Wall Street CEO: Successful People I've Seen Share Two Traits

After spending forty years on Wall Street building a global investment firm, Joe Perella has seen people come and go.

In an interview with financial career site OneWire, he shares what he thinks gives people real staying power - the power to build a successful business and brand in an incredibly competitive industry.

"I think successful people work harder than the average person," Perella says. "They're all smart-there are a lot of smart people in this world that aren't successful. Luck enters into it-I call it serendipity. But you make your luck by really working hard…beyond your maximum level."

Even more than that, Perella says, successful people don't have a maximum level. That is to say that they're always pushing for more. There is no top. There is no success for successful people.

"They're never satisfied," Perella adds. "They know they can do it better than they did it yesterday, and they come to work every day saying, how do I do it better? How do I make a better firm? How do we earn a better return for our investors?"

Meta, right?

Perella urges young kids starting out in finance to keep these traits in mind, and when they're heading to interview to remember that everyone is good. In fact, everyone is great. The question is why you want to do the work and what you know about the firm.

Watch this insightful interview below-this is actually Part II of a two-part interview of Perella. Watch Part I here and subscribe to the series to learn about upcoming episodes.