At the end of every Investment Banking Leaders Podcast interview, I ask a simple question.

If you could go back to the start of your career, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself?

The answers are rarely about technical skills. They are not usually about modelling, pitch books, valuation, league tables, or which group to join.

The answers are much more human.

Be patient. Build relationships earlier. Stay curious. Take pride in the work. Find your own voice. Don’t take adversity personally. Look after your health. Own your career. Stay humble. And remember that banking is a long game.

After speaking with more than 40 senior investment banking leaders, the pattern is clear: the careers that last are not built on one great year, one big deal, or one perfect promotion cycle. They are built through habits, judgment, relationships, reputation, and the ability to keep learning across decades.

Here are the lessons that came through most strongly.

One of the biggest mistakes ambitious bankers make early in their careers is measuring everything too narrowly.

This deal. This bonus. This review. This promotion year. This title.

Those things matter, but they are not the whole career.

The leaders I have interviewed repeatedly describe investment banking as a long game. Deals are episodic. Markets move. Promotion timelines shift. Great years and quiet years both pass. What compounds is the network you build, the reputation you earn, and the judgment you develop over time.

Philip Ross framed this well when he talked about relationships as a “10-year arc.” Transactions may come and go, but the real value sits in the continuum of relationship that exists before and after the deal.

That is a hard lesson to absorb when you are early in your career and everything feels urgent. But it matters. Missing a promotion in one year is painful, but it is not the end of the game. Losing a pitch hurts, but it does not define you. Having a quiet market is frustrating, but it does not mean your career has stalled.

The bankers who last learn to widen the lens. They play for decades.

If there is one piece of advice that came up again and again, it is this: start building relationships earlier.

Not when you become a Director. Not when you are suddenly asked to originate. Not when you need something. Earlier.

Monika Nickl, Co-Head of Consumer Europe at Lincoln International made the point that networking has to start on day one, because the people around you today may become tomorrow’s clients, sponsors, lawyers, CFOs, founders, investors, and decision-makers. Sher Hafeez, Snr MD at JLL Securities described how, by the time you reach senior levels, those long-term bonds can make business relationships feel natural.

That is the part many juniors miss.

Networking is not just senior people in a room. It is your analyst class. It is the associate at the law firm. It is the private equity junior you worked with on a painful diligence process. It is the corporate development manager who sat across from you on a deal. It is the VP who watched how you handled pressure.

The best relationships are not built through forced “schmoozing.” They are built through consistency, curiosity, generosity, and doing what you said you would do.

The advice is simple: do not wait until you need a network to start building one. By then, you are already late.

Technical ability matters in investment banking, but curiosity is what turns technical ability into judgment. Several guests came back to the same idea: ask why.

Why is the client considering this move? Why does the buyer care? Why is this the right structure? Why are we showing this analysis? Why does this assumption matter? Why would the board act now? Why would the market pay for this story?

Kai Liekefett of Sidley Austin and Neno Raic, Managing Partner at NLC both highlighted the importance of understanding the logic behind the work, not just producing it. Juniors who simply execute instructions may be useful. Juniors who understand the reasoning behind the work start becoming dangerous in the best possible way.

This is where the apprenticeship model still matters. You build a judgment bank by doing the work, asking questions, testing your thinking, and learning from people who have seen more cycles than you have.

AI may accelerate analysis. Templates may make production easier. But none of that replaces the hard yards of understanding accounting, valuation, markets, incentives, strategy, negotiation, and human behaviour.

The best bankers stay curious long after they are technically competent. That is why they keep growing.

One of the simplest pieces of advice came from John Stamatis, Co-Head of North America at Howden Capital Markets & Advisory who shared his father’s guidance: take pride in everything you do, no matter how small the task.

That is easy to dismiss until you realise how much of a banking career is built on small moments.

The analysis no one else checks carefully. The email that needs to be clear. The model that needs to tie. The page that needs to make the argument sharper. The call note that captures the nuance. The follow-up that shows someone was listening.

Early in your career, you do not always control the mandate, the client, the staffing, or the market. But you do control the standard you bring to the work in front of you.

That standard becomes your reputation.

Matt Zimmer’s advice to treat every deal as if it is your last deal captures the same idea. Execution is not separate from business development. Premium execution is often the first form of origination because it earns trust.

People remember who made their lives easier. They remember who cared. They remember who could be trusted when the pressure increased.

The work is never just the work. It is your signature.

A lot of young bankers look up and try to imitate the most successful person in the room. That is understandable. But it can also become a trap.

