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JPMorgan
Chase CEO offers, expects full disclosure
By
Aubrey Henretty
On the subject of excellence in customer service, newly minted JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's advice is plain: “Treat people the way you'd treat your mother.”
Dimon
addressed an audience of Kellogg School students, faculty
and staff on Jan. 10 in the Owen L. Coon Forum as part of
the J. Ira Harris Lecture Series, which was established at
the Kellogg School through the generous support of the J.
Ira Harris family. The goal of the series is to bring prominent
speakers from the finance industry to address the Kellogg
community. Mitchell Petersen, the Glen Vasel Professor of
Finance, moderated the event, opening the floor for questions
after delivering a summary of Dimon's career.
Having received his master's of business administration from Harvard University's Graduate School of Business, Dimon served as assistant to the president of American Express Company from 1982 to 1985. He has since been a key figure in several mergers, most notably those of Smith Barney and Solomon Brothers (1997), Travelers Group and Citicorp (1998), and Bank One Corporation and JPMorgan Chase (2005).
Several of the questions Dimon fielded came from Kellogg students eager for tips on what to look for in a first job. “There's a lot of focus on things that don't matter,” Dimon said, adding that there is far more to a career than the placement of the decimal point on payday. “It will never matter what that first paycheck is.”
What will matter, Dimon said, is the professional network each student builds. “A lot of your career will be based on opportunities you don't even know you're creating.” Dimon emphasized that the quality of that network will correlate directly with a student's decision to work with people she likes at a company she respects.
With a nod to the $100 million earmarked for donation to nonprofit organizations this year, other students asked Dimon to discuss what it means for a large company to be socially responsible. “All a big business is is a lot of little businesses,” he replied, adding that social responsibility for a large business breaks down the same way. A small business, he said, might help support the local church or schools, while a larger business has the capacity and the imperative to give more.
Ethics, Dimon said, are also crucial to businesses of all sizes; the choice to act ethically or not always comes down to one person. “You decide how ethical you want to be … if you aren't willing for [a given action] to be known publicly, don't do it.” Further, he said, internal politicking can bring down any business, regardless of size or track record. “I want to be honest, fair, direct — full disclosure,” he said, noting that he expects no less of his employees: “Hey, you're paid $5 million a year. If you can't say it in the [board] room, don't bother saying it.”
Dimon emphasized that, above all, the leader of a successful, ethical business must be willing to conduct frequent and brutally honest evaluations of practices, employees, colleagues and self.
It's really hard to do,” he said. “And it's the highest thing you can do.” |
