Blackstone Founder Stephen A. Schwarzman to Publish What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence
To Be Published September 17, the Book Provides a Playbook for Achieving Success in Work and Life
NEW YORK, July 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --
"What It Takes is a must-read book, filled with the experiences of one of the great business success stories of the last thirty years – Blackstone. In the book, Steve Schwarzman chronicles his and Blackstone's journey to the top of global business. The book is filled with fresh insights and personal experiences that everyone – from students to CEOs – will relate to and learn from."
"The real story of what it takes from a man who could turn dreams into realities."
"Steve's life lessons challenge me to think bigger and move even faster. His insights apply to both our work and personal lives, and his leadership has always embodied the principle of doing what is right, even when it is hard. Steve challenges us all to be better leaders, better citizens, better people."
"A series of thoughtful reflections derived from the author's extraordinary life, which has already left its mark on the worlds of finance, politics, and education and made each the better for it. In this brief and insightful volume, Schwarzman has identified several key qualities required for excellence in any field, including a tireless sense of curiosity, a tolerance for risk, and an eye for humble detail."
"Stephen Schwarzman has lived the American dream: a self-made icon in his field, turned philanthropist, who has long worked with creativity and vision to deepen relationships between individuals and countries. Steve shares the full measure of his personal journey with us in What It Takes – part memoir, part playbook for success in any field. Humble, candid, funny, and real, Steve offers wisdom and the gift of much-needed common sense chapter by chapter and experience by experience. A great read!"
"From his start as an entrepreneur working in his family's linen store in 1950s Philadelphia, Steve Schwarzman has made towering contributions to finance, relations between the U.S. and China, and computing, including a seminal investment in AI research that will help establish the age of intelligence. Steve always takes the long view and then helps move us in the direction that will pay the greatest dividends. This book reveals how he has achieved the rarest kind of leverage in multiple fields."
"What It Takes is a must-read, inspirational account of how Stephen A. Schwarzman built Blackstone into one of the world's top global asset management companies and leveraged his resources, know-how, and vision to spearhead bold philanthropic programs and provide trusted advice to a generation of political leaders around the globe."
"In his new book, Steve relives his vast and varied experience at the center of a (thick) slice of US and global financial history. In the process, he sets out a number of timeless lessons for business and life. This story literally has what it takes: the anecdotes, the insights and, most of all, the values to guide the next generation of entrepreneurs." |
In his new book, What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence, Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-founder of Blackstone, uses stories from his 50-year career in business to show readers how to make an impact as a leader, learn and adapt from failures, build thriving teams, and generally achieve success in both work and life. Schwarzman shares practical lessons learned over a career that includes creating one of the world's largest investment firms — a company that itself has helped grow hundreds of businesses around the world in support of pensioners and other leading investors. Powerful anecdotes and lively storytelling bring Schwarzman's hard-learned lessons to life for the reader, regardless of their familiarity with Blackstone or the world of finance.
Schwarzman's entrepreneurial instinct emerged at an early age while folding handkerchiefs in his family's linen shop in Philadelphia and stayed with him through his schooling, early days as an investment banker and eventually the launch of Blackstone. At every stage of life, he earned himself a reputation for solving big problems and making the impossible happen. Schwarzman's story is an empowering, entertaining and inspiring book that provides any reader, regardless of industry, discipline or level of experience, with a practical blueprint for how to think about ambition and scale, risk and opportunity and, most importantly, how to achieve success through the relentless pursuit of excellence.
"My career has taken me around the globe and afforded me the opportunity to interact with everyone from students to CEOs, heads of state, policymakers and leading philanthropists," says Mr. Schwarzman. "Over the years, the frequency of these conversations has increased and I find myself answering the same questions about 'how I did it' – how I built Blackstone into what it is today; how we helped transform hundreds of companies into success stories; what we learned from our mistakes; how we evaluate risk; and how I've applied the lessons I've learned to my philanthropic and public service activities. I decided to write this book to help address these questions for as many people as I can. What It Takes is a useful guide for anyone looking to increase their personal impact and perform to their maximum potential."
Life-Long Journey
The book, which will be published on September 17, explores the different chapters of Schwarzman's life, beginning with his formative years in Philadelphia and continuing through to his early career in finance, where he became accustomed to the cutthroat, winner-take-all culture of New York's financial elite. It follows key moments in the founding and growth of Blackstone and explains his desire to create a different kind of financial firm.
At Blackstone, he focused intensely on talent, process and culture. These critical elements allowed the firm to systematically manage risk while remaining nimble enough to innovate and grow into the leading global financial institution it is today, with $545 billion in assets under management and a network of portfolio companies that employ around 500,000 people across the United States.
Beyond the Business
Drawn to situations where he can use the skills he has developed in business to drive transformative solutions, the book also explores Schwarzman's contributions to education, philanthropy and public service, including his involvement in U.S. economic and trade policy discussions; the creation of Schwarzman Scholars, this century's version of the Rhodes Scholarship at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China; his gifts to MIT to help fund a new college to study artificial intelligence, the University of Oxford to transform the study of the humanities for the future, and Yale University to create their first student and cultural center; and even his time as Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Please visit www.simonandschuster.com/books/What-It-Takes/Stephen-A-Schwarzman/9781501158148 for more information on What It Takes.
