Goldman Sachs CEO says hiring geniuses can be a strategic trap

This article summarizes an episode of Sequoia Capital’s video series featuring David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs.

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs / Photo credit: LinkedIn

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, believes leaders focus on the wrong things. His way of thinking is different from the ideas in Silicon Valley. He values luck and experience over the idea of the young, genius founder.

The myth of a straight career path

Most career advice tells people to follow a straight path and carefully plan their way to the top. Solomon’s career shows that the best careers are often the ones that allow for surprises.

Forget the five-year plan
The pressure to plan your whole career can be high, turning a job into just a way to get the next one.

Solomon explains, “When I joined Goldman Sachs, I certainly did not aspire to be the CEO of Goldman Sachs. I was focused on developing skills and seeing where the road took me, not kind of pointing to a seat and saying, ‘How do I get to that seat?'”

Finding your place
Business culture today often praises starting your own company and makes big companies seem slow and boring. But for some people, the size and money of a big company offer a great place to work.

He notes, “I decided that I was a big organization person. I loved the dynamic in a large organization, the resources, the access, the platform that I found very appealing, and the leadership opportunity in big platforms.”

You can’t plan for luck
People think getting to the top is about skill and planning. The truth is, even for the best people, some things are out of their control.

Solomon says, “Serendipity and timing have a lot to do with who winds up in the CEO jobs in these organizations. If the succession had happened in 2013 or 2014 or 2015, it wouldn’t have been me.”

Judgment over genius

This understanding that people can’t control everything also affects how he hires. He looks for more than just intelligence to find a quality he thinks is rarer and more valuable.

More than just intelligence
Tech and finance companies are known for hiring geniuses. They look for people with perfect grades and high IQ scores.

Solomon argues, “You have to be smart enough, but the smartest person in the world without a whole package of other things is not going to navigate Goldman Sachs well.”

The wisdom of experience
The idea of “move fast and break things” can make people ignore the lessons that only time can teach.

A plan for accountability