precious time focusing on what many perceived as &soft8 issues> 9ow do you measure the return on investment of such a program>

You might also like