• World
  • Columnist
  • Commodities
  • WORLD BUSINESS & ECONOMY
  • Executive Knowledge Series
  • Finance
  • Manufacturing
  • Markets
  • Risk & Governance
  • Small Business
  • Technology, Media & Innovation
  • Comments
  • Business AM WebTV
  • Login

Businessamlive
  • FRONTPAGE
  • FINANCE
    • AllAsset ManagementAuditBankingBondBudgetCapital MarketsC&I LeasingCurrencyDealDebt marketForexFund RaisingFundingGovernmentHedge FundsInsuranceInvestmentInvestorInvestor ServicesMergers & AcquistionsMoney marketTreasury BillsMortgagePensionsPersonal financePonziQuantitative EasingshareTaxationTSAWealth Management
      Finance

      Decent first 2021 auction for DMO, but drive to finance FGN deficit still poses a challenge

      15 hrs

      Finance

      Exposing Nigeria’s vulnerabilities: Covid-19, crude oil downsides from weak global macro environment

      15 hrs

      Finance

      Nigeria, Africa remittances on target as Wari, Lycaremit sign partnership

      January 21, 2021

      Companies

      Total Nigeria, Mixta, Valency, list new CPs on FMDQ platform to enhance financial markets development

      January 19, 2021

  • MARKETS
  • ECONOMY
    • AllAfricaAgricAirportsAmericaAsiaAustraliaBreakthroughDealEuropeForeign InvestmentsforexGlobal marketGovernanceIMFMiddle EastNECANigeriaOutlookRich listSouth AfricaSport BusinessTradeU.KWest AfricaWorld Economic forum
      Frontpage

      Africa loses up to $15bn yearly from climate change, laments Adesina, AfDBchief

      < 1 min

      Technology

      Tencent $1trn market cap on hold after 11% stock surge

      4 min

      Frontpage

      SDG: Covid-19 magnifies financing gap in developing countries by 70%, says OECD

      13 hrs

      Frontpage

      Africa startups received $2.44bn investment with marginal drop in 2020

      January 26, 2021

  • COMMODITIES
  • ENERGY
    • AllConferenceElectricityOil and GasPowerRenewable
      Nigeria Frontier Markets

      Port Harcourt DisCo explains meter distribution strategy

      < 1 min

      Oil and Gas

      Nigeria’s electricity DisCos create imbalance costing N20.5bn in 3 weeks  

      January 26, 2021

      Companies

      Appeal Court suspends order against shutting of SEPLAT headoffice

      January 23, 2021

      Frontpage

      OPEC welcomes push for electric vehicles, but says fossil fuel remains strong

      January 21, 2021

  • TECHNOLOGY
  • MANUFACTURING
  • ANALYSIS
    • Analyst Insight

      Misconstruing Data Protection Officer function within organisations

      January 25, 2021

      Analyst Insight

      CBN meeting and NSE in focus

      January 18, 2021

      Analyst Insight

      Once again, fiscal stimulus takes centre stage

      January 18, 2021

      Analyst Insight

      Organisations must learn from the WhatsApp story  

      January 18, 2021

People & Places

“I don’t need rocket scientists,” says a self-made billionaire describes the ideal employee

June 8, 2017859 views0 comments

You don’t have to be a genius to work for Sam Zell.

In his book “Am I Being Too Subtle? Straight Talk From a Business Rebel,” Zell writes that he’s not necessarily looking for the smartest people to work at Equity Group Investments — there are other characteristics that are more important.

“There’s a baseline IQ level needed to work at my firm, but I don’t need rocket scientists,” he writes. “After that, what best predicts your success in my world is drive, energy, attitude, judgment, conviction, and passion. And an ability to cut to the center of an issue. I’d trade another twenty IQ points for those qualities any day.”

In fact, he writes, “I’ve had a number of brilliant people working for me who didn’t make it because they couldn’t grasp how to think about a deal.”

Zell expects his team to be willing to speak up. “I empower people. I love self-starters. I want people taking the initiative, pushing the edge, questioning, challenging,” he writes. “Of course, that kind of freedom comes with responsibility, so good judgment is critical. Fortunately, I’ve always been a pretty good judge of character.”
While he admits that he likes being the boss, he’s uninterested in being surrounded by “sycophants.”

Here’s Zell:

“The worst thing for me would be an environment where everybody just said, ‘Okay, Sam, whatever you say,’ all the time. That would be death in an entrepreneurial environment. I tell people, ‘Don’t parrot back to me what I think, and don’t try to guess what I think. I want to know what you think.’
And I do that over and over again until the right answer pops out. When I sit in my office with a group of people, I don’t seek deference; I seek ideas. In that setting every person is on a level playing field. They also each have a stake in every endeavor.”

He says that he expects to hear from his team members, and that different, smart perspectives help everyone.

“I constantly challenge my people to ‘take me on,'” he writes. “I want them to challenge me just like I’m challenging them. We should both be able to succinctly defend our positions on any deal. It just makes us all smarter. I’m getting the most out of them, and they’re getting the most out of me. Win-win.”


Courtesy Newsrep

Share on Facebook Tweet Email
TagsEquity Group Investments. Sam Zell
PreviousRussia, Turkey discuss joint warplanes production
NextApple’s latest iPhone ad is a love note to Earth

Leave a comment

- Cancel reply

MARKET DATA

Market Videos

Recent Posts

  • Africa loses up to $15bn yearly from climate change, laments Adesina, AfDBchief
  • Port Harcourt DisCo explains meter distribution strategy
  • IEI appoints Ayeni as interim MD following Irene’s resignation
  • Tencent $1trn market cap on hold after 11% stock surge
  • Unilever Nigeria cuts operating loss significantly as revenue rises 1.3% to N61.6bn

World

Africa

Buhari, Okonjo-Iweala congratulate Adesina over reelection as AfDB President

Europe

EU businesses to cut investments in 2020, says EIB report

America

U.S. increases cost of visa application for Nigerians

Africa

Thatcher-Loving Nigeria Candidate Plans to Overhaul Economy

Africa

AfDB scales up industrialization pace on the continent, delivers improved business access to finance, skills, energy

Frontpage posts

0

South Africa economy contracts 2.2% in Q1 2018, worst q-o-q performance in 9 years

Frontpage June 5, 2018

1
2

Another container ship attacked in Gulf of Guinea 100nm SW Lagos

Frontpage January 21, 2020

3

Chinese loans to Nigeria governed by Chinese laws-Reps

Frontpage August 18, 2020

4

Shell appeals OML 11 loss, as Rivers mulls plans for oil block

Energy September 8, 2020

5

National Assembly transmits 2020 budget to Buhari

Frontpage December 13, 2019

SUPPORT

  • Photo Gallery
  • Help Centre
  • About Us
  • Accessibility

LEGAL & PRIVACY

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Copyright

SERVICES

  • Conferences & Events
  • Analysts Research
  • Advertising Rate
  • Ebooks

TOOLS

  • Portfolio
  • Newsletters
  • News feed
  • Currency Converter

SUBSCRIBE

Join us to get latest updates on business related news.

[mc4wp_form id="3076"]
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • CAREERS
  • TERMS & CONDITIONS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. BusinessAMLive. A Businessnewscorp Member Company.