At Jefferies We Give Thanks Every Day Of November And Not Just On Thanksgiving

Life at Jefferies is never perfect, everything that can go wrong often does, and there is room for improvement in everything we do. That said, when we look around, it is clear to us that we would rather be “us and here” than “them and there.” This is why we are sharing our personal reasons why we are committed and honored to call Jefferies our home. To reinforce this point, we are sharing one reason for each day in November why we are thankful for being at Jefferies. We fully acknowledge that much of this is aspirational and we fight every day to live up to these high standards. However, we constantly look around at our people and are amazed at how consistently and passionately they are committed to doing the right thing. In no particular order, we are incredibly thankful as we enter the holiday month of November because:

1. We are a firm that individually and collectively prioritizes the long term and not just the short term. This allows us to build a truly sustainable business that will be secure for our clients and employees through good times, as well as more challenging times.
2. We are a firm of entrepreneurial people who are encouraged to be creative and think outside of the box if it will benefit our clients and be right for our firm. We accept that sometimes mistakes will happen and it is a price we pay for innovation.
3. When we do make mistakes, we assess the situation quickly and honestly, own up to the facts, and act swiftly and decisively to reset our course. We prefer solutions over blame and, as long as everything is done with honest, transparent and good intentions, we move on. We learn from our mistakes, rarely repeat them and, while it is okay to have small mistakes, we tend consistently to get the big decisions right. 
4. We have a firm that generally makes decisions in a collaborative, consensus-driven and team-oriented manner. We recognize that more perspectives are always better than fewer. That said, when it is time to decide, we decide as a team and all buy in to support the final conclusion.
5. We embrace the fact that we are a firm that is led from the bottom up versus the top down. Those in the trenches who touch and serve our clients have the best perspective to make the important decisions.
6. We are a firm that employs 3,438 risk managers and does not delegate this vital task to a mere few who have the risk management title on their business cards.
7. We are a firm that knows what “putting clients first” really means.
8. We are a firm that has clients who understand and appreciate how we prioritize them, and they reward us with continual repeat business. At the same time, we know and accept that we have to earn their trust and business every day.
9. We are a firm that has enough diversity of products, services, sectoral focus and geographic reach that allow us to have the balance to weather the periodic storms.
10. We are a firm with a balance sheet that is clean, transparent and readily understood, and we are committed to keeping it that way.
11. We are a firm that will not compromise on honesty or integrity.
12. We are a firm committed to diversity and equal opportunity for all regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Collectively, we recognize that, like most firms in our industry, we need to proactively do a much better job to recruit, retain and promote a more diverse workforce.
13. Many firms try to talk the talk of being “one firm,” but we “walk the walk.” We understand that the best way to serve our clients is to institutionalize our relationships so all parts of our firm can add value without fear of jealousy, insecurity or arguing about compensation dollars.  
14. We are a firm that has a tremendous group of support folks who take great pride in being the backbone of our business that allows the revenue generators’ day to day life to be as effective as possible, which in turn allows us to best serve our clients. There are no second-class citizens at Jefferies and we are grateful that everyone in the firm is passionate about being the best they can be and never letting each other down.
15. While never perfect, we are a firm that consistently awards compensation based upon individual performance, team or divisional performance, and firm-wide performance. In today’s world, it is impossible to be 100% formulaic or linear due to the complexities of best serving our clients. That said, year after year, we have been much more right than wrong, and we always try to be fair. The fact that it is never perfect (or enough) is somewhat mitigated by the flatness of our structure, which is designed to minimize politics and noise. We are also thankful that we pay compensation 100% in cash.
16. We are a team that has collectively been through very challenging times together and has consistently shined in times of stress and uncertainty. Being battle tested and knowing we can trust each other and be totally comfortable in the foxhole are to be greatly valued and appreciated.
17. While we vividly remember the tough times and they make us all stronger, most of our time together is pretty darn good.
18. We have Boards of Directors at Jefferies and Leucadia that are fully engaged, fully informed, fully aligned, incredibly qualified, caring and supportive of the massive investment and patience that has been required to allow us to be in the position we are in today to continue to build and grow.
19. We have an “open door” mentality that exists throughout our firm where people feel empowered to speak their minds, question authority, and contribute to the best of their abilities. We don’t care at what level the great idea originates. We care that it is heard and, if smart, implemented.
20. We have so many strong personalities throughout the organization who will eagerly help the senior leadership correct mistakes and avoid making new ones. We have no “shrinking violets” in this organization and that is the best way to build a firm.
21. The strong personalities are cemented in a culture of people caring passionately about our firm and what we are trying to accomplish together.
22. We have worked for decades to build our Jefferies brand and it has never been stronger or more impactful. That said, we all recognize that a reputation can evaporate overnight from stupidity, carelessness, or arrogance and it is up to every one of us to protect our name.
23. We are a firm of nice people who care about each other, want to consistently do the right thing and strive to always be good people. We all recognize it is not enough to just be a good person, we also need to be part of a good business partnership. We take pride in being philanthropic, treat all people with respect and enjoy the privilege of giving back to those less fortunate than us.
24. We are a firm that helps to do important things that contribute greatly to society. We help companies raise capital to innovate, grow, diversify and remain competitive. We help fix the capital structures of broken companies. We help companies be in the best position to hire people and provide long term careers to their existing employees. We help companies transform their industries and improve people’s way of life. We help people invest the wealth of pensioners, endowments and families. We provide research, access to capital and advice to help the economy grow. We never delude ourselves that we are more important than anyone else who contributes to the collective good of society, but we do our fair share and take great pride in our role.
25. We are a firm without arrogance or hubris and are committed to never change.
26. Leucadia is our deep-pocketed conservatively capitalized parent company and we share senior management teams so there is complete alignment. We never became a Bank Holding Company because we proactively navigated the incredibly rough 2007-09 environment. We will never use our status as an independent broker dealer versus being a regulated big bank to cavalierly ramp up risk and we are committed to always protecting our clients, shareholders, bondholders and employees. That said, we are grateful that being a pure Wall Street firm allows us to spend more time with our clients and less time proving to regulators that our process and procedures are capable of deserving customer deposits. We also greatly value our relationships with all of the fine regulators who do oversee us and who work so hard to protect the integrity of our industry.
27. Our company is of a size that groups, teams and even individuals can make a difference. This is incredibly motivating for all of us.
28. We all know that we are still in the early stages of building our company, so we have a long runway to make a difference and develop our careers.
29. We are now eleven months into a solid fiscal year. We have absolutely no doubt that every one of us will continue to give their all every single day as we lock arms and run across the 2017 finish line together.
30. We all recognize that while 1-29 are incredible things to be thankful for, the real blessing is the health and happiness of our friends, families and other loved ones. We are a firm that has our priorities in the right order.

Happy Month of Thanksgiving,

Rich and Brian