Matt Zimmer’s advice to rising talent was to find your own voice. David Lam, Vice Chair at Deloitte Corporate Finance made a similar point when he reflected that his greatest success came after he stopped trying to emulate a traditional rainmaker and decided to be himself.

This matters because clients can feel imitation. They can tell when a banker is performing someone else’s style rather than bringing their own judgment, personality, and expertise to the conversation.

Finding your own voice does not mean ignoring what works. You should study great bankers. Watch how they open meetings, challenge clients, structure arguments, handle objections, and build trust. But the goal is not to become a copy of them.

The goal is to learn the craft, then make it authentic to you. That is when your advice becomes more credible.

Larry Wieseneck, Head of Corporate & Investment Banking at TD Securities, shared a powerful idea: you may be in partnership with your firm, but you must own the 51% vote in your career. That is one of the most important lessons for any aspiring leader.

It is easy to become passive inside a large institution. To wait for the right staffing. To wait for someone to sponsor you. To wait for feedback. To wait for the promotion process. To wait for the firm to tell you what comes next.

But long-term careers are not built by waiting. They are built by taking responsibility for your development, your network, your reputation, your skills, your relationships, and your next move.

That does not mean becoming political or self-serving. It means being intentional.

Who are you learning from? Who knows your work? Who is sponsoring you when you are not in the room? What skills are you building this year? What relationships are you investing in? What evidence are you creating for the next role?

Your firm can support you. But it cannot care about your career more than you do.

Every long banking career includes difficult chapters.

Lost pitches. Bad markets. Tough bosses. Missed promotions. Broken deals. Difficult clients. Restructurings. Personal sacrifices. Periods where the industry feels heavier than usual.

The leaders who last do not avoid adversity. They learn how to respond to it.

Shaun Browne advised not to take adversity personally. Steve Rathbone described the decision to “get off the canvas” as something within your control. Adrian Millan’s mantra was simple: if you don’t quit, you can’t lose.

That does not mean blindly staying in situations that are unhealthy or wrong for you. It means not allowing one setback to become your identity.

In a long career, things even out more than they feel like they will in the moment. The painful deal teaches you something. The difficult year builds resilience. The missed opportunity may redirect you to a better one.

Perspective is a career skill. So is recovery.

One of the strongest themes from senior leaders was humility.

Gokhan Ozkan, MD at J.P. Morgan observed that many of the most successful global leaders are also the most humble. Marcel Brix, Managing Partner at Blok Management made a similar point in a different way: never forget where you came from, and treat interns and junior staff with the respect you wished for when you were in their position.

This is not just about being nice. Humility keeps you learning. It keeps you grounded. It makes people want to help you. It makes clients feel heard. It stops success from turning into entitlement. Banking can reward confidence, but confidence without humility becomes dangerous quickly.

The best leaders know they are never above the basics: listening carefully, preparing properly, respecting the team, admitting what they do not know, and giving credit to others.

Your title may grow. Your ego does not need to.

Several leaders reflected on the importance of pace, health, family, and priorities.

That advice is easy to ignore early in your career because the industry rewards intensity. There will be times when the work is all-consuming. That is part of the job.

But no career can compound if the person inside it breaks.

Larry Grafstein, Deputy Chairman at RBC Capital Markets described the industry as a marathon, not a sprint. David Lam reflected on the risk of over-prioritising work at the expense of family and health. Maren Winnick, Snr MD at Evercore made the practical point that teams often will not remember every personal sacrifice you made, which is why boundaries need to be communicated clearly.

This is not an argument for avoiding hard work. It is an argument for sustainability.

The goal is not to survive one year of banking. It is to build a career with enough energy, perspective, and health to keep becoming better over time.

The most powerful advice from 40+ investment banking leaders is not complicated.

Think longer. Build relationships earlier. Stay curious. Take pride in the work. Find your own voice. Own your career. Recover from setbacks. Stay humble. Protect your health. Serve clients and colleagues well.

None of that sounds revolutionary. But that is exactly the point.

Great careers are rarely built on secrets. They are built on principles repeated for long enough that they become reputation, judgment, trust, and opportunity.

If you are early in your career, the temptation is to obsess over the next step.

The next title.
The next bonus.
The next deal.
The next exit.
The next promotion.

Those things matter. But the bigger question is: what are you building that will still matter 10 years from now?

Because that is where the best careers are made. Not in one perfect moment. But through the habits, relationships, standards, and choices that compound quietly over time.