1. How would you describe Stephen Schwarzman’s personality? There are many traits that make up Stephen Schwarzman’s personality. He certainly has a proactive personality because he is goal oriented and takes initiative. He showed this when he was in high school racing track and continued to display this in his adult life from staying up all night to finish a spreadsheet before a meeting the next day to leading and directing many employees under him. Although he may have made mistakes along the way, he remained eager to succeed and deliver and wasn’t afraid to take action.
I don’t necessarily see him as an extrovert that is extremely outgoing; rather he is an assertive yet calm and understanding leader. He is definitely emotionally stable as he has been able to take direction and criticism and grow and learn as a result of both. He is both a responsible and careful person who prefers to postpone deadlines until he is absolutely sure he has made the right decision. 2. Relative to concepts you have just read about, what traits and characteristics would describe the “ ideal” Blackstone candidate?
Explain your rationale for selecting each characteristic. Blackstone appears to be the kind of organization that depends heavily on team work, diligence, and attention to detail. Schwarzman reveals to his new employees that it is most important to get the job done right, not just get the job done. He promotes and team work and encourages employees to offer and seek help to and from others. Working for an organization like that takes a certain type of person. The ideal candidate would be outgoing and sociable, which are both very important traits when working in teams.
These employees need to be able to converse and interact with each other in constructive and productive ways, and these traits will help them do so. I also think it is vital that candidates are curious and open minded. They need to be open to new ideas as well as have an eagerness to learn. Working with a leader such as Schwarzman, one must be accepting of direction and constructive criticism, and know how to use it for the greater good. 3. Ranked 1 = most important to 8 = least important, which of Gardner’s ight multiple intelligences are most critical to being successful at a major investment company like Blackstone? Explain your ranking. The most critical of Gardner’s eight multiple intelligences to being successful at a major investment company like Blackstone is Intrapersonal intelligence. I believe that a person cannot truly do his best work, work well with others and understand actions and emotions of others until he completely understands himself and how he operates. Only then can real success follow. This is the basis for success in a company like Blackstone and, most likely, in any company.
The second most important intelligence for a major investment company is logical mathematical intelligence. Being able to successfully work with and understand numbers is crucial to one’s performance in a company like Blackstone. One must be able to make assumptions and draw conclusions from numerical data. The third most important of the multiple intelligences is interpersonal intelligence. Blackstone requires employees to work with one another. It is vital to the firm’s success that employees understand each other and are able to work well with all different types of personalities.
If they can effectively work together there is no end to what the team as a whole can accomplish. The fourth most important intelligence of the eight multiple intelligences is linguistic intelligence. This type of intelligence is critical when communicating with others and expressing ideas, thoughts, and insight to others. The fifth most critical intelligence is spatial intelligence. Spatial intelligence describes one’s ability to recognize patterns. The economy is very cyclical and certain companies follow patterns that other similar companies have followed in the past.
It can be very helpful for an employee at Blackstone to be able to recognize such patterns when analyzing companies and making recommendations as to which companies to invest in. I feel that of the eight multiple intelligences, these five are very critical to one’s success at a firm such as Blackstone. Naturalistic, bodily, and musical intelligence hold much less importance in a company like Blackstone. 4. Using Table 5-5 as a guide, how important are the various emotional intelligence competencies for making good investment decisions? Explain. Emotional intelligence is critical to one’s success in making good investment decisions.
The first part of emotional intelligence is personal competence. Personal competence is made up of self-awareness and self-management. Self-awareness is one’s own sense of self. It is the ability to recognize and understand why you make certain decisions and take certain actions. More importantly, it is the ability to recognize one’s own strengths as well as weaknesses. This is very important when making investment decisions. It is crucial to be aware of what you’re best at and at the same time know when it’s time to ask for help. Self-management is also a vital attribute to have in the investment arena.
Self-management includes emotional self control which is extremely important. Having the ability to tame disruptive emotions and not get overly upset or excited is crucial when making investment decisions. Whenever one is dealing with a lot of money, emotions are bound to get involved. One that can control these emotions during the decision making process will encounter more success than someone that can’t. Also part of self-management are honesty, adaptability, drive for achievement, initiative and optimism. These are all essential to one’s success in making investment decisions.
One must be honest and clear with himself as well as others in order to get the best results. Also, being able to adjust to changing economies and markets is a very helpful trait while making these types of decisions. Having a good attitude and wanting to succeed is useful and important when making any type of decision and working in any type of organization so they are, of course, important to making good investment decisions. The second part of emotional intelligence is social competencies. This includes social awareness and relationship management. Social awareness is the ability to understand and consider other’s emotions.
This is essential when making decisions, because often times, decisions made effect many people in an organization, and they should be considered in the decision making process. Lastly, relationship management is also important while making investment decisions. Being able to build and maintain lasting relationships and being a team player are vital in being successful in almost any endeavor, investment decisions included. It is extremely helpful to have a good team alongside you and good trusting people you can go to for help and guidance when making important decisions. 5.
Do you have what it takes to work for someone like Stephen Schwarzman? Explain in terms of the concepts in this chapter. I currently work for someone very much like Stephen Schwarzman, so I believe I do have what it takes as I am successful in my current role. A leader like Schwarzman requires his employees to be detail oriented, cautious yet assertive, diligent, a team player and open-minded. The five personality dimensions are important to a leader like this; they like their employees to be sociable and work well with others, cooperative and take direction well, achievement oriented, emotionally stable and intellectual and curious.
My personality includes all of these traits. I am a very good team player as I am always collaborating with others in my office. I’m also curious and eager to learn from anyone that wants to teach me. I take direction well and I welcome constructive criticism because I believe it truly does make a person better. I have a proactive personality and am goal oriented. I go after what I want and I believe in myself. I also have a good sense of self awareness and I can definitely empathize with others. All in all, I definitely have what it takes to work for someone like Stephen Schwarzman.
