Many of us at a time once had aspirations to work at a top-ranking financial firm, Goldman Sachs is a name we respect anytime. But there were steps Goldman Sachs took to climb up that ladder, to be a part of our dreams. I intend to share some of those steps that I discovered.

Goldman Sachs before it’s financial crises was maybe the most esteemed investment bank in the U.S, at the time. What was behind Goldman Sachs? Principles!
Number one, making money always, and no exceptions. Nothing was done for prestige, but indirectly, of course, they want prestige because that would help the business.

Number two, sense of loyalty, absolute loyalty to the firm, and to the partnership.

Number three, personal anonymity, this is like a core value to the firm. You don’t go around flaunting your name, you flaunt Goldman Sachs. This was the Goldman Sachs culture and it worked! According to Charles Ellis, in his book called “The Partnership”, the real culture of Goldman Sachs was a unique blend of a drive to make money and the characteristics of a family, in ways that the Chinese, Arabs, and old Europeans would well-understand.

John Whitehead (1922–2015) was the chairman of Goldman Sachs for 38 years. Some of his guidelines were,
1. The boss usually decides — not the assistant.
As a young/new employee at Goldman Sachs, if you need to pull some strings and you call up a big company, you demand not to talk to the Assistant Treasurer/whoever, but the CEO or someone with a high rank. That nerve wasn’t magical, because Whitehead already made it clear that, “you’re at Goldman Sachs, you talk to the CEO”

2. You never learn anything when you’re talking. So, asides from the pride that comes with working at Goldman Sachs, John Whitehead also wants you to be a good listener.

3. The respect of one person is worth more than an acquaintance with 100.

4. There’s nothing worse than having an unhappy client. Goldman Sachs has had days of dishonest marketing, but they found ways to make the client satisfied. Goldman Sachs was reported in the news some time ago to have paid $5 billion for dishonest marketing of mortgage securities. This principle protects its reputation.