Today, I am very excited to meet Michael Rohrer, Executive Director and Senior Manager of J.P. Morgan‘s Private Bank, who has been playing an essential role as COO for establishing a new Wealth Management business in Germany for the last 18 years. Growing up in a family of musicians – his mother was a violinist, and his father was a pianist and conductor at the Zurich Opera House - they obviously succeeded in igniting Michael with a fire for the classical flute since childhood, which still burns more than 50 years later. To the surprise of many of his colleagues, he “outed” himself as a passionate classical flautist at the occasion of the first-ever internal J.P. Morgans’ Got Talent contest of the European Private Banking Division. In our interview, he reflects with us on how he managed his parallel passions for banking and music and what he recommends to young talents and organizations to allow employees to align passions across work and private lives.
Such a pleasure to see you
again after so many years, Michael!* Thanks for taking the time for this “Human
Facts meets.” Your career is a beautiful living example of why
organizations that see employees not only as job-fillers but as whole Selves,
who have a whole life to offer, have an advantage in hiring and retaining
talent. Particularly today.
1. But before we dive into this, let us know when you decided to go about a banking career and not a flautist one and why?
Michael: Thank
you, Eva, for your invitation to this interview. It comes at a time when the work-life
balance has never been a topic of higher importance than it is today.
To your question, my parents, as musicians, obviously had deep insight into this profession’s pros and cons. The classical genre is a
small niche with brutal competition, mainly from Asia and Eastern Europe,
delivering breath-taking talents to this tight market. If you fail to fight
through to the top of the league table, it is hard to stand and earn a decent
income compared to people working in economic sectors like banking, for
example. It’s a hard job with many travel activities, long days, and compensation
risks. And as we have seen during the pandemic and in economically challenging
times in general, culture is sadly always at the forefront when spending is
being cut. I remember my father often saying, «you can become whatever you
want, but better not a professional musician!». I took his advice seriously. When
I had to decide upon my professional future, the three large Swiss banks, UBS,
CS, and SBC, stood for financial strength, job safety, career opportunities,
and good reputation, so I tried to start my banking career in one of them…
2. Throughout your banking career, you managed to keep playing the flute at a very high level. I think everybody with a specific passion besides work, e.g., a sport, a musical instrument, or being a caregiver for family members, etc., will be very interested to hear: How did you manage this challenge of pursuing your music passion parallel to your career? What helped you most?
Michael: When your heart beats a little bit stronger on the side of your hobby than on your
profession – I wouldn’t have had the courage to publicly make such a statement
in the middle of my banking career - you automatically keep your passion alive. The more pressure and
challenges I face professionally, the more I desire to counteract them by
playing music. It has always been vital for me to maintain a solid,
parallel world to balance my life, to reduce harmful stress after a working day,
and transform it into a kind of positive stress when practicing hard to learn a
new piece. It is essential to stick to a fixed schedule. For example, I leave
the office at about 6 pm to have dinner with my family and start practicing
from 8.30 until 10 pm. Daily. With few exceptions when feeling unwell, or for
example, on very hot, humid, and sweltering summer evenings. Being mentally
balanced is ultimately beneficial for both the bank and me. I feel I can
manage difficult or extraordinary situations in the business with greater calm
and sovereignty. My recommendation to everybody is: Do not just talk about work-life
balance, DO IT!
3. Looking back, has there
been a moment where you were close to giving up one of your passions? What led
you to keep going? What would have helped you make it easier to live up to your
passion and career together?
Michael: Do you
mean to give up one for the other? No. My goal has always been to have a good
living standard based on solid financing. With a family and all its high costs
associated with it, I wanted to avoid being exposed to an irregular or
uncertain income. I managed pretty well to develop and maintain my two parallel
worlds without one being impacted by the other. They happen in different „time
zones“ of my day. Of course, I may be tired or exhausted when coming home and maybe
not have the energy or concentration to practice. But these are exceptions.
4. Looking back, what are the
2-3 things you are most grateful for regarding your passion and career?
Michael: In banking definitely that I had the opportunity to work now for more than four
decades for two well-reputed firms that gave me a solid basis for my life and
my family. To be appreciated by your working colleagues across business lines
and functions gives you the necessary self-confidence and personal stability to
deliver good results. It frees up capacity and gives pleasure and joy for your
passion outside the firm.
On the musical side, I am grateful that my parents opened the door very early
to the infinite world of classical music and provided the necessary support to
get a first-class education in this fine instrument. I am also very grateful for
my fantastic network with professional musicians – not only flutists but also
players of a variety of other instruments or even conductors – from whom I can
learn a lot when talking to them or listening to their masterclasses or
concerts. Last but not least, I am super grateful for the patience and
understanding of my wife and my daughter (and neighbors), who must endure my
daily practice.
5. What do you think your employers profited from you being engaged in two different professions? Or, in other words, what have been the most surprising parallel?
