Customer Reviews

Investment Leadership: Building a Winning Culture for Long-Term Success (Wiley Finance)

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Management theorist Peter Drucker famously said: "What gets measured, gets done." Busy executives know this is true. So they have little time for management how-to books that repackage upbeat platitudes about excellence. But asset management executives should make time for Investment Leadership. It is refreshing on two counts. First, it's a management book for and about asset managers. Second, it tries to get its quantifying arms around leadership and culture. It's partly successful on this second count, and that's why it's worth a look.

The authors start with the premise that most investment professionals have no interest in managing people. (We'd point to the example of bond guru Bill Gross, who admits as such in RunningMoney's July 22 profile of PIMCO). That's why the book urges firms to find people with business and organization talent to lead.

And leading is different than just managing...

To read the entire review, check out www.runningmoney.com.

A fascinating insight into the differences in values, culture and leadership between good (or "stagnant") firms and great ones. Jim and his team have a wealth of experiences and facts to draw on to support their thesis.

I would consider this almost a manual for individuals looking to lead their firms down the road into becoming a great investment organization. It also contains practical insight into how values, culture and leadership are also essential qualitative research elements for consultants and analysts.

Investment Leadership explores why some investment organizations produce above average long-term results for clients while others don't. Jim Ware and his team discovered that the best ones have key common characteristics. Ware illustrates how an investment firm's culture influences creativity and success.

This is an engaging book and I believe every investment professional would benefit from reading it. Clients will learn important characteristics to look for when hiring an investment advisor or investing in mutual funds.

Order was received on time and in the condition desribed by the seller. However, the book bounced back and forth between the 'art' of leadership and the 'skill' of investing without really linking the two together.

I've been in financial services for over 25 years and have been frustrated by the cultural factors that seem to make it difficult for executives in this industry to look critically at their leadership and people issues without succumbing to cynical ("nothing can be done") or naive ("buy new inspirational posters")responses to complex systems requirements. My training is in organization development and I found the theories and concepts laid out by Jim Ware, Beth Michaels and Dale Primer to be right on-target. In my experience, business books dealing with leadership are often shallow or focused on inspiration to the exclusion of practical application--books that seem to value feeling good over engaging the hard work of making sustainable, positive change. In contrast, these authors demonstrate an impressive command of the material,and they are also able to translate it effectively for the audience. The language fits the intended reader, and the use of industry-specific analysis and data makes the theory come alive. Finally, they provide concrete methods for implementing change--assessments, suggestions, illustrations. They also tell you there are times it makes sense to hire a consultant, which is simply true. All in all, engaging, provocative, and truly useful.

Investment firms confront a world of change. Yet many of them have managerial cultures that are ill suited for that confrontation. Author Jim Ware, writing with Beth Michaels and Dale Primer, exposes 10 myths of investment firm management, and shows managers what it takes to build a strong, successful management culture. The authors seem generous and humble, drawing examples from and crediting the work of numerous management authorities. The book does not break new ground, but rather it summarizes, compiles and restates what has been said elsewhere. The authors' approach is frank, straightforward and anecdotal. Their focus on the book's target market - investment firm managers - is tight and unvarying. Only in the last chapter do they stray from that focus, restating a number of criteria that investors might use to evaluate stocks on the basis of corporate culture. One suspects that the authors might have included this chapter at the urging of an editor eager to expand, if only incrementally, the readership for the book. If so, we believe the editor should have been content with how precisely the book serves its intended audience.