In the News: Tom Nides
Tom Nides is the newly named Vice Chairman of Blackstone. He was formerly the U.S. Ambassador to Israel and COO and vice chairman of Morgan Stanley.
[Editor’s Note: Tom Nides was just named vice chairman of Blackstone, a major American financial firm. He was previously the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. In this interview I had a chance to talk to him about some of his tips for staying in touch with people, as well as the public speaking coach he and all the pros work with.
He shares what Ambassador School is like and who were the class clowns (including Rahm Emanuel!) We also talked about how he got the sitting Vice President to speak at his high school graduation. Enjoy!]
A Reform Jew From Duluth, Minnesota
Max Raskin: What’s the least Israeli thing about you?
Tom Nides: I don't speak Hebrew very well.
I'm a liberal, reform Jew from Duluth, Minnesota. Okay? I'm a cultural Jew. I'm not a religious Jew. I just grew up caring about being a Jew for the reasons Zionism is all about. Not to get heavy here, but being a Zionist to me is caring about the creation of the State of Israel and maintaining it as a democratic, Jewish state. And that is why I'm here. And that is why I'm Jewish. And that is why I feel like I'm part of the place. Not because I'm a Hebrew scholar or religious scholar.
MR: But you always wear a suit. That’s not very Israeli.
TN: I think it's important to have symbolism that I'm the American ambassador. I'm not, unlike you, wearing sandals, looking like a hippie.
MR: They're Tevas though.
TN: My point is I think I have to — in some way — represent the United States of America. The United States is Israel's most important ally, and I happen to be fortunate enough to represent the United States of America. So I think it's important that I look the part and be respectful.
MR: How do you keep track of all the people you meet in this job? I know I asked you this when we got a drink the other night.
TN: Drinks. You had more than one drink — just for reference. I had a drink.
MR: You must get a million business cards as a diplomat.
TN: My philosophy on friendships and relationships is you don't have to have a billion of them. You have to have enough of them and get close. So I try not to collect friends. I try to collect solid relationships. When I leave here, if I have 25 people that I’ll actually call again, that's what I'm trying to achieve. I meet hundreds of people a week and they are fine, and we take a selfie and it's all perfectly beautiful — but they don't really care. What I want to do is have a relationship with a handful of people here that represent all the different parts of Israel.
MR: How do you stay in touch with people? Calls? Text?
TN: All the above. I try to call people constantly because I think texting is a convenient, but uncomfortable and sort of pathetic way to communicate. I just want to hear people's voices, not some stupid emoji. I want to have a real relationship.
The good news in this job — because of the time difference — I can be calling my kids and my friends back in the States at night before I go to bed. So I'm constantly going through my WhatsApp and seeing the people that I haven't talked to in the last few days. And I may shoot them a text asking them to get dinner. Again, the friends I have, I want to have those relationships. I want to go deep. I'm not interested in going shallow.
Ambassador Kardashian
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