Leadership Letters
Summer Is Over….Time To Pack Up Our New Jefferies Duffel Bags And Get Back To Work!
Today marks the end of our various summer vacations, the start of our final quarter of the year and the perfect opportunity to reflect on what we all need to pack to complete a very solid year for our clients, our firm and ourselves.
Why We Love Being Part Of Jefferies
For most Wall Street Investment Banks, August 30th is a deathly quiet work day with minimal volume, action, or objectives. This was not the case at Jefferies. Yesterday the 3,324 of us spent the day raising money for our brothers and sisters in Texas who have suffered enormous hardship and heartache at the hands of Hurricane Harvey. Each of us rallied for the cause and with the great assistance of our incredible, caring, and loyal client base we raised $5,000,000! These funds will be immediately wired to many worthy and focused charities to help rescue, shelter, feed and heal our friends in Texas.
Our Millennial Summer Interns Setting the Jefferies Tone for the Month of August
Earlier this month, we asked each of our 165 global analyst and associate summer interns to set the tone for all of Jefferies by writing their own August 1st JEF Today letter. The senior leaders of Jefferies (along with the two of us) read every individual entry.
Focusing On What You Can Affect Versus Being Overwhelmed Or Frozen By The Noise
One year ago, we wrote about what we felt were the best possible ways to navigate given the cross currents we were then collectively facing in the financial and political worlds.
What We Wish We Knew When We Were Summer Interns (Yes, a long, long time ago, but still relevant)
It is that special time of year again when our Jefferies’ offices swell with super-talented, ambitious, hard-working and youthful interns from colleges and graduate schools. This year, we welcome 163 potential future superstars selected from thousands of qualified candidates.
Succeeding With Humility From Within And Confidence In Each Other Throughout
For those of us who have been in the business and at Jefferies for a decade or two or three, the evolution in our industry and in our market position has been nothing short of breathtaking.
We Work for You
This may be one of the more surprising and least obvious notes you will receive from us in your hopefully decades at Jefferies. We are reaching out to reinforce to everyone at Jefferies that you please think of the senior leaders of our firm, including the two of us in particular, as partners who work for you and not vice versa.
It Is OK To Be “Unlovable”
Just a short year ago (almost to the day) the financial markets were spiraling out of control. Oil had plummeted to scary levels, the stock market had suffered a major correction, hedge funds and long-only investors were bleeding and facing redemptions, the leveraged loan market had screeched to a halt, and the Fed was afraid to even utter the words “interest rate increase” for fear the wheels would completely fall off the cart.
Do These Traits, Characteristics, and Qualities Describe You?
2017 is upon us and the turn of the year is often a period to take stock of oneself, make new resolutions, and plan goals and aspirations for the New Year. In writing our first employee letter of calendar 2017, we have decided to reflect upon the traits, characteristics and qualities that we believe describe our most important and treasured partners at Jefferies.