What's the recipe for Wall Street career success?
-- Three parts gin
-- Two parts vodka
-- One part dry vermouth
If you're serious about getting ahead, teetotal at your own peril. You could be missing out on the chance to forge valuable professional connections.
As a Japanese equity and equity warrants sales broker for Merrill Lynch in London, Mark Jeffries usually skipped the group drinking binges where co-workers would regularly booze themselves into incoherence.
"I didn't like at the end of the day getting absolutely drunk. It just wasn't my way," said Jeffries.
When the bottom fell out of the Japanese market, his job vaporized in the mass layoffs that followed. Jeffries went on to a career in British television and now is a communications consultant in New York, giving keynote speeches around the world. His book, "The Art of Business Seduction," is a how-to with tips on building emotional bonds with people for business and career success.
"I was definitely naive as a stock broker," Jeffries said. "Getting drunk was the point. That was the emotional connection. I missed that. And so I missed creating a really strong emotional connection."
The bottom line: In most finance jobs, the better you are carousing with the boss and co-workers, the more success you may have climbing the ladder. Once you're sober.
On the wagon? Find a nonbusiness bond with your boss that strikes a deep chord, and make the most of it.
"Your boss is responsible for your career future. You want them to feel that you're just like them," Jeffries said.
Just kidding about the recipe. You can also substitute scotch of any kind, as long as it's expensive.
Write to Laura Lorber
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