WEBVTT - HSBC Manager’s Heart Attack Prompts Viral Post

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes. Tim Stinovic from Bloomberg Radio. Hey, everybody, Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>this is the third most read story on the Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>It's about the HSBC manager's heart attack, what was going

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<v Speaker 1>through his head and what it says about being overworked.

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<v Speaker 1>It is an unbelievable story and another fascinating piece of

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<v Speaker 1>reporting from Lenan new And she's financial reporter at Bloomberg News.

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<v Speaker 1>She is with us on the phone in New York City. Lenin,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm so glad we were able to get you on

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about this. So tell us about Johnny frost Ick. So,

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<v Speaker 1>Johnny is um, someone who is a sort of regulatory

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<v Speaker 1>I T guy at HSBC. He's a contractor and a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of Sundays ago, he had a heart attack and

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<v Speaker 1>the first few things he thought about were work related

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<v Speaker 1>and it wasn't until the fourth thought he had was oh,

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<v Speaker 1>what about my wife? Maybe she'll find me dead? Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And so he wrote this viral LinkedIn post that has

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<v Speaker 1>just completely caught fire on LinkedIn because you know, everyone

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<v Speaker 1>is thinking about overwork and burnout right now, and it

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<v Speaker 1>just really touched a chord not just in finance, but

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<v Speaker 1>just around the world in terms of people who are

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<v Speaker 1>getting ground down by work. Right now, all right, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>first of all, Johnny's doing okay. Correct, Yes, he's doing okay. Thankfully,

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<v Speaker 1>he's doing okay and well enough to have given an

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<v Speaker 1>exclusive interview to us. So, um, he's very philosophical and

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<v Speaker 1>you know, very very much re reprioritizing his life. Right now, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>talk to him a little bit more about the conversation

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<v Speaker 1>you have, because what's interesting is he actually chronicled right

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<v Speaker 1>his near death experience, as you write, in a viral

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<v Speaker 1>LinkedIn post that has been viewed almost seven million times.

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<v Speaker 1>That's as of Tuesday, so I'm sure it's higher than that.

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<v Speaker 1>He what did he write about and what did you

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<v Speaker 1>want to talk to him about? So, first of all,

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<v Speaker 1>he wrote in very colorful language. So when you read

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<v Speaker 1>our story, we do include a link to the original

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<v Speaker 1>post because it is very much worth reading on its own. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>he talks about the fact that you know, he kind

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<v Speaker 1>of prioritized all of these things like being on zoom

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<v Speaker 1>calls for twelve hours and just you know, working and

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<v Speaker 1>putting up with a lot of crap at work. He

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<v Speaker 1>honestly did not wanted to put up with anymore just

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<v Speaker 1>really going to overboard in terms of not taking care

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<v Speaker 1>of his own life and health, and you know, just

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<v Speaker 1>going too far in and too deep into work without

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<v Speaker 1>really taking care of his own health. And he also

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<v Speaker 1>talked about the isolation of remote work, which is something

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like, Lennon, we are talking a lot about,

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<v Speaker 1>have talked about a lot over the past year, especially

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<v Speaker 1>for people we know in New York who lived alone

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<v Speaker 1>or felt really isolated. It can be after a while

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<v Speaker 1>not so much fun. Yes, exactly, And I think that

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<v Speaker 1>was one of the points he made when we were talking.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, you know, normally when you go to work,

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<v Speaker 1>you have a kind of wind up when you go

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<v Speaker 1>in your commute and you kind of prepare for work

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<v Speaker 1>and get ready getting work mote, and then when you

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<v Speaker 1>come home you decompress. And right now those boundaries are

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<v Speaker 1>just completely obliterated, and so people are just finding themselves

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<v Speaker 1>working all the time and not setting their own boundaries,

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<v Speaker 1>not saying okay, now it sounds to shut off, do

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<v Speaker 1>other things, you know, and take care of your life. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's interesting too, And listen, you've been covering this as

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<v Speaker 1>many of the members of our Bloomberg News team, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>just writing about whether it's investment bankers on Wall Street.

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<v Speaker 1>We know it's not easy, especially if you're starting out

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<v Speaker 1>in the industry. If you're a junior investment banker, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you're working around the clock, you're working weekends. We are

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<v Speaker 1>hearing increasingly where workers are speaking up and that senior

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<v Speaker 1>executives are looking at ways to maybe ease the situation.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there really a change going on? Well, I think

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<v Speaker 1>certainly in Johnny's case, he really wants to drive this conversation. He's,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, what I think would be a middle manager.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, he runs a team of maybe twenty plus people.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't manage people. And one of his priorities in

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<v Speaker 1>discussing this was to really talk about this, you know issue,

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about the fact that people are not taking

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<v Speaker 1>care of themselves and that they're not good workers either.

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<v Speaker 1>If you don't take care of yourself, um, and you

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<v Speaker 1>can't really be particularly productive either. And so he's just

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<v Speaker 1>trying to open up this conversation about work, about flexibility

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<v Speaker 1>and about making sure that people are sort of balanced,

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<v Speaker 1>balanced individuals and balanced workers. You know, it's interesting too

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<v Speaker 1>and I feel like we are having a more broader

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<v Speaker 1>conversation too about companies, CEO s leaders who say, let's

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<v Speaker 1>deal with you know, in equities in society, let's deal

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<v Speaker 1>with racism. Let's talk about people being overworked. And I

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<v Speaker 1>do wonder how much of it ultimately leads to actions

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<v Speaker 1>and a real change and how we do it or

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<v Speaker 1>once we get back to quote unquote normal after the pandemic,

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<v Speaker 1>do we all be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that work

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<v Speaker 1>life balance. I gotta get this project done. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a tough one, Carol, And I think it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>down to individuals, but of course it's down to companies

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<v Speaker 1>as well to understand that people have changing expectations that

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<v Speaker 1>you know, young people for instance. You know, I'm stunned

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<v Speaker 1>by the fact that, you know, young Goldman associates it

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<v Speaker 1>would be so bold as to write a deck that

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<v Speaker 1>says they're overworked in their mental health is suffering. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>That's not something we would have seen even maybe a

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<v Speaker 1>year ago. And so this is a huge conversation. You

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<v Speaker 1>know the fact that almost eight million people now have

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<v Speaker 1>have read this post. There are two hundred thousand likes.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, this is really driving a conversation. All of

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<v Speaker 1>our main competitors have picked it up and have cited

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<v Speaker 1>our reporting as well, so it's definitely touched a nerve

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<v Speaker 1>thanks to Johnny's post, not to our story. It's it

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<v Speaker 1>really just did grab people. And uh, it's a really

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<v Speaker 1>colorful read as well. I wasn't able to use the

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<v Speaker 1>expletives that he didn't post to go and read the

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<v Speaker 1>original source. Darn. Anyway, it is among the most read.

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<v Speaker 1>As I said, this is what people in the financial

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<v Speaker 1>community are reading big time. Lenin great reporting is always

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<v Speaker 1>lenan new in finance reporter here at Bloomberg News.