Boss of Goldman Sachs doesn't know what the word PERFORMANCE means.
Chris Shambrook
Common sense Performance Psychology applied with uncommon commitment. Helping you get better at getting better. 6 Olympic Games and 25 years of Coaching across multiple commercial sectors.
So, the CEO of Goldman Sachs has said this in response to a group of employees raising concerns about their 95 hour working week.
"Just remember: if we all go an extra mile for our client, even when we feel that we're reaching our limit, it can really make a difference in our performance"
And he's so right. It can really make a difference to our PERFORMANCE, but he's actually saying, "this makes a difference to our RESULTS" and he's not thinking at all about the impact upon the PERFORMANCE of the people brave enough to join Goldman Sachs on their mission of customer delight, whatever the cost to self.
His actual quote needs building on to show the impact on PERFORMANCE when pushing on when at our limits.
1. Fatigue levels are extremely high so decision making is likely to be compromised and ability to collaborate with good grace severely reduced.
2. When constantly working in this overstretched way, stress levels are high and the most likely response physiologically is to start experiencing disturbed sleep patterns, reduced gut health, reduced energy levels, and impaired immune function, to name a few.
3. When in this state, mental health is severely compromised, typically associated with increases in feelings of dissociation, feeling trapped, helplessness, depression and many more.
4. Motivation will be seriously compromised with reductions in sense of autonomy. Confidence will be anchored totally on RESULTS so will be incredibly vulnerable to external influence, and most people will feel isolated and disconnected because they're probably just hunkering down, trying not to be the person who screws up.
There's more we can outline with regards to impact upon performance when such a disregard of the cost of this kind of RESULTS obsessed ways of working is at the heart of a culture.
Times are changing and people are realising they didn't join organisations to be part of a global competition in who can burn out their employees the quickest in the pursuit of profit for the few.
Imagine if people were coming to work being physically abused, being given substances to eat that poisoned them and being assaulted regularly to the extent that the body was being damaged in a way that required medical treatment. We know that wilfully causing harm is not acceptable in any form, yet these kinds of quotes are still emerging from the mouths of leaders.
And while we're here... workshops on mental health awareness, resilience and psychological safety should not now be the order of the day in organisations like this. This is the equivalent of giving non-swimmers swimming lessons at the point they're about to take their final breath having not been told their job involved swimming.
Times are changing and those organisations that are serious about the PERFORMANCE of the people they're privileged to employ will be looking forward to sustainable results in the future that they're proud to have delivered.
Success comes in many forms and I'm sure there's not many organisations that are currently aiming to top the charts in both profit and percentage of burned out employees.
If you want to play a different way, then let's talk about a new way of working and what it means to seek a different, more compassionate and rewarding kind of success.
https://www.planetk2.com/playing-from-the-heart-planetk2-performance-programmes/
Senior Consultant, RADIUS LAW
3 年Completely right answer - younger people may not be enticed by high salaries if they require submission to the sort of abuse outlined..
Supporting the psychological development, well-being and performance of amazing human beings.
3 年I love how you’ve written “the people you have the privilege to employ” ... many leaders would do well to adopt that perspective...
Rocket Coaching - Business Coaching, Coaching the Coach, Career Coaching, & Sales Coaching, Conference Speaker, Motivational Speaker
3 年Fantastic challenge Chris, sorry to say there seems to be very little to celebrate from to performance climate at Goldman Sachs.. ?? typically they use the Ends justify the means.. personally thought those ideas were left in the 1970’s but still they linger on. #WhatIsValue?
Global Recruitment Lead @ Launch Global / The Leadership Collective - International Recruiter / Executive Search Consultant / 28 Years Experience / Clearing Recruiting Headaches Since 1998
3 年Great article Chris, I thought the comments of the CEO were pretty damning - but there was a time when I probably would have had a different view - before I personally experienced the results of this kind of work ethic on my own health.
??Thinking critically about leadership. Decision-making | Executive Coaching | Critical Thinking | Board Director APECS
3 年Nothing much seems to have changed in this industry (with a few exceptions), certainly since I joined it in 1996..we'll get you super stressed, create toxic work relationships and incentive structures that generate goal conflict within and across teams, demand far too much of you, use ￡ as the primary (only) motivational tool....then when you're on your knees we'll give you the best private medical cover to help you cope well with the stress we created. Plus a few programmes to become resilient to our system (I like the swimming analogy). Problem is - there are structural forces within this industry that maintain this myopic 'output' focus which is mostly blind to the holistic development of the individual.