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Excerpts from Cracking the Corporate Code

Milt Irvin had done well academically and athletically at a predominantly white Catholic high school in New Jersey and then at the Merchant Marine Academy. But he was totally ignorant about business, and he still doubted his ability when he arrived at Wharton in 1972 to start work on his MBA. "I thought, if there were 500 people accepted at Wharton, I was number 500." Rather than grit his teeth and bear racial and academic isolation, he pushed back. Irvin demanded and received the clarity he needed.

"One day, everyone was running into the auditorium, and I asked a guy, 'What's going on?' He said, 'Gus Levy from Goldman Sachs is making a presentation.' So I said, 'Who's Gus Levy and what's Goldman Sachs?' And the guy looked at me and said, 'If you have to ask that question, you shouldn't be here.' And I said, 'Oh my goodness.' I felt so bad."Feeling bad did not make Irvin withdraw, however. He opted for personal growth. His love of competition and the self-confidence he nurtured with past successes in sports and academics were his jumping-off points. Rejection did not stop him, nor did he succumb to self-doubt. Befitting Irvin's style, he aggressively sought comfort in his new environment. This style has brought more than a few setbacks to his work life, but it has also given him the capacity to bounce back and the creativity to find different paths.

At Wharton that style was effective. "The next day I went to the placement director. I said, 'I'll be honest with you. The only reason I'm at Wharton is somebody told me it was a good school. I don't know what I'm studying for, I don't know anything about business, I don't know what I do once I graduate. I just have no idea. I was embarrassed yesterday because I didn't know who Gus Levy was, I didn't know what Goldman Sachs was, and I was told I shouldn't be here."

His honest approach was risky but more directed than a stab in the dark. The insult from the fellow student wounded him because it was, in fact true, so he selected the person most closely associated in his mind with the business world, the placement director. Since he did not know that particular individual, he might be facing more rejection and insult. But he took the chance and minimized the downside by soliciting the placement officer's expertise. It paid off. "He took me under his wing, maybe because he'd never seen someone with such brutal honesty. He set me up at General Motors, Bankers Trust and Goldman Sachs, just for informational meetings, to learn context, to ask questions, just to talk to them."

The placement officer had seen hundreds, maybe thousands of business students. He knew the job world. Perhaps he responded to Irvin's openness, intellectual curiosity, drive and self-confidence, what fuels his determination and will to succeed. Irvin, who saw himself as simply ignorant and lost, was a good bet in the eyes of the placement officer.

The meetings Irvin attended could have been simply informational as billed, but he recognized them as opportunities. He knew the talk with the placement officer was not any kind of permanent solution to his lack of knowledge but rather the beginning of another process, and he wrapped his arms around the challenge. He approached the meetings with the representatives of three different companies as tests, and he passed with flying colors. "I ended up getting summer job offers from all three. I took the one at Goldman Sachs, because I thought it was the hardest one to get."

Since payback every now and then is part of the game in the business world, especially on the rough and tumble Wall Street trading floor, Irvin sought out the student who had started the ball rolling. "It was a recession year, 1973, and jobs were hard to come by. I said to him, 'So, what are you doing this summer?' He said, 'Aw, job market's tough, I'm just going to summer school. What are you doing?' 'I'm working at Goldman Sachs.' His jaw fell open." This can be a dangerous game, but Irvin pulled it off. Here it is an indication of Irvin's self-confidence, his belief that he will follow up this particular battle with more achievements.