What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence

by Stephen A. Schwarzman

But I’ve always believed that it’s just as hard to achieve big goals as it is small ones. The only difference is that bigger goals have much more significant consequences. Since you can tackle only one personally defining effort at a time, it’s important to pursue a goal that is truly worthy of the focus it will require to ensure its success.

Every entrepreneur knows the feeling: that moment of despair when the only thing you are aware of is the giant gap between where you find yourself and the life and business you imagine. Once you succeed, people see only the success. If you fail, they see only the failure. Rarely do they see the turning points that could have taken you in a completely different direction. But it’s at these inflection points that the most important lessons in business and life are learned.

They absorb information, study their own experiences, learn from their mistakes, and evolve.” I certainly did.

also allowed me to refine my ability to simplify complex problems by focusing on only the two or three issues that will determine the outcome.

We build, buy, fix, and sell companies and real estate.

Blackstone is a remarkable success because of our culture. We believe in meritocracy and excellence, openness and integrity. And we work hard to hire only people who share those beliefs. We are fixated on managing risk and never losing money. We are strong believers in innovation and growth—constantly asking questions in order to anticipate events so that we can evolve and change before we are forced to.

A good business with high profits today can be a poor business with low profits tomorrow.

When people ask me how I succeed, my basic answer is always the same: I see a unique opportunity, and I go for it with everything I have.

you want something badly enough, you can find a way. You can create it out of nothing. And before you know it, there it is.

But wanting something isn’t enough. If you’re going to pursue difficult goals, you’re inevitably going to fall short sometimes. It’s one of the costs of ambition.

Teaching, I came to believe, is about more than sharing knowledge. You have to remove the obstacles in people’s way.

I was developing a reputation as someone who made the improbable happen.

If ever I ran an organization, I promised myself I would make it as easy as possible for people to see me and I’d always tell the truth, no matter how difficult the situation.

Finance, and investing especially, is a dynamic world in which you must adjust to new information, people, and situations quickly.

Be on time. Punctuality is the first indicator of how much thought and preparation you have put into an interview.

First, to this day, I sit straight in important meetings.

Blackstone. Investors are always looking for great investments. The easier you make it for them, the better for everyone.

Similarly, people who succeed in finance must start with repetitive practice before they can ever hope to achieve mastery.

the most important asset in business is information.

The more you know, the more perspectives you have and the more connections you can make, which allow you to anticipate issues.

ALL DEALS ARE CRISES

deals ultimately come down to a few key points that matter most to each side.

money is a poor cure for a bad situation.

So if you’re going to dedicate your life to a business, which is the only way it will ever work, you should choose one with the potential to be huge.

The key to all investing is using every tool at your disposal.

In private equity firms, general partners identify, execute, and manage any investments on behalf of limited partners (LPs),