Some of you might know Byron as the Vice Chair of Blackstone Advisory or as the Chief Investment Strategy Officer at Morgan Stanley for over 20 years. Each year he publishes two of the most read pieces on Wall Street "10 Surprises for the Coming Year" and "Lunch with the Smartest Investor in Europe". I recently saw this, loved this and thought I would share his 14 lessons:
- Concentrate on finding a big idea that will make an impact on the people you want to influence.
- Network intensely.
- When you meet someone new, treat that person as a friend.
- Read all the time.
- Get enough sleep.
- Evolve.
- Travel extensively.
- When meeting someone new, try to find out what formative experience occurred in their lives before they were seventeen.
- On philanthropy my approach is to try to relieve pain rather than spread joy.
- Younger people are naturally insecure and tend to overplay their accomplishments.
- Take the time to pat those who work for you on the back when they do good work.
- When someone extends a kindness to you write them a hand-written note, not an e-mail.
- At the beginning of every year think of ways you can do your job better than you have ever done it before.
- Never retire.