About the Book
Title: What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence
Author: Stephen A. Schwarzman
Publisher: Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster
Publication date: September 17, 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 9781501158148
Hardcover price: $30
eBook ISBN: 9781501158254
About the Author
Stephen A. Schwarzman is Chairman, CEO, and Co-founder of Blackstone, one of the world's leading investment firms. Schwarzman is an active philanthropist with a history of supporting education, culture, and the arts, among other areas. Schwarzman holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in New York City with his wife, Christine, and three Jack Russell terriers.
Excerpts from Stephen A. Schwarzman's What It Takes
"I could see the potential for Schwarzman's to grow… Homes were being built, suburbs were expanding, and the birthrate was spiking. That meant more bedrooms, more bathrooms, and more demand for linens. What were we doing with one store in Philadelphia? When America thought linens, it should be thinking Schwarzman's Curtains and Linens." (page 12)
"Chicago was in the middle of a snowstorm…We landed at four in the morning, and it took another hour and a half to find a cab and get to my motel…I had been planning to fly right back to New York from Chicago, so had only the clothes I had arrived in. I put them back on and tried to clear my head. At 7:30 a.m., I walked into Tropicana's offices… I had had no sleep, had no partner with me, not even another associate, and I had never done a merger. You are in such trouble, I told myself. What are you going to do?...In my relatively short career, I had learned that deals ultimately come down to a few key points that matter most to each side…What Ken and the board needed from me now was some clear thinking." (pages 68-69)
"The rejections were horrible and humbling. The setbacks seemed endless. We met people who lied to us or never showed up for appointments even after we had traveled across the country. People we knew well in positions of authority rejected us." (page 117)
"There is a saying in finance that time wounds all deals…By September 1987, stock markets were hitting record highs, and I did not want to get caught if they turned…I arrived at the office after the weekend, on the morning of Monday, October 19, with our fund closed and the money committed. That day, the Dow dropped 508 points, the largest one-day percentage drop in stock market history." (pages 123-124)
"Changing your behavior in the face of changing information is always hard. But when people are doing well, they don't want to change. They choose to ignore the discordant notes and the tunes you are hearing. They feel threatened by bad news and dread the uncertainty of change and the hard work it demands. This tendency makes them passive and rigid at the very moment they should be most active and flexible." (page 206)
"Our process forces every person, no matter anyone's seniority, to act like an owner of the firm, as if our LP's capital was their own." (page 159)
"If we came across the right person to scale a business in a great investment class, why not? If we could apply our strengths, our network, and our resources to make that business a success, why not? Other firms, we felt, defined themselves too narrowly, limiting their ability to innovate… Pete and I thought of the people we wanted to run these new business areas as '10 out of 10s.'… Tens sense problems, design solutions, and take the business in new directions without being told to do so. Tens always make it rain." (pages 99-100)
"Being a strong and accurate assessor of talent is perhaps one of the most critical skills required of any entrepreneur." (page 53)
"When I interview people for Blackstone, I'm looking to understand whether an individual will fit our culture… Our people are all different, but they share some common traits: self-confidence, intellectual curiosity, courtesy, an ability to adjust to new situations, emotional stability under pressure, a zero-defect mentality, and an unwavering commitment to behaving with integrity and striving for excellence in all we choose to do. Being nice—thoughtful, considerate, and decent—doesn't hurt either. I will never hire anyone who isn't nice regardless of his or her talent." (pages 53-55)
A few of the "25 Rules for Work and Life"
- There is nothing more interesting to people than their own problems. Think about what others are dealing with, and try to come up with ideas to help them. Almost anyone, however senior or important, is receptive to new ideas provided they are thoughtful.
- When you're young, only take a job that provides you with a steep learning curve and strong training. First jobs are foundational. Don't take a job just because it seems prestigious.
- Never get complacent. Nothing is forever. Whether it is an individual or a business, your competition will defeat you if you are not constantly seeking ways to reinvent and improve yourself. Organizations, especially, are more fragile than you think.
- Make decisions when you are ready, not under pressure. Others will always push you to make a decision for their own purposes, internal politics, or some other external need. But you can almost always say, "I need a little more time to think about this. I'll get back to you." This tactic is very effective at defusing even the most difficult and uncomfortable situations.
- Worrying is an active, liberating activity. If channeled appropriately, it allows you to articulate the downside in any situation and drives you to take action to avoid it.
- Be there for the people you know to be good, even when everyone else is walking away. Anyone can end up in a tough situation. A random act of kindness in someone's time of need can change the course of a life and create an unexpected friendship or loyalty.
Contacts:
Ryan FitzGibbon, Prosek Partners
646-818-9234, [email protected]
Jordan Rodman, Simon & Schuster
212-698-7433, [email protected]
SOURCE Blackstone
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