You Can't Predict a Hero E-Book

Joseph J. Grano

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 291

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

The unique story of Wall Street legend Joe Grano--six defining moments in courage, leadership, and determination that will inspire readers of every age, and at every stage in life From Vietnam to 9/11, from the market crash of '87 to today's financial crisis, Wall Street legend Joe Grano has weathered the most defining crises of the last forty years. Whether leading draftees through combat as a Green Beret in Vietnam, regrouping a team of brokers during the market crash of 1987, or working tirelessly to reopen Wall Street after the attacks on 9/11, Joe has served at the front lines of our nation's most defining moments, leading and even inspiring others when things seem at their darkest. Structured around six specific crises he faced in his life and career, You Can't Predict a Hero will describe how Grano was able to triumph over challenges both personal and professional. Whether teaching himself to walk again after sustaining crippling battle wounds, rising from his hardscrabble beginnings to become a top broker at Merrill Lynch, or shepherding the merger of PaineWebber and UBS, his experience has been hard-won and his perspective like no one else's. Through it all, Grano has learned to find the opportunity in any crisis, how to calm and inspire those he leads, and how to find the real solution to what can appear as an insurmountable problem. This dynamic book will inspire anyone looking to make sense of our rapidly changing world, and how to grow and even thrive through any challenge. Problems require solutions, and crisis creates true leaders. Joseph J. Grano, Jr. is Chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC, a company that advises private and public companies. From 2001-2004, Grano was Chairman of UBS Financial Services Inc. (formerly UBS PaineWebber). Having joined the company in 1988, Grano is credited for turning PaineWebber around and shepherding its merger with Swiss banking giant UBS. Grano began his career as a stock broker at Merrill Lynch, where he rose to various senior management positions over 16 years. A decorated war hero, Grano was chosen by the White House to be chairman of the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council after 9/11, a position he held from 2002-2005. The recipient of countless awards for leadership, civic contributions, as well as honorary degrees, he is involved in a wide range of educational and philanthropic endeavors. He and his wife, Kathy, live in New Jersey. Mark Levine has written and collaborated on more than 30 books, including the best sellers Second Acts, Die Broke, and Lifescripts, as well as hundreds of magazine articles. He lives Ithaca, New York, and is a member of the Authors Guild.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Foreword

PREFACE

Chapter One - LEADERS: ARE THEY BORN OR MADE?

SIX PRECEPTS OF LEADERSHIP

Chapter Two - PROBLEMS REQUIRE SOLUTIONS

Chapter Three - BE THE ETERNAL OPTIMIST

Chapter Four - RECONCILE YOURSELF TO SELFISHNESS

Chapter Five - YOU CAN’T PREDICT A HERO

Chapter Six - THE TRUTH IS NEVER WRONG

Chapter Seven - HUMANITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIERARCHY

Chapter Eight - SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Chapter Nine - CAN A LEADER PROSPER WITHOUT A MISTRESS?

Chapter Ten - QUEEN FOR A DAY

Epilogue

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Acknowledgements

INDEX

Copyright © 2009 by Joseph J. Grano, Jr. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Grano, Joseph J. Jr., 1948-

p. cm.

Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-52911-9

1. Grano, Joseph J. Jr., 1948- 2. Investment advisors—United States—Biography. 3. Executives—Psychology. 4. Leadership. 5. Executive ability.

I. Levine, Mark, 1958- II. Title.

HG4928.5.G72 2009

332.6092—dc22

[B]

2009023240

HB Printing

To the magnificent individuals whom I have had the honor to lead in the course of my military and business careers:

The dedicated warriors I guided on covert missionsin the rain forests of Latin America

The citizen soldiers I commanded on patrolsthrough the jungles of Vietnam

The wonderful men and women I led throughthe canyons of Wall Street

My success is due in no small measure to theirefforts.

And to my lovely wife, Kathy, and my children,Angela, Andrea, and Joe, for their unstintingsupport and, most of all, their love

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

—THEODORE ROOSEVELT

FOREWORD

By Lee Iacocca

I never thought I’d say this, but there are days when I despair of our country’s future.

I’m 82 years old and I’ve seen what America can do. I’ve seen us overcome the Great Depression and emerge victorious in World War II. I’ve seen us send men to the moon and return them safely home again. From the private sector I’ve worked with governments to deal with the oil crisis of the 1970s and to turn around one of America’s great companies. How did we do it? With leadership, both from the private sector and our elected leaders. And with an active, informed population, engaged and discerning about their personal and electoral choices.

In recent years, however, there’s been a lack of leadership in business and politics, and a lack of involvement and wisdom among our citizens. Our government often seems run by incompetents, ideologues, and naysayers. Our corporations appear to be run largely by selfish elitists concerned more with the health of their own wallets than the health of their companies. And our fellow citizens look to be more concerned with appearance than substance.