Michael: Musicians
typically pay attention to details, work very concentrated and accurately, are
keen to deliver flawless results, are self-critical, and are good listeners and
team players to meet or exceed the audience's expectations. These are all
attributes I also need for my job as a banker, which my employer ultimately
benefits from. For the performance assessment of an employee, it certainly
helps if the employer knows about your activities outside the firm and thereby has
a better understanding and picture of you. When I began to make my hobby more
visible to the outside world with posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram, I
was very astonished to see how much the interest in this human facet of my
person increased and how many approached me to ask about it. The two short
videos I published on LinkedIn last year were accessed more than 18.000 times, and
9% of the viewers were in managerial positions. It also brought me connectivity
with people I hadn’t met before. Showing what matters to you in life helps to
bring you closer in contact with colleagues and to meet them on a different
level.
6. What do you regret most?
Michael: By nature, I am more of an entrepreneur than an employee. I probably focused
too much on safety than on having “fun”, and the courage to do what I like to
do. Maybe I should have taken more risks and followed my gut feeling.
Today, I am convinced that I would have become a successful manager of my own
company or maybe a professional musician in demand. Hard to say, it is what it
is, but I think for me it’s better to play the flute for fun than to make my
living with it.
7. Looking back, what would
you advise your “younger self” about designing an enriched and passionate life?
Michael: I definitely cannot complain about what I have achieved in my life, and I am
grateful for the job opportunities employers offered me. The fact that I only
changed the firm once in 2004 from UBS to J.P. Morgan indicates that I have
always been satisfied in my various banker roles overall. But as I said, being
focused on (job)safety is ok, but you may miss other or better opportunities in
your life as a result. It all depends obviously also on your (financial)
background and the personal circumstances you can bring to the table.
8. When you kicked off your banking
career in 1981, it was rather an exception to pursue another passion on such a high
level (and to admit it). Today, this is much more common and even demanded by
the new generations. For example, we see more and more young people work for an
organization but build their start-up aside or engage in family, a hobby, or a
charity. What can we learn from you in this regard? What would you how to
successfully design their multiple careers?
Michael: It’s difficult to say whether or not it was less common at that time to pursue
a parallel passion. I’d rather believe people did less talk about it. When I
was in the middle of my banking career, I would never have had the idea to ask
my employer to work a bit less to have more time for my flute. Unthinkable.
Today’s generation is very different, and as you correctly said, openly
demanding a balanced life in the sense of „I was not born just to work!“ If you
want to succeed in managing two careers, your priority must be on the source of
your income, in my case, my job at J.P. Morgan. Secondly, less is more: One
hobby is better than two or more! Whatever it is, do this one thing right. And
invest your time and energy in this one activity. You will be happy with your
performance only if you make progress. Progress and success are the sources of
your motivation. That’s why I practice daily. Daily. Daily! Thirdly: Structure
your day. The time slot when you want to/can practice must be free. It can also
be helpful when the rest of your family or your neighbor knows when you finish!
9. And what would be your
advice for organizations to do to hire and support talents in unfolding their
passions in life?
Michael: The pre-condition to allow employees to unfold talent outside their job is that
firms are adequately staffed and employees can do their work within the agreed
working hours. Of course, there can be temporary exceptions. I think that employees
do not expect their employers to subsidize, for example, the membership of a
fitness studio or to grant similar financial benefits. What counts is
adequate spare time after work to allow people to shut down and recover by living
their passions.
Work-life balance has never been a topic of higher importance for organizations
than it is today. The shareholder value concept has squeezed out our generation
over the last 25 years, leading to a sharp increase in people with burn-out
syndromes. In the meantime, many firms are rediscovering – or beginning to
rediscover – the value and importance of the health of their employees. I
suddenly hear things like „family first“, and we see new healthcare programs being
established and supported by many firms for their employees, for example. Signs
that things are changing in the right direction.
10. And finally, is there
anything left you would have loved I ask you – or would you like to share?
Michael: I would have expected a question about the relationship between me and my flute,
as the two of us spend much time together and go through thick and thin.
Usually in great harmony, but it happens from time to time that she hates me or
vice versa. Over time, the player and the instrument grow together. It becomes
part of you, a different organ you can use to express yourself in various colors.
It’s so to speak another voice with which I can impact the audience. It works
based on the principle “garbage in – garbage out” and mirrors my mood and the
course of my working day before. I feel this from the first tone I play. And there
is little chance to change that, so I better put my flute away then. Motivation
is when you look forward to your instrument when you come home from work in the
evening. And finally, you must be relaxed when playing it. Tension in your
body from occupational stress is poison. By the way, for those who are
interested, I am playing a handmade 9ct. rose gold flute made by Muramatsu in
Japan. A dream and endless love.
… so lovely! Thanks for sharing this insight. I learned to throw your flute on the floor in rage as we sometimes see tennis stars beating up their rackets on the floor ground is not an option! Speaks for the emotional discipline of musicians! I hope your example can inspire even very traditional organizations to see the advantage in opening up to meet, tap and support employees to live meaningful lives instead of only fulfilling jobs. Michael, again thank you so much for your time and the open and generous sharing of your personal insights and experiences. I look forward to continuing to keep in touch, exchanging with you about your passions, and of course, to “hearing” more from you as a flautist!
Kindly note: With this Human Facts meets Interview format, we aim to give people the opportunity to reflect on issues that are close to their hearts, and to give their personal opinion based on their unique and subjective lifelong professional experiences, independent of their professional role or the organization they usually represent.
