Significant Career Lesson From A Managing Director At Wells Fargo
Eric, a Managing Director at Wells Fargo, emphasizes prioritizing "the best manager, the best boss, the best team" over specific job details, viewing career development as an "apprenticeship business" where learning from a strong team is paramount. This strategy proved highly effective in Eric's career, as demonstrated by a past decision where choosing a superior team, even with less glamorous aspects, led to significant success, contrasting sharply with a past negative experience where the opposite approach was taken.
Executive/Leadership, Career Development, Teamwork, Mentorship, Overcoming Challenges
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Eric Frandson
Managing Director, Corporate & Investment Banking
Wells Fargo
UC Berkeley
UC Berkeley, MBA
Anthropology, Sociology
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)
Sales and Client Management
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. Prioritize your manager and team over specific job title or firm.
2. Career development thrives in supportive environments that allow for experimentation and learning from mistakes.
3. A strong team fosters growth and prevents career dissatisfaction; firsthand experience highlights this importance.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you have learned that has proven significant in your career?
I think it's hard to do one thing, but I would say when you have the choice, you don't always have the choice. Rank the best manager, the best boss, the best team to be a part of above the job description.
In other words, some people say, "Hey, I wanna be at this particular firm, in this particular city, doing this one particular thing, the sexy thing." Over time, your career will develop more momentum.
If you pick the right manager, it's going to give you opportunities to experiment and fail, let's support you. Not let you fail so the whole enterprise falls, but just low-risk opportunities to test, grow, and succeed, and learn.
This is an apprenticeship business. Each one teaches one. You can't just read a textbook; you have to do it. If you pick the wrong team, you will be miserable.
It's much better to pick the better team, even if some other dimensions may not be as shiny, and end up with a bad match. I had that fork in the road once in my own career, and that's why I give this advice because that's what I did, and it totally worked.
In another part of my career, I did the opposite, and it didn't work. So I know this firsthand.