What is the Secret Sauce of Success?

Short Answer: Passion and Flexibility!

Over the years, I have mentored and provided career advice to many individuals that have crossed my path. And each time, my advice has always been straightforward! Focus all your energies on areas that give you maximal satisfaction but realize that the journey will require lots of tasks and responsibilities that don’t neatly fit into your fun bucket!

In other words, to be an Olympic runner, a person has to consume healthy foods, forego some enjoyable snacks, require lots of rest, and even giving up some late-night partying. In my case, deciding at the young age of 13 that I wanted to be an Economist, meant long study hours, learning competing economic theories that I disagreed with, and becoming familiar with historical studies that I didn’t think were particularly relevant for me. This is why being flexible and learning to appreciate the spinach along with the foods we love, need to part of an individual’s long-term plan.

On May 18, 2021, JPMorgan, (a company I spent 25 years working as a Global Chief Economist for one of its divisions until my retirement in 2019) announced that two of their highest-ranking women (Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak) would be taking on new responsibilities as co-heads of the massive Consumer & Community Banking Business.

Does anyone think that either of those individuals perceives those positions as their end game? Of course not, but both individuals are likely to embrace those responsibilities with open arms as they are fully cognizant that this is the path required to gain the keys to the top job when the current CEO, Jamie Dimon decides to retire.

Believe it or not, the strategy for every career is not much different! Focus like a laser beam on an industry, or profession that is consistent with your passion, and then do whatever you must do to attain your end goal. If that means taking on projects that don’t look like fun but offer the potential to get you to your desired destination --- throw all your energies in that direction.

When I started my first job on Wall Street working as a Trading floor Senior Economist for Barclays, (after receiving my Ph.D. in Economics, then working as a University Professor and finally working as an Economist for the Federal Reserve,) at the young age of 34, I was asked to make daily copies of the morning commentary written by the Chief Economist and then pass them out to all the fixed income traders. It was not an enjoyable task, but I knew that it would allow me to interact with the traders and learn what was on their minds and more importantly a way to become more familiar with the trading floor.

Rather than becoming discouraged, I convinced myself that this was part of my job and a way to pay my dues and keep my eye on the big prize of either moving up within the organization or bid my time until another company allowed me to realize my dream position. Just three years later, a recruiter called and convinced me to take a Chief Economist position with JPMorgan.

Once again, the secret sauce of success is to select an area that overlaps with your passion while retaining sufficient flexibility. Of course, we must always keep our feet on the ground and be realistic. One cannot expect to become a brain surgeon without completing medical school and a residency requirement but once we know the price of admission into our target career, being nimble and relentless in our efforts are truly the keys to success!

Every person that achieves their dream job will always tell you if they are honest, that the things they did during the early stages of their career were not always reflective of their dream job. But one thing they will always tell you is that if they refused to embrace those responsibilities (within reason of course), it would have all but guaranteed an end to their career dreams!

For this reason, no one will doubt that Ms. Marianne Lake and Ms. Jennifer Piepszak will both embrace the opportunity to serve as Co-Heads of JPMorgan’s Consumer and Community line of business!

We wish both women the very best along their journey to the top position!