{"id":1004031844,"date":"2011-08-23T12:40:26","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T20:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004031844"},"modified":"2022-12-08T17:13:35","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T01:13:35","slug":"page-turners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/page-turners\/","title":{"rendered":"Page Turners"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Rosta<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSummer reading\u201d: The words conjure up an idyllic picture of leisurely days on the beach devoted to immersion in a page-turner. In reality, of course, most senior real estate executives are much more likely to steal a few precious hours for reading on a cross-country flight than under a beach umbrella. Given the demands on their time to synthesize information from a battery of sources, it is remarkable that company leaders find time for books in the first place. That said, an informal survey of company leaders suggests that executives\u2019 top picks among both new and classic books offers not only provocative reading but a rare window into their concerns.<\/p>\n

The capital markets crisis has yielded a rich literature, and some aspect of the capital markets crisis figures into every CEO\u2019s selection. Several cited Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System\u2014and Themselves<\/em> by Andrew Ross Sorkin. For Peter Roberts, CEO for Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. in the Americas, Sorkin\u2019s account \u201coffers good insight into leadership behaviors in a crisis and draws a pretty stark contrast between how different leaders respond.\u201d <\/p>\n

Another recommendation is The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine<\/em>, Michael Lewis\u2019 2010 account of the housing and credit bubbles. \u201cIt should be required reading for all of today\u2019s commercial and finance professionals,\u201d declared Fred Schmidt, president & COO of Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates L.L.C., who also serves as president of the ONCOR International L.L.C. network. The Big Short<\/em> also won the endorsement of Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. Lewis\u2019 work, Gregory Zuckerman\u2019s The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History<\/em> and 13 Bankers<\/em> by Simon Johnson and James Kwak are \u201cthe most vivid descriptions of what went wrong,\u201d Green said. <\/p>\n

Ed Indvik, CEO of Lee & Associates, drew sobering lessons from Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy<\/em>. The work, by Barry Ritholtz with Aaron Task, details the repercussions of the federal government\u2019s easy money policy and its repeated rescues of Wall Street. Indvik also cited A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers<\/em>, an account of the investment bank\u2019s implosion by Lawrence MacDonald, a former Lehman vice president. Among other themes, the book offers stark reminders that greed is a menace that will never be eradicated. Moreover, Indvik noted, it delves into the fact that \u201chuge financial gains were achieved by the imprudent use of financing for residential (buyers) through subprime lending and the commercial market with CMBS lending excesses.\u201d Absent sufficient risk management, he observed, \u201cthe abuses were ultimately unsustainable and the leverage in relationship to underlying value and debt service was too great.\u201d <\/p>\n

A need to understand other pressing economic topics is landing additional recent books on executive reading lists. Paul Daneshad, president & CEO of StarPoint Properties L.L.C., called Endgame: The End of the Debt Supercycle and How it Changes Everything<\/em> \u201can imperative read.\u201d He explained: \u201cThe thing that stood out the most is the fact that the average executive truly does not understand the scale and implications of our national debt and how jaded the current dialogue is when put into context of the magnitude and severity of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Economic trends unfolding far from U.S. borders are also commanding attention. Prudential Mortgage Capital president David Twardock\u2019s summer reading list includes Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China\u2019s Extraordinary Rise<\/em>. The book\u2019s co-authors, Carl Walter and Fraser Howe, argue that the apparently robust Chinese banking system rests on shaky ground that could undermine the nation\u2019s economic success. Twardock read with great interest the discussion of China\u2019s improving but still challenging transparency. The Asian giant likewise figures in the recent reading of Coldwell Banker Commercial\u2019s Schmidt, who recommends On China<\/em>, Henry Kissinger\u2019s new exploration of the interplay between China\u2019s history and its foreign relations. <\/p>\n

Besides trends in capital markets, the books selected by real estate executives reflect a quest for fresh ideas about leadership. For a cogent discussion of best practices in client service, Roberts recommends Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business<\/em> by Ranjay Gulati. \u201cIf you\u2019re not effective at serving your clients\u2019 or customers\u2019 needs, you\u2019re not going to succeed as a business,\u201d he said. \u201cUsing that lens as a filter to see how your business can improve should be a constant exercise for all leaders.\u201d <\/p>\n

