"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." John le Carré.

As I near my 60th birthday I find I am reflecting on and analysing the time when I entered the City and the intervening years that led to me to think like I do today.

People are shaped by experiences and the culture created by people they work with. Culture is also an evolutionary process where historical events can make for quite bizarre structures and that has certainly been the case in the City of
London.

However, in this article I want to focus on City Managers in particular. It is the capability of managers in the City that can provide hope for tomorrow or continue the decline we are presently witnessing.I will be careful not to have the attitude
that the past was always better and not to drop into the pit of grumpy old man
attitude that would denigrate the purpose of this analysis.

Not everything was great when I started my career, as not everything is bad today and let that be the equalising starting point. However, it is necessary to have a greater concentration on what has failed as it is this aspect that has had most impact on the City as it is today.

The purpose of trying to get a perspective on today's managers is one of the main reasons why I am writing these articles and to perhaps enable people to think about this today. Certainly my perspective will not be the same as other peoples, but it should assist younger readers to try and understand the past and hopefully rise to challenge that the future presents.

In 1974 I was 21 and became I believe, the youngest Office Manager in the City. I would love to know if there was anyone younger. Anyway my venture into management came by default when the Office Manager at C.T. Pulley was away 6 months having suffered a heart attack. The senior partner asked me to cover and my imminent position as Blue Button (junior clerk on the Stock Exchange and the precursor to becoming a Dealer) would be held over until the Manager's return. In the event the manager did not return and I was paid double my salary to ontinue as office manager. The floor of the Stock Exchange could wait!

Having joined C.T.Pulley at its lowest ebb of employees, I had to quickly learn how to perform most of the operational jobs that made the business run. It was this fulsome knowledge that directly led the senior partner to offer me the manager's job. After accepting the role I had to learn how to manage and motivate people and deal with the firm's Bank Managers and no end of other challenges that appeared to hit me every day. It was a hard school of learning on the job and although mistakes were made, I never made the  same mistake twice.

My first meeting where I represented the firm was with some of the leading office managers of the day. In those days it was the Office Managers that ran the City. I repeat these names for posterity and their honour and hope they are still remembered by some readers. Les Turtle,Wedd Durlacher, David Clarke, Smith Bros and Jack Cutting, Akroyd & Smithers, there were others but these chaps were the greatest and had most influence on me.

These guys really took me under their wing and made themselves available to me, at virtually at any time, to assist in any problem I might have. I learned so much from them, things that are impossible to gain from a book or classroom, or dare I say University. This is one of my main negatives from today's world and the one I joined.

I learned that one of the most important  attributes of managing is the capability to make decisions and take responsibility for the decisions made. Even if these decisions were made by subordinates the buck stops with the manager. It was always said to me that you can recover from a bad decisions but not from not making any decisions. That was as true then as it is today. It is an inability to make decisions and take responsibility, by covering or shirking, when the going gets tough, which makes such managers quickly lose the confidence of their charges and eventually their superiors.

Decision making was built upon detailed knowledge of the process but also what was within or outside the rules and of course what was legal. In those days it was imperative that knowledge of the working of the market and especially the needs of Broker counterpartys and their clients. It was also fundamental that business risks were always in focus and the stability of the firm was always paramount.

Apart from having the depth and breadth of  knowledge to manage, was the capability to problem solves and negotiates solutions. Understanding when to give and when to take is vitally important in business. The need to negotiate a position is dependent on knowledge but also as importantly the personality to build lasting relationships.

Almost without saying motivating employees is a key function and I have to say one I always enjoyed. Being able to listen and build teams whilst creating a bond to the firm is vital. No them and us attitude, but more of a shared objective and common goal. Sometimes financial many times not. The bonus should be a reflection of performance not an expectation based on contract.

Building an atmosphere where people enjoy the working experience and feel that they can laugh and joke makes the day go well and productivity zoom. How many people enjoy their working day today and build long standing relationships? It's always been my measurement that providing the work was done to a high level and deadlines met and services maintained the employee should gain the most pleasure as possible from their day. It is human nature and extremely profitable for the firm. This is another negative from today against yesterday staff turnover is quite a good guide if the manager is doing their job or not

Producing an on-going capability of knowledge transference within the firm can help identify the potential high flyers. Building teams naturally allows this transference to materialise and over time it can produce an outstanding pool of talent. You don't need a University degree to have talent and succeed in the markets. This almost manic focus on having a degree means that firms are missing out on talent pools and over time have not produced the level of quality that was enjoyed in the past.

When we analyse what is going wrong today the recruitment policy and talent spotting capability has to be a key reason why we are seeing the demise of financial services.