Greg Smith, a former banker with Goldman Sachs in London, set off a firestorm when he resigned publically with an OpEd article in The New York Times.
Smith alleged that Goldman put its needs ahead of the client, an allegation that was embarassing to his former employer.
Very few of you are employed by firms that are symbols, nor are you in jobs that place you in positions of prominence.
Very few of you can afford to be out of work for any length of time.
I suspect none of you will receive a sizable advance from a book publisher to write the story of your experience with your former employer.
When Smith is done with his moment in the sun, he will discover what many people have discovered when they go out like a comet that is flaming out in the heavens.
His career is over.
He will not find work in the career he trained for his entire life.
He has hurt clients and not just his former employer.
He hurt himself and his former colleagues who experience the collateral damage in the wake of his story.
Smith has become a temporary hero with his allegations but will suffer for the rest of his life because of his action.
Yes, he has a sizable advance for his book but he better sell those books or the publisher will come back for its money.
And he better save his money because once the book has been written, he is unemployable. He has annoyed colleagues who will not trust him and not provide him with references.
As much fury as you may feel, hold your tongue and simply resign or find something else rather than “going out in a blaze of glory.
The likelihood of you affecting the change you dream of by being a whistle blower is extremely small and there is little probability that you will profit by it sufficiently.
© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC 2012