Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-12-21)

onsidering the challenges of 2020,

many of the books that business

leaders recommended this year

aren’t necessarily business books

at all—or even from this year. John

Barry’s 2004 history of another

plague, The Great Influenza, was

citedbybothAxelHefer,chiefexec-

utiveofficerandmanagingdirector

ofTrivagoNV, and David Solomon,

chairman and CEO of Goldman

Sachs Group Inc., who says it’s

“importanttotrytohelpputthe

pandemicintocontext.”

Findinghistoricalanalogiestopresent-day issues is a

common thread throughout the selections of the leaders

we asked. Erik Larson’s epic retelling of the 1940 Blitz, The

Splendid and the Vile, was a popular choice. “Somehow,

Winston Churchill retained relentless optimism in the face

of these insurmountable odds,” says Jonathan Gray, presi-

dent and chief operating officer of Blackstone Group Inc.

He calls it “a powerful lesson for the challenges of 2020.”

Given the renewed attention on racial inequality, some

recommended Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, which examines the

unspoken hierarchy of human rankings in societies. Erika

James, dean of the Wharton School, says the most alarm-

ing realization was that “other countries modeled their own

caste structures on the U.S.,” adding that it was hard to take

in,“butI couldnotputit down.”

Noteveryselectionisa responsetoouraccumulated

crises. Larry Gagosian, the blue-chip art gallerist, recom-

mendsTheBigGoodbye, SamWasson’shistoryofHollywood

intheChinatownera.Hesecondsthefamousobservationof

thatfilm’sproducer,RobertEvans,thatthepathtosuccess

wasto“betontalent.”

AndMaryMack,CEOforconsumerandsmall-business

banking at Wells Fargo & Co., calls bestselling author

Glennon Doyle’s memoir Untamed “an authentic and

empoweringkickinthetail.”

52

TheManWhoRan

Washington:The

LifeandTimesof

JamesA.BakerIII,

by Peter Baker

and Susan Glasser

($35; Doubleday)

“My favorite books

tend to be biographies

and histories,” says

Roger Ferguson,

president and CEO of

TIAA. “I enjoy learning

how leaders have

dealt with the issues

that confronted them.

This book is about a

time not too long ago

in American history

when the prevailing

ethos was to fight

fiercely for electoral

victory, graciously

accept the will of the

people, and attempt to

find common ground

in governing. At the

same time, one can see

the seeds of today’s

hyperpartisan politics

being planted during

this period.”

The Storm Before

the Calm: America’s

Discord, the Coming

Crisis of the 2020s, and

the Triumph Beyond,

by George Friedman

($28.95; Doubleday)

“I findtheperspective

oftakinga fewsteps

backtoseethebig

pictureuseful,”says

DenisDancanet,

presidentofCubist

SystematicStrategies

atPoint72LP.“I liked

Friedman’searlierThe

Next 100 Years, which

applied his geopolitical

forecasting to the

world. This one focuses

on the United States.

Historical context

can often clarify what

seems like a uniquely

confusing present. The

United States is an

invented nation with a

great deal of dynamism

and flexibility. I share

the author’s optimism

about our ability to

continue reinventing

ourselves.”

The Splendid and

the Vile: A Saga of

Churchill, Family, and

Defiance During the

Blitz, by Erik Larson

($32; Crown)

“This book speaks to

fearless leadership

in the darkest hour,”

Gray says. “Imagine

1940. Continental
      Europe has fallen, the
      U.S. is reluctant to be

drawn into another

foreign conflict, and

the U.K. is being

mercilessly bombed by

the German air force

in anticipation of an

invasion. Somehow,

Winston Churchill

retained relentless

optimism in the face of

these insurmountable

odds—a powerful

lesson for the

challenges of 2020.”

Strauss Zelnick,

chairman and CEO of

Take-Two Interactive

Software Inc., is

similarly enthusiastic:

“History that reads

like a thriller. A

demonstration of

what leadership,

optimism, hard work,

and cooperation can

achieve, even with long

odds against success.”

Forests Adrift:

Currents Shaping the

Future of Northeastern

Trees, by Charles

D. Canham ($28; Yale

University Press)

Ingrid Burke, dean of

the Yale School of the

Environment, describes

this book as “a walk

in the woods with an

observant naturalist and

Prelude to

the present

YEAR IN REVIEW Bloomberg Pursuits December 21, 2020