What It Takes

For almost 50 years I have analyzed and experimented with what it takes to achieve success. My journey in building Blackstone, the largest alternative asset manager in the world, has taught me many lessons about work and life, and also afforded me the opportunity to meet and learn from incredible people around the world. 

I was only 38 when I started Blackstone. I may have known how to dream big, but like many young entrepreneurs, I had a lot to learn about how to build a great business, how to have personal impact, how to assess risk, how to develop a culture of excellence, how to hire great talent, and how to evaluate risk, just to name a few lessons. 

I decided to write a book to share what I have learned and provide a framework for others that are tackling these same questions. These are by no means the only right answers, but they are the ones that have worked for Blackstone and for me personally. 

I hope you enjoy reading about my successes and failures, see some humor in my adventures along the way, and find a way to apply some of the lessons in What It Takes to your own life and career.  

I am eager to continue this conversation. That is why I have launched a LinkedIn page – to open a dialogue about the topics I believe are critical to success for individuals and organizations. I’m eager to learn what has and hasn't worked for you, and how you have adapted from your own setbacks.

What It Takes to Build a Strong Company Culture

I am often asked about what it takes to establish and teach others about company culture. People are fascinated by the process of imagining, starting, and growing organizations, and creating a unique culture that attracts and retains highly talented people is the secret of any great company. When Pete Peterson and I founded Blackstone in 1985, we sought to build a different kind of investment firm than the ones we had experienced firsthand- one rooted in meritocracy and excellence, openness and integrity, innovation and lifetime learning. The result is an environment at Blackstone where everyone is encouraged to learn from each other, maximize each other’s potential, and speak out when they see something that doesn’t feel right.

Here are a few observations on culture that I believe should be considered for any organization:

Culture must not be theoretical. It needs to be embedded within the key structures and processes of an organization. 

For example, at Blackstone we designed a system for reviewing all of the company’s investment decisions that depersonalizes the process and focuses solely on identifying and analyzing the major risks of an idea. It creates an environment for disciplined, honest, dispassionate, and robust risk assessment. We have defined a specific framework for how our teams must present and share their ideas so they can be carefully and logically evaluated, and when we gather to discuss the investment, we have a rule that everyone around the table must speak, so that every investment decision is made collectively. 

Culture must be carefully preserved. You cannot assume that the next generation will automatically inherit an organization’s culture.

I speak to our incoming analyst classes every year and outline a clear set of expectations and guidelines for how our culture can help them achieve success.

In a recent talk, I boiled it down to two words: excellence and integrity. If we deliver excellent performance for our investors and maintain a pristine reputation, we will always have the opportunity to grow and pursue ever more interesting and rewarding work. 

To ensure my message got through, I defined excellence in narrow, practical terms: It meant 100 percent on everything. In college, 95 percent is great – it’s an A. But In finance, being short 5 percent matters, especially in an industry like ours where we are entrusted with the money of teachers, firefighters and others who rely on public pensions. 

I shared how our Blackstone is built to help them achieve excellence:

1. If you ever feel overwhelmed by work, tell someone. It might not feel natural for high achievers, but it is far better to focus on what you can do, do it well, and seek help with the rest.
2. Ask for help and guidance from your teammates and leaders, and learn from those who came before you. Don’t spend all night trying to solve a problem on your own. Chances are there is someone a few offices away with more experience who could help you solve it in far less time. 
3. Always stay true to our values and you will never be in a position to risk our collective reputation.

Failure is the best teacher in an organization. Build a culture that speaks openly about failures and analyzes what went wrong. An organization that tries to hide or simply ignores failures is missing one of the greatest opportunities to learn and improve.

If evaluated and discussed, failures have the potential to change the course of any organization and make it more successful in the future. But you need everyone on your teams to commit to seeing failures in this way.

Encourage your teams to reach for “worthy fantasies”. In What It Takes, I outline 25 “rules” I have developed for work and life. Rule #1 is that it’s as easy to do something big as it is to do something small, so set ambitions worthy of your pursuit, with rewards commensurate to your effort. 

This applies to personal endeavors, but also to organizations. You should set big goals and encourage teams to pursue projects that have the potential for big impact. Create a culture that looks for those opportunities everywhere, pick the spots to commit, and then pursue them relentlessly.