Meanwhile, we’re more dependent on foreign oil than ever, our deficits continue to soar, entitlement reform goes unaddressed, our health care crisis explodes, our trade deficit grows wider, our competitive edge in the marketplace vanishes, and our middle class—the great engine of national prosperity—slowly dies. That’s why I asked, in my recent book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Well, one of them can be found right here in the pages of this book. Joe Grano epitomizes what I call the nine Cs of leadership: curiosity, creativity, communication skills, character, courage, conviction, charisma, competence, and common sense.

His current work with Centurion Holdings shows his ongoing curiosity. His creativity is evident in the way he has always reached beyond the conventional wisdom to solve problems. Joe’s communication skills are unparalleled, as anyone who has ever heard him speak can attest to. Everyone who has ever worked with him can attest to his character. As for courage, the scars he still bears are all the proof you need. His conviction has been clear every time he has stood up for doing what is right, regardless of the cost. Joe’s charisma is obvious when you watch as he inspires college students in giant lecture halls and fellow CEOs around conference tables. As for competence, this is a man who turned around a troubled Wall Street firm in a year, and then set it on the right future course. And there’s no one who brings a more common sense approach to problem solving than Joe, as you’ll read in his suggestions for how we, as a nation, can address the current and looming crises we face.

Joe Grano is the kind of leader we sorely miss, both on Wall Street and in government. I share with him the hope that the story he tells in these pages helps inspire a new generation of national leaders to pick up the torch.

PREFACE

By its very nature, a book on leadership takes a myopic view of the world. Individual leadership is obviously crucial, particularly in a crisis. But it is never the only part of the story. A great leader can motivate employees to overcome adversity, inspire soldiers to brave fire and take a hill, or rouse a populace to make personal sacrifices for a greater common cause. Yet without the best efforts of those motivated employees, inspired soldiers, and aroused citizens, the crisis will turn into catastrophe.

Simply put, I’m a successful businessman who grew up working class and climbed the economic ladder on the strength of hard work, street smarts, leadership skills, and, to be immodest, character. While I am not a complete unknown, particularly among Wall Streeters, mine is certainly not a household name. The average man or woman on the street is not clamoring to hear what Joe Grano has to say.

Yet by virtue of when I was born and came of age in this country, I have served at the front lines of some of the major turning points in our nation’s history—the crises, moments of harrowing struggle, and extraordinary success that our country and economy have gone through over the past forty years. While many books offer theories on leadership and ruminations on ideologies, I share with you the experience of what it means to lead at a time of crisis—when the stakes are human life, our country’s freedom, people’s life savings and livelihoods, and your own character. In the process, I hope that I help you become as good a business leader as you can be, enabling you to survive, and perhaps even thrive, in difficult circumstances.

My experience is hard won, and in many cases a baptism by fire, whether turning a demoralized rifle company into the most effective combat unit in Vietnam, piloting a venerable but declining Wall Street firm through stock market crashes to emerge more profitable than ever before, or helping my industry and my country weather the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I have led others through moments of great physical, psychological, and economic struggle, and through a unique vantage point, I have seen our world’s leaders and what enables them to weather and triumph in times of crisis.

Leading others through both success and adversity can take an enormous personal toll in terms of health and relationships with loved ones, as I’ve witnessed personally. But with this belief in a greater good, a moral responsibility to do right by others, and a strength to make hard decisions and stick by them, anything is possible.

“The leaders I most admire have never been those you see on the front pages or on the evening news but rather those I call the ‘quiet heroes’ who, far from the spotlights, motivate, teach, inspire, and that is … lead.

Joe Grano has done that—in war, in the boardroom, and with his family and friends. He tells his story as a great leader should—humbly, and with an eye to teaching readers how they can benefit from his experiences.”

—GEORGE PATAKI, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK

Chapter One

LEADERS: ARE THEY BORN OR MADE?

Leadership is the ability to gain the willing support of subordinates. Any manager can mandate certain actions by his or her employees, but only when an employee actually wants to support the mandate does the manager become a true leader. Great leaders earn this support seemingly without effort. When such an individual walks into a room, makes a speech, or is interviewed by the media, his or her personality traits are evident, if not always easily definable. A great leader’s natural charisma instills confidence and creates a desire in others who experience it to want to follow.

I learned from an early age that others looked to me as a leader. This helped me grow from a Hartford, Connecticut, street kid to a captain in the Green Berets by the age of twenty-two. It contributed to my climb from stock broker trainee to a top management position at Merrill Lynch after returning from Vietnam with a 60 percent disability from severe wounds and no job prospects. Being able to leverage that charisma as a significant leadership tool was one of the reasons I was hired by PaineWebber as president of retail sales and marketing and in one year turned a division that had lost $96 million into one that made profits of $13 million. When I took the helm as chairman and CEO of PaineWebber and steered it through an $11 billion merger with Swiss banking giant UBS, I relied heavily on my ability to motivate my subordinates. And during the national crisis of September 11, 2001, the subsequent anthrax attacks, and a stint as chairman of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, I called on all the leadership techniques I’d learned over the years.