Last week I read the Moelis & Company third-quarter results, and one line was about leaders. It stated that thirteen managing directors have joined the firm so far this year, and a further 11 are committed to join in 2026 and 2027. CEO Navid Mahmoodzadegan pointed to “continued investments in exceptional talent” as part of the firm’s growth.

This got me thinking, as a hire is only the start. Every one of those arrivals now has to turn an offer into a working franchise inside a firm that already has its own clients, habits and politics.

So I went back through our podcast conversations to see what leaders say about arriving somewhere new, and about receiving people who do. Their advice is less about strategy than about behaviour: listening, relationships and trust.

Allan Bertie, Head of European Investment Banking at Raymond James, joined with a clear view of what he was going to do. His first day happened to be the day the UK went into lockdown, so he could not meet his new team in person for some time. When I asked what advice he would give VPs stepping into the MD role, he drew on that experience.

Because he started on video calls, he formed a view of people from how they talked about their work, then waited to meet them before settling it.

The fastest way to lose a team is to arrive with the answer already written. New arrivals often feel pressure to show value in the first month. Allan’s lesson is that understanding comes first.

Piers Ronan, Managing Director and Head of DCM Syndicate at Truist Securities, built a network almost from scratch after moving abroad. His method was not complicated: coffees, drinks after work and time.

There is a lesson here for people already inside the firm too. Colleagues who are new to a role or a team are most open to a relationship in their first weeks. Piers noted that if you wait six months or a year, you risk being “the 12th person that they’ve met.”

The person who makes the first call is the one who is remembered.

Maria Watts, Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Consumer Investment Banking at Baird, joined Baird as an experienced associate with a gap in her record. She had done no public equity work, and being well-rounded in the advice the firm gives is an important marker of success at Baird. She did not wait to be noticed.

Within six months, she had two equity pitches in New York on the same day. Her reasoning applies to anyone who feels a gap between their title and their experience.

Staffers are doing their best, so tell them exactly what you want to learn.

Justine Mannering, Managing Director at TD Securities, joined Stifel as an MD in 2018 after time at DC Advisory and BDA Partners. At BDA, the role she was hired for did not go ahead, so she and a sponsor at the firm built a plan for something new instead. She says it was only possible because of the people around her.

She also offered a reminder that applies at every seniority, including to a lateral MD who arrives with a book of relationships. “It’s your book of business. It’s your relationships. It’s your clients, it’s your team.”

You build your own business inside a larger bank, and you only build it with colleagues who want to help.

Larry Wieseneck, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at TD Securities, has been through two major integrations: Lehman’s North American business into Barclays, and Cowen into TD. When I asked what separates successful integrations from failed ones, he did not start with systems or structure. He pointed to how leadership chose its people.

In both cases, he said, the leadership picked the strongest person for each role, not their own lieutenants. His description of the result at TD is a good test for any firm that brings in new senior people.

Hold the newcomer and the incumbent to the same standard. Then the new arrival can stop proving where they came from.

Joining a new firm is not only a question for lateral MDs. It applies to a new VP, a newly promoted director and anyone moving to a new team.

Test your assumptions before you act on them. Write down what you believe about how the firm works, and check one a week. Allan’s warning is against arriving with the plan already written.

Meet people outside your own team in the first month. Piers’ advice costs a coffee. Set a target and keep it.

Ask for responsibility, not just feedback. Follow Maria’s example. Name the gap in your experience within 30 days and tell the person who staffs the work what you want to take on.

Make the first call. Introduce yourself to the new arrival in their first week, before the calendar fills.

Share the client, not just the work. Justine’s point is that nobody builds alone. Introduce the newcomer as someone worth calling.

Ask yourself one uncomfortable question. “Does my team judge the newcomer and the incumbent by the same standard?” If you cannot say yes, Larry’s test is a good place to start.

A new managing director is announced in a press release. Whether the hire works is decided over the first months, and mostly in rooms the press release never mentions.

The leaders in our podcast gave similar advice. Listen before you prescribe, meet people early, say what you want to learn, bring colleagues with you and judge everyone on merit.

Moving firms is a decision about a platform. Succeeding there is a decision about people.

Listen to the full conversations with Allan Bertie, Piers Ronan, Maria Watts, Justine Mannering, Larry Wieseneck and Alex Chenesseau on the Investment Banking Leaders Podcast.