Customer Reviews

The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators

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We've all heard about the alleged "robber barons." For decades the world's successful wealth creators - from Rockefeller to Gates - have been brushed with that smear. But Dr. Locke shows that the smear just can't stick. The wealth creators aren't the dishonest, short-range, conniving bullies we've long been told. Instead, they're both productive AND moral.

To his credit, Dr. Locke doesn't accept the prevailing view that rational self-interest is evil - or that humble self-sacrifice is noble. That's what makes this book special - in addition to Locke's ability to cut to the essential aspects of creativity in business.

I found Dr. Locke's survey of the great wealth-creators to be as unique as the subjects he studies. Guided by an objective standard for gauging productive prowess, Locke identifies a handful of the most crucial personality traits held in common by history's great business creators and leaders. One of my favorites is "love of ability in others." Successful employees at every level of business will be familiar with the envy and resentment they often get from their bosses. Locke shows that those aren't the successful bosses, that it takes an enormous ego (and self-confidence) to seek out and promote the best employees one can find.

In Dr. Locke's book we learn what's never yet been taught about the productive giants of yesterday and today. Better still, we're given a reality-based, time-tested, and objective yardstick for identifying the giants of tomorrow.

Want to make a bundle in business? Locke says you must develop an independent vision, an active mind, competence and confidence. You must be an activist (not a mere "idea man") and be passionate about your work. You must practice the virtues of rationality, honesty, integrity, independence, justice and self-interest (self-preservation). You must buck conventional opinion, which holds that rational greed is practical, but morally suspect. Locke shows us that rational greed is practical precisely because it's moral. Immoral approaches to business tend, in contrast, to dissipate wealth.

Locke doesn't just advise us. In bringing alive the achievements of the wealth creators, in citing their successes and quoting their own philosophies, he lets the creators speak to and inspire us. Here, Locke AND Rockefeller advise.

This book deserves the rapt attention of entrepreneurs, business leaders, board members, venture capital firms, executive recruiters and business students. It's not just a history lesson. It's a principled "how-to" book with a moral-philosophic base that permits the user to feel he can create ever more wealth and - equally important - feel proud of the wealth he's created.

This book is much more than an itemized list of millionaires' habits and attitudes toward life; it more useful to the reader than Thomas Stanley's new book, for example. In The Prime Movers, Dr. Locke uncovers the essential traits of that make wealth creation and productivity possible, and provides clear and easily graspable principles for success.

More importantly, Locke connects the concepts of virtue and wealth creation. Lock states: "With respect to business and to life, what is needed is an objective approach to the subject of ethics. This is made even more urgent by recent polls that show business students to be cynical about the whole subject of morality. This is undoubtedly the result of the widely held view that moral principles are nothing more than arbitrary subjective preferences. I disagree." He goes on to demonstrate that achievement in business is fundamentally predicated on virtue, and that living by certain kinds moral values is basic to the success of the greatest creators in history.

The key to understanding Locke's thesis is that he disregards such character traits as faith, humility, piety, and self-sacrifice as virtues. Instead, he advocates a practical, egoistic morality based on the virtues of rationality, independence, productiveness, honesty, integrity, and justice. He goes on to explore all of these in detail, giving numerous examples from actual case studies and historical research.

Dr. Locke is obviously a devotee of Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, and wears his moral convictions like a badge of honor. Nevertheless, The Prime Movers will be both useful and interesting to you even if you have never heard of Ayn Rand. This is the book that will show you, not only how to make a billion dollars, but how to become a better person at the same time.

Dr. Locke's latest book, "The Prime Movers", is the most inspiring non-fiction book I have ever read. With his in-depth discussions of the virtues and hallmarks of the world's Prime Movers, Dr. Locke shows us the value of unflinching rationality, vision, courage, and persistence. The examples also show that large-scale wealth creation is a result of following the morality of Ayn Rand's philosophy, Objectivism, regardless if the person is conscious that he or she is following her philosophy or not.

Chapter 9 helps distill the essence of the Prime Mover into how one would use their abilities to make a billion dollars. Luckily, for those of us who will not use the same amount of drive and tenacity, we are shown that we can get by making a mere 2-100 million dollars.

Concluding the book are appendices showing the monetary figure of Prime Mover generated wealth and essays by Dr. Locke and Dr. Peikoff. Readers not familiar with Dr. Peikoff's essay style are in for a great treat.

If you've ever listened to Dr. Locke's taped lecture series on the traits of American Business Heroes, you'll fall in love with this more essentialized, internationally-scope tome. It is remarkable.

