“Leadership is a subtle mix of elements.”
EARLY INSPIRATION
When Roger Altman arrived on campus in 1967, the war in Vietnam was at its height. Shortly thereafter, the antiwar organization Students for a Democratic Society seized administration buildings on the campus.
“When it came to getting a transcript or applying for a student loan, the buildings weren’t available,” Altman said. “The university leadership and the provost at the time, Edward Levi (who went on to become US attorney general), came under tremendous pressure from then-Mayor [Richard J.] Daley to allow the Chicago Police to come onto the campus and ‘clean it up’.”
The provost’s composure, “extraordinary” judgment, and resolve to protect students’ rights to protest resonated with Altman. It was part of what inspired his commitment to public service and philanthropic pursuits.
“The benefit of going to graduate school is about 50 percent in the classroom, and about 50 percent the ecology of the graduate school and what you’ll learn by just being there.”
LESSONS LEARNED IN LEADERSHIP
Altman began his investment banking career at Lehman Brothers, becoming a general partner in 1974. Beginning in 1977, he served four years as assistant secretary of the US Treasury. Returning to Lehman Brothers, he later became cohead of overall investment banking, a member of the firm’s management committee and its board.
“I was prepared intellectually for finance, but not practically. Looking back on it, I knew nothing about leadership. I had to learn it on the job. I don’t think there is one formula for leadership.”
In 1987, Altman joined The Blackstone Group as vice chairman, head of the firm’s advisory business and a member of its investment committee with primary responsibility for Blackstone’s international business.
Beginning in January 1993, Mr. Altman returned to Washington to serve as deputy secretary of the US Treasury for two years.
“Leadership in my own experience is a very subtle mix of elements. I don’t think you can lead entirely by consensus just taking a vote on any issue. On the other hand, elements of consensus are very important. There’s a fine line between waving a sword and saying we’re going up that hill and having an approach which builds support among your employees and your teammates, so that you’re not an autocrat. Autocrats—at least in what I’ve ever seen—don’t last too long.”
THE POWER OF PUBLIC SERVICE
Growing up in a “classically progressive” Massachusetts family, Altman embraced the civic-minded attitude, and it has deeply influenced his commitment to giving back. “Public service remains my greatest interest,” he said. Altman is a Trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, serving on its Finance Committee, and is a Trustee of MIT. He also serves as Chairman of New Visions for Public Schools.
“The only way that we’re going to enable living standards in this country to begin climbing again is through better educating our population. The pressures of technology and globalization require certain skills that in turn require higher education to achieve. If we don’t get our high school graduation rate up and our college completion rates up, we’re not going to be able to get living standards in this country moving forward again. Education is, more than ever, the doorway to opportunity. And there are too many Americans who don’t go through that door.”
THE VALUE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
With a unique vision, Altman launched Evercore in 1995, guided by the idea that clients would be better served by advisers who were not tethered to the demands of a multi-product financial institution. Today, the firm has more than 80 partners, 1,400 employees and has handled over $2 trillion of merger, acquisition, recapitalization, and restructuring transactions.
“The most meaningful thing I ever did in business was found and build up Evercore,” Altman said. His appetite for constant growth coupled with his continued ability to succeed in new directions is proof of his resiliency, curious mind, and entrepreneurial acumen. Throughout a long career now stretching into its fifth decade, he remains invigorated by his work.
“I have never had a boring day in this field. One is constantly taking on new assignments involving different types of businesses with different types of challenges. And, even the same client, two years later, often faces a whole new set of issues.”
Roger C. Altman:
Leadership, at least in my own experience, is a very subtle mix of elements. For example, I don't think you can lead entirely by consensus, just taking a vote every time on any issue. But on the other hand, elements of consensus are very important. So there's a fine line, at least in what I've been exposed to, between waving a sword and saying, "We're going up that hill." And on the other hand, having an approach which builds support among your employees and your teammates, so that you're not an autocrat, because autocrats, I think, at least in most aspects of what I've ever seen, don't last too long.
Roger C. Altman:
Well, I had a remarkable experience at the University of Chicago because I began there in the fall of 1967.
Howard Marks:
The antiwar protests were a big theme during the time we were there, and we were conscious of it.
Dick Jay:
I know we met in 1967 in Chicago, and we were in the same business school dorm on Blackstone Avenue. And, that's how we met. And, we became very good friends in the course of business school.
Roger C. Altman:
The benefit of going to graduate school is about 50percent of the classroom, and about 50 percent the ecology of the graduate school, and what you'll learn by just being there. Again, there are lots of different types of leaders. We've all read biographies of great leaders who were very front than others. Apropos of Chicago and Illinois, Abraham Lincoln had a very distinct form of leadership, but it wasn't the same, for example, as George Patton or Dwight Eisenhower. So, I don't think there's one formula for leadership, one formula for the type of temperament, that is consistent with leadership. There's a lot of different types of temperament that can work, especially depending upon the field you're talking about. There's certain temperaments, for example, that may apply to military leadership, that may not at all apply to what you might call, well, academic leadership, or business leadership, or scientific leadership.
Howard Marks:
I've gotten to spend time with a lot of successful people in my life. And one of my observations is that, success is not good for most people, and yet Roger's been enormously successful and it hasn't changed him. He's still the Roger I knew, should I say, 49 years ago.
Roger C. Altman:
I grew up in a classically progressive Massachusetts family, which was really interested in civic matters. And very, as I said, civic-minded and progressive from an ideological point of view. So this was one of the things that I listened to as a child. And, by the time I had come to the University of Chicago, I was firmly focused on that, as something that someday I wanted to try to do. I have had a couple of periods in my life when I was down and out, either economically at a very early age, or from a health point of view, 20 plus years ago. And, those experiences put everything into perspective. And, I just think, it's just my own philosophy as to why we're really here on this Earth. And also I would say, business is great. I like business. I said a moment ago, I've never had a boring day in it, but there are limits to it. Some people think, it's all they want to do all day long from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep, is pursue their business. I admire that. Great for them. That's not me.
Dick Jay:
I think helping people, whether there's the people who work with him, or his clients, or whether it's helping people through government, or helping people through nonprofit, I think that is Roger's mantra. And I think he thinks about giving back, and by helping people is always the best way to help yourself. I mean, it comes back to you.
Roger C. Altman:
The only way that we're going to enable living standards in this country to begin climbing again, because they've stagnated now, is through better educating our population.
