The Best Book: What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence.

 What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence By: Stephen A. Schwarzman. Blackstone chairman, CEO, and Co founder  

     Book Review By: Mahendra Singh Rathore, 

Although this book is like a seven course French dinner (rich and fulling), to save you time I'll only offer you the hors  d'oeuvres, to assist your decision to read or listen to the complete book.  

Regardless of our roles, responsibilities and disciplines, this book offers everyone practical tools, lessons and  inspirations, in order to achieve personal excellence. The key themes are: Time management, decision making,  hiring, selection of best talents, team engagement, empowerment, dealing with business crises, creative thinking, and  ingenuity (to outsmart the competition).  


Some of the best advice is in the last chapter of the book, which lists 25 lessons for work and life, and is a great  summary of ways of achieving excellence. To start - Take the lessons learned from the wise, to heart. It's as easy to  do something really big, as it is to do something really small. Reach out to achieve lofty goals, worthy of pursuit.  Among the book's Utopian pearls of wisdom, what spoke to me was the following:  

  1. Success comes in rare moments of opportunity- Be open, alert, and ready to seize them as they arise. 

  2. Believe in something greater than yourself. 

  3. The best executives and managers are made, not born. 

  4. Never deviate from the truth. 

  5. Make your own assessment of right and wrong in a given situation. 

  6. Always make a decision when you are ready, not under pressure. 

  7. Make learning a lifelong endeavor-Education is the key to success. 

8 .Harness the power of diversity and thrive in a multicultural, multinational constantly evolving business world

9.  Have passion for philanthropic endeavors - Giving in order to assist, is a powerful motivator.  

10. When it comes to making big decisions, you must pass three tests: 

a. Make sure the potential and payoff are huge, 

b. You must feel "Aha Euphoric moment", and, 

c. Make sure the timing is right. 

11.  No one person, however smart, can solve every problem. 

12.  Lastly, entrepreneurship is for the strong of heart (be patient and progress will be made). 

Please feel free to share your comments, insights and inspiration from the book as well as from our own senior  leaders for the good of everyone.  

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