Like the other prior customers reviewing Locke's book, I thought it was terrific. However, I must say a few words about the horrible editorial review of the book written by someone at the Industry Standard. I am concerned that a person who has not read the book may be mislead by the ad hominem arguments and sarcastic tone of this incompetent critique.

The reviewer would have you believe that the traits of great wealth creators discussed by Locke are glaringly obvious. If this is true, why aren't there more great wealth creators? Why are there only a handful of people like Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, and Jack Welch? The answer, the reviewer suggests, is because the traits, while obvious, are not truly important. Rather, "any effort to boil down the traits common to [great wealth creators] will lack the precision and insight needed to guide others on a similar path . . . commonalities will be overly broad and generalized." But if this is so, then why (according to the reviewer) do entrepreneurs and billionaires "with half a brain" know them? And what of the massive evidence provided in Locke's analysis that the traits are, in fact, essential to wealth creation? The reviewer apparently believes we should take his or her word on faith rather than consider the facts identified and explained by Locke.

The reviewer also does not care for Locke's political views, and finds his attack on anti-capitalism "extreme" and "outdated." Well, Locke's views are radical: radically rational, radically capitalistic. Anyone who thinks a fervent defense of capitalism is unneeded is either ignorant or worse. The continuing application of arbitrary anti-trust laws (as in the MicroSoft case), demands for increased government regulation of industry (e.g., health care, electrical power, oil), and the numerous pitfalls of our mixed economy amply illustrate the necessity of standing up for free minds and free markets.

It is true that Locke does not devote much space to discussing how to reform the economy and move towards a freer society. The focus of the book is on the traits of great wealth creators, and Locke discusses societal factors only in this context. Similarly, to maintain his focus, Locke does not provide a full justification for his Objectivist philosophy. Rather, he refers interested readers to the works of Ayn Rand, where the philosophy is explained and justified in great detail. Locke also supplies an appendix written by Peikoff that further explains why business people need philosophy.

The Industry Standard review asserts that Locke exaggerates the moral worth of wealth creation and great wealth creators. In fact, Locke explicitly acknowledges that some great wealth creators were flawed human beings. He points out several times that virtues such as rationality, honesty, and integrity are what make a person good, and that the flawed wealth creators were flawed because they did not consistently integrate these virtues into their personal lives. As for the value of wealth creation, it is true that a productive economy is not the only thing that makes a good society - but, as the Soviet Union discovered, without wealth creation a society is doomed. Locke certainly recognizes this and, for that reason, stresses the importance (to individuals and society) of holding the right philosophy. Such a philosophy integrates productivity and wealth creation into the broader realm of ethics. Objectivism is the only philosophy that accomplishes this.

Neither does Locke ignore non-trait factors in wealth creation. Indeed, his discussion of the political context required for wealth creation is offered for this very purpose. However, his primary focus is on factors within a person's control - the traits that an individual can develop to become a better person and a more successful wealth creator. This is what makes the book compelling to anyone interested in the topic.

In sum, I strongly urge potential readers of "The Prime Movers" to ignore the petty and worthless editorial review. The reviewer's sarcasm masks, unsuccessfully, his or her inability as a reviewer and, if anything, serves to underscore the need for the book. But don't take my word for it. Read and decide for yourself.

The Industry Standard calls Dr. Locke's selected Traits "obvious", noting that all of them have been named before. This is a grave disservice, for the meat of the book is the explanation of why these traits fit together (how they are integrated in the business heroes profiled) and why these traits (not others) are the essential ones. For instance, Locke shows that "great communication skills" is NOT one of the important Traits. I'll leave his argument for this, and his other revelations, to the book. Happy (and profitable) reading!

From the title forward, the reader is skillfully thrust into a world where great minds work tirelessly to achieve that state of grace where achievement surpasses aspiration. These are the men and women of the world that, as Aristotle first observed, move themselves-refusing to be moved unthinkingly by events or other influences. These great producers act as that first force on the path to self-propelled greatness. These are the men and women that expand conceivable horizons: giants such as John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mary Kay Ash, Tom Watson, J.P. Morgan, and others who lift the tide for themselves (and the rest of mankind) through their abundant achievements.

When Ayn Rand wrote of man's mind as the motor of the world, she probably had a clear picture of these producers to provide the motive power. Locke exhaustively quantifies those specific aspects within these giants that allows them to surpass the aspirations of the majority of humanity.

