Goldman Sachs's neighborhood is, in the abstract, the global marketplace, but its
employees' dedication to this community couldn't have been fiercer. In one of his regular voice
mails, Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson saw something of the typical bond trader's agility
and coolness under fire in his employees' ability to cope with a disabled transportation system.
"Getting to work remains very difficult,'' he said. "Many routes are sealed off or closed. But that
hasn't stopped you....The police stepped in and stopped the buses you chartered . So one of
you had the clever idea to secure ferryboats. What you couldn't do by land you did by sea.
Today, the idea of special buses with police escorts was a winner. And every colleague who
needed to be in the office was here."
That may have been due, in part, to other remarks Paulson had made. "Our assets will
always be our people, capital, and reputation, with our people being the most important of the
three... And the lesson here is that our principles will never fail us as long as we do not fail to
live up to them.