On Listening to the Former Chaiman of the SEC

Yesterday, I had the great opportunity to listen to Arthur Levitt, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC) and author of Take on the Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don't Want You to Know for my Professional Responsibility and Leadership Class.

Below are some key points I gleaned from the presentation:

• Arthur went from being a drama major in college to careers in public relations, cattle selling, journalism, and wall street until he finally became the chairman of the SEC. As a result, he strongly believed that careers are unpredictable and that one's fist job is largely meaningless in the big picture.
  
• He emphasized that there is nothing worse in somebody's professional life than not liking the job they're in.
  
• He had a great balance between idealism and realism. On the one hand, he made a lot of change at the SEC, which made a lot of powerful people angry. At the same time, he made sure to act pragmatically and never take on everybody at the same time. Having seen both ends of the idealism/realism spectrum in the past few years, I personally think he has chosen his battles well.
  
• He struck me as very sincere, caring, and honest.