We learn from Locke both the character traits and the practiced attributes that prove the aphorism that there is no such thing as an accidental billionaire. Locke thoroughly debunks the fashionable myth that men of such prodigious output are simply lucky to have been born with ability. He carefully and thoughtfully explains that ability is only a potential, not a skill. Greatness comes from the incessant relentless combination of ability, indepedence, integrity, justice, productiveness, honesty, and perhaps most of all, rationality.

The emphasis on rational thought is the base premise behind Prime Movers. At first blush, readers may interpret Locke's perspective as Machiavellian (e.g., "A rational CEO will consider the interests of employees and customers not because either group necessarily has any ownership stake, but because they are the means by which he makes a profit."). But this interpretation only skims the surface.

The true understanding of passages like the one cited stems from a consistent recognition of reality as it really is (i.e., an unwillingness to fake reality). Those who elude (or try to "spin") reality succeed only for short periods, if at all-and usually in politics, not in the reality-bound world of business. As Locke aptly puts it, "When reality becomes your enemy, reality always has the last laugh."

The author's mastery of philosophy is evident throughout the work as he logically proceeds from each incontrovertible philosophical premise to each of its natural extensions and ultimately to its logical conclusion. Further, there is unusual comfort to be gained from Locke's consistency in the application of these premises. That is, the reader is comfortably along for the ride as Locke adeptly shifts from the identification of a Prime Mover character trait to the philosophical grounding as to why this trait is genuinely important on a larger, intellectual scale. (Indeed, Locke identifies the difference between the indispensible of great wealth creators, such as rationality and independence, and those traits shared by many Prime Movers that are incidental, such as competitiveness and charisma.) The refinement of indispensable traits as distinct from ancillary traits demonstrates a true understanding of the motive power of achievement.

Overall, the book was vastly educational and entertaining-a rare treat indeed for a work published by the American Management Association. The reader may be on unfamiliar ground if he or she is not acquainted with the philosophy of Objectivism, but Locke's approachable style and matter-of-fact journalism make this potential knowledge gap quite surmountable. I recommend this book to those seeking to understand wealth, acquire wealth, or even to identify those things that bode greatness in certain, driven people-whether they be employees, colleagues, friends, or competitors. I look forward to reading more by this author, especially in the area of Management Theory and Practice; I suspect the rich insights here come from a rich background in the Management Sciences.

During the recent SR Conference in Richmond, Va., I bought at random in the SR store a copy of Dr. Edwin Locke's book:

"The Prime Movers"

Traits of the Great Wealth Creators

However, I must confess, that the moment I started to read this book, I got hooked. It reads almost like a detective story, and I couldn't let it down.

For businessmen, this is a revelation.For non- businessmen or women it is a fascinating book, explaining and summerizing what is not only important for business, but how it concerns also your own well being.Objectivists will highly enjoy the clarity and logic of the ideas presented.This is a spirit uplifting book.

From the foreword by John Allison, CEO,, BB&T, Inc., making emphasize on the progress of the last 250 years compared to the previous 25.000 ones, to the basic ideas which made this development possible, to the article "Hatred of the Good", by E. Locke and appendix B by L. Peikoff "Why Business Need Philosophy", this is a a unique and outstanding book. Dr.Locke keeps the reader highly motivated to rush from one chapter to the next one.

This delightful book, based solely on Objectivist premises, is a wonderful reading experience.

I wonder, if Dr. Locke considers this book his masterpiece.

Horst Jepsen, businessman (a proud one)

It's about time a book of this nature is written. For generations the businessperson has created and carried mankind on its shoulders, only to be ostracized as the evil robber baron. Mr. Locke has the courage and intellect to expose the truth and to provide some invaluable insight. As the President of a growing cosulting firm, I have now placed this book in my List of Top 5. I hope more readers do the same.

To those who have read the review from the industry standard above, put little stock into these words. This book was not written for this type of individual (who gave the review anonymously). This book was written for those individuals who actually have the opportunity, desire, and courage to make an impact. From my observations and experiences around the business world, this book has had a phenomenal impact on many true visionaries and leaders. Dr. Locke's works and teachings have dramatically increased my corporation's bottom-line success and raised by personal tax bracket. With my highest recommendation!

How does one make money morally?

This book is far and away better than books by or about a single CEO because it looks at many leaders and clearly shows what is fundamental, discarding the rest. The same principles needed to run a successful company and build wealth apply whether one runs a modest store or a gigantic enterprise (or even a modest department in a large company). In today's culture most people would rather cut down and sling dirt at those at the top. It is therefore very refreshing to read why they should be admired and how to follow in their footsteps.