Among the top picks by Colliers International president & CEO Doug Frye this summer is Open Leadership: How Social Technologies Can Transform the Way You Lead<\/em>, by Charlene Li. \u201cI am truly fascinated by the phenomenon\u2014or should I say revolution\u2014that has been unfolding in front of us in recent years, driven by the relentless growth of social media,\u201d Frye reported. \u201cWhat I\u2019m enjoying about this book is that it takes a very pragmatic and grounded approach to the application of social media in business.\u201d <\/p>\n

Daniel Pink\u2019s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us<\/em> offers the compelling argument that individual drive stems from three forces: a desire for autonomy, mastery of meaningful skills and involvement in a purpose beyond the self. Frye was struck by how closely those themes parallel his firm\u2019s own bedrock principles of decentralization, fostering expertise and community service. <\/p>\n

Frye\u2019s recent reading also includes How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything \u2026 in Business (and in Life)<\/em> by Dov Seidman. \u201cA true sign of a values-led business is one where the \u2018how\u2019 part has equal or greater significance to the \u2018what,\u2019 and I think this book provides a great, action-oriented roadmap to developing not only a values-driven business but a values-driven life,\u201d Frye explained.<\/p>\n

Staying Power<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond recent arrivals, executives have plenty of suggestions for classics that merit re-reading or a first look. Some titles are decades old: Daneshad favors M. Scott Peck\u2019s 1978 The Road Less Traveled<\/em> and Richard Kiyosaki\u2019s Rich Dad, Poor Dad<\/em>, published in 1997. <\/p>\n

Other books deemed to be classics are of a more recent vintage. That applies to Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, according to Frye. Gladwell emphasizes the 10,000-hour rule, which refers to the time needed to master a discipline. \u201cWhat separates the great from the good is the ability to sustain effort for long enough to become a true master,\u201c Frye commented.<\/p>\n

Despite a few mixed feelings, Green found lasting value in Nassim Nicholas Taleb\u2019s The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable<\/em>. \u201cI find Taleb annoying, but that doesn\u2019t mean he isn\u2019t right about a lot,\u201d he observed. On a more offbeat note, the USC Lusk Center\u2019s director found compelling reading in Tom Wolfe\u2019s 2001 novel A Man in Full<\/em>, whose protagonist owns an office complex burdened by heavy debt. Green cites the tale for its insights into \u201chow hubris bites people in the real estate business.\u201d <\/p>\n

The pursuit of excellence is a subject of several works that earn the stamp of \u201cclassic\u201d from Roberts. Good to Great<\/em>\u2014Jim Collins\u2019 2001 study of elite companies\u2014remains \u201cone of the most enduring business books,\u201d the Jones Lang LaSalle executive contends. \u201cIts fundamental lessons like \u2018get the right people on the bus,\u2019 \u2018get on the right seats\u2019 and \u2018focus on your passion\u2019 don\u2019t go away.\u201d <\/p>\n

Works focused on noted CEOs also prove to be fertile ground. In Let My People Go Surfing<\/em>, a 2006 memoir, Patagonia Inc. founder Yvon Chouinard reflects on his career, approach to business and environmental concerns. The memoir \u201cis inspiring from the perspective that it was written by a man who has been there and done it,\u201d Frye said. \u201cI felt this to be a great study of authentic leadership, and was especially interested with the strong environmental core that runs through everything they do at Patagonia.\u201d <\/p>\n

And for timeless insights from an industry giant, readers may want to track down Zeckendorf: The Autobiography of William Zeckendorf<\/em>, the 1970 memoir by a New York City-based developer whose signature projects include the United Nations headquarters. \u201cIt\u2019s great storytelling from one of the true pioneers of real estate development,\u201d Schmidt reported. \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An informal survey of company leaders suggests that executives\u2019 top picks among both new and classic books offers not only provocative reading but a rare window into their concerns. The capital markets crisis has yielded a rich literature, and some aspect of the capital-markets crisis figures into every CEO\u2019s selection. By Paul Rosta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":445,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004031844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPage Turners - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/page-turners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Page Turners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An informal survey of company leaders suggests that executives\u2019 top picks among both new and classic books offers not only provocative reading but a rare window into their concerns. 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