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The Goldman Sachs \u201canti-raid\u201d team was between conference calls with an embattled client company when word came that a senior member of the target company\u2019s management team had unexpectedly died.

Looking back, Tom Fennimore says that the next few months of his early career years at Goldman then became a transition point\u2014or period of accelerated learning.

\u201cIt was a very sad situation\u2014they were in the process of being raided,\u201d explains Fennimore, who lists the anti-raid transaction as one of two times when Goldman ultimately offered Fennimore an opportunity to \u201cstep up.\u201d

The second example came after the resignation of a managing director responsible for the bank\u2019s automotive sector.

\u201cI got a battlefield promotion when they said, \u2018Hey, we want you to do this, and\u2014depending how you do\u2014we may not replace you,\u201d recalls Fennimore, who notes that while he savored the opportunity and enjoyed success in the role, certain parts of it had little to do with his skillset.

\u201cI have a little bit of a baby face,\u201d points out Fennimore, who also comments that members of management teams within the automotive sector were known to value seniority and often had lengthy tenures of multiple decades themselves.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Fennimore remembers one bit of related post\u2013board meeting feedback with a little bite: \u201c\u2019Hey, look, you did a great job,\u2019 they told me,\u201d he reports. \u201c\u2018The board loved you, but they did have one comment: This guy\u2019s too young. They would feel a little more comfortable with somebody with a little more gray hair in the room.\u2019\u201d

As for the embattled client company that had unexpectedly lost a key member of management, Fennimore\u2019s youthful appearance turned out to not be enough to deter an invitation for him to fill the company\u2019s sudden management void by relocating to Toronto for a number of months.

\u201cThe person who passed away was in the middle of the transaction, so it reflected in a good way on me that the client had enough faith in me to have me go up there to live and help them to get things done,\u201d explains Fennimore, who more than 20 years later is not yet sporting any gray hair.

In conclusion, he adds: \u201cIt\u2019s great to be given a lot of responsibility at a young age, but there will be some unique challenges. You try not to take things personally and to just move on.\u201d\xa0\u2013Jack Sweeney