00:04My name is Paul McGonagher. My current position, quote-unquote, is retired. I have a career in the United States
00:11Foreign Service, in international banking, and in international credit insurance. And I began my career in 69 and ended it
00:18in a few years ago.
00:24My first paying job was as a caddy at South Shore Country Club in Hingham, Massachusetts, which is a town
00:31about 30 miles or so south of Boston. I was also a lifeguard at the country club pool. I worked
00:37for three summers in a salvage yard south of Boston.
00:41In fact, as I approached the end of my undergraduate career, I said to my father, Dad, I can't wait
00:47to get a job or I take a shower before work instead of after I get home.
00:51So I've had a lot of hands-on experience as well as professional experience.
01:00There are some people who are, let's say, culturally off-center or have personalities who are difficult to manage. Some
01:07people are very quick to anger. Some people are very defensive.
01:10And maybe the best way for me to answer this is with a specific example. One of my colleagues and
01:16I had a common boss at the bank. He had a very volatile personality.
01:20One evening, my colleague called me at home and he said, how do you manage to get along with this
01:27guy?
01:27And my answer was, if he's looking for a fight, don't give it to him. You can tell when he's
01:32looking for a fight.
01:33Unfortunately, this individual did not follow my advice and six months later he got fired.
01:37But anyway, any arts corporation is going to have a spectrum of personalities.
01:42Now, you can feel your way through it. I can't lecture you through it.
01:45You can feel your way through it and you can tell when you're getting it right and you can tell
01:48when you're getting it wrong.
01:54Always do what you say you're going to do. And do it when you said you were going to do
01:59it.
01:59You need to be reliable. People need to take your word seriously.
02:05And that's probably the most important attribute to have to succeed in multiple kinds of bureaucracies.
02:12And I've been through very different kinds of bureaucracies and I know that works.
02:20Gary and I go, Myers and I go back a very, very long way and we've always had a great
02:27relationship.
02:28And so when he invited me to join the group, I said, yes, now that was some years ago, too.
02:33I continue to do it because it's a group of very smart people and very humble people.
02:41And you always, always learn something.
02:43Every time I get on the call, I hang up and I say, geez, I hadn't thought of that.
02:47I think of something somebody said during the meeting.
02:49That should happen to you a lot because it keeps you shocked and it keeps you interested.
02:54And so I find the continued participation in the group to be quite valuable.
02:59I study pretty hard the issues in news and particularly finance and foreign policy.
03:04And I like to have an outlet for my views.
03:07I also like to be told when I'm full of baloney, which is what everybody needs.
03:11When I was in large corporations, I always tried to hire people that were smarter than I was.
03:15And I tried to make them comfortable walking into my office and telling me I was full of baloney.
03:20That's important.
