Freely giving your opinion

by Rigoberto Morfin

Meeting successful people has helped me analyze my career, and has motivated me to continue trying especially during these hard times when many of us are unemployed. On Thursday, April 23rd, James Fernandez, the CFO from Tiffany & Co., gave a speech about “The Path to Professional Success” at ALPFA Baruch Chapter’s 2nd Annual Business Banquet. He warned us: “Be careful when you give your opinion, don’t give it freely. Be thoughtful and insightful. Your opinion says a lot about you.” Later that night I was told more about the dangers of opinions by Alberto Flores, an executive at Deloitte and one of my mentors in New York City. “Miss California Carrie Prejean is a perfect example,” he said. “She shocked the audience by saying same-sex marriage should not be legalized. That is probably what cost her the Miss Universe 2009 crown.”

I’m no beauty queen, but I know we’ve all had similar experiences when we’ve expressed an opinion that we regretted. My friends often joke that I always give my opinion regardless of whether it’s politics, religion, or other potentially sensitive matters. This is fine in your personal life, but it’s something I’ve learned to be careful about on the job.

While working at a Forex brokerage firm, I was talking with a rich prospect from South America. I told him that my mother was from Caracas, Venezuela. “That is where I live,” he said excitedly. “What is your opinion of Hugo Chavez?” Without thinking, I told him that President Chavez was too socialist for my taste. Afterwards my rich prospect stopped returning my calls. A few weeks later I heard from the Geneva office that he opened an account with a Russian coworker.

Another time the director of global sales asked the currency brokers to agree to a monthly sales target during a meeting. I quickly spoke up with my sincere opinion. “I don’t think we can reach the monthly target after the firm just cut their marketing budget completely,” I said with frustration. “We are barely getting any leads – from fifty leads per day to less than five.” Later that day, I found out that the director thought I was being confrontational, and his attitude toward me soured.

At the end of the ALPFA event, I ran after Mr. Fernandez to introduce myself and ask him the same question I’ve asked Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and former N2h2 CEO Philip Welt. “Do successful people suffer more from mental turbulence and stress when they go to sleep than regular people?” I said curiously.

“That is an unusual question at these types of events.” He considered my question thoughtfully. “Well, it is basically the same. Through life you learn how to leave work behind when you go to home.” We firmly shook hands and I took his business card. After that I walked away, pondering what I’d learned.

Before moving to New York, I had the opportunity to analyze employees’ performance with customers at various Seattle branches of U.S. Bank. At the end, I gave a presentation to all the branch managers. I told them that most cashiers at a specific branch lacked customer service skills. The manager for that branch interrupted me. “Most of our employees have been working in this industry for many years and have been trained from upper staff,“ he countered. I didn’t give a contrary opinion and at the end of the presentation recommended boosting interaction with customers to create brand loyalty and lower employee turnover. Afterwards, the northwest regional manager congratulated me and told me that if I ever wanted to work in a bank to please consider them.

During his speech, Mr. Fernandez described his frustrating first interviews out of college with top firms. He couldn’t get a job offer. “Maybe I was a bad interviewer or I said the wrong things,” he said. If anything the job market has become more difficult since then. Now it pays to be extra careful with your opinion.

Rigoberto “Rigo” Morfin is a seasoned finance professional residing in New York City. He graduated from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, and has worked as an account executive at leading foreign-exchange investment firms. He is currently on the lookout for his next big challenge. You can email him at morfin@u.washington.edu