The Power of Choice

8Real‐World Choices

Choose to Overcome Low Expectations

UPON GRADUATING with her MBA, Shaniqua was hired by a prestigious investment firm and entered its one‐year management‐development program along with other newly hired MBAs. Her group consisted of ten people who would go through three fifteen‐week rotations over the course of a year in order to gain exposure to key functions in the firm.

Shaniqua was a highly confident individual and a real go‐getter from Washington, D.C. She had a big smile and an engaging personality.

During these rotations, partners generally reach out to help those in the program learn the culture of the company. Occasionally, a partner invites a member of the group out to lunch or offers additional coaching and informal feedback. Ryan, one of Shaniqua's cohorts, had this experience. A partner took Ryan under his wing, which seemed to give Ryan momentum. Shaniqua even heard the partner telling Ryan after he'd taken on a project that was a little over his head, “You remind me of me when I started with the firm.”

Shaniqua's experience was a stark contrast to that. None of the partners reached out to her. In fact, Shaniqua felt that the partners overlooked her or interacted with her only as needed. When assignments were distributed, it seemed to her that she always got the weakest or most boring projects. It was almost as if they didn't expect much from her. She got little coaching, and if she got any feedback at all from a partner, it was vague and conveyed ...