What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence

by Stephen A. Schwarzman

“I will talk to my colleagues on our executive committee. I have only one request. Do not go to see Nomura before we make a decision.” Nomura was their main competitor, the largest of Japan’s brokerages. Nikko was a distant number two. We agreed. The next day Pete and I woke early for the rest of the meetings. Woozy from jet lag, we both fell asleep in the back seat of the car. When we stopped, I woke up and looked out the window and saw the sign on the building: Nomura. “What are we doing here?” I said to the rep. “Didn’t we tell you yesterday we can’t go to Nomura?” “It’s on the schedule,” he said. “Then tell us how we handle this situation. We promised Nikko we’re not going to meet Nomura. We can’t make a promise then break it.” “But you can’t insult Nomura. They’re the most important broker. You have an appointment with the executive vice president for international business, the same as the other guy.” “We can’t be in this position,” I said. “What are our options?” “You could cancel, but that would be bad manners. You could go and have a nonmeeting meeting, and hope that Nikko doesn’t find out, where you present nothing, like just a courtesy call. Or you can go make your presentation.” None of these options seemed great. We needed to stop floundering. “We’ve got to call the guy at Nikko and tell him what’s going on and get his advice. We don’t know the customs here, and we don’t want to offend him,” I told Pete. He agreed and made the call. We had one of those giant b...