You Can't Predict a Hero: From War to Wall Street, Leading in Times of Crisis

Few can say they have not only lived through the defining crises of the past forty years, but have also played an important role in helping others survive them. Joseph J. Grano, Jr., is known on Wall Street and in Washington as a problem solver, both for hisleadership at UBS PaineWebber and as chairman of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council. But his singular experiences shepherding soldiers through the battlefield of Vietnam, employees through market crash of 1987, and the financial community through the aftermath of 9/11 make him much more than a businessman. He is someone who has taken the most dire of circumstances, seen the opportunities within, and rallied his troops—both literal and figurative—to come through the crisis stronger than before.

Set against the backdrop of his remarkable life story,  YOU CAN’T PREDICT A HERO: From War to Wall Street, Leading in Times of Crisis (Jossey-Bass; September 14, 2009; Hardcover; $27.95), describes how Grano was able to triumph over personal and professional challenges. “These are perhaps the most difficult economic and political times I have experienced,” he writes. “I do not believe, however, that as Americans, we should accept a misery meter culture, nor should we be applauding the next insolvent company or failed government program. We and our leaders should be focusing on solutions that will restore the economic stability we wish to bequeath to our children.”

Structured around six specific crises he has faced, Grano, with co-author Mark Levine, interweaves the most important leadership principles that he has learned throughout his career, and used to inspire the men and women who have served under him in many capacities. These six tenets are:

-          Problems require solutions.

-          Be the eternal optimist.

-          Reconcile yourself to the pursuit of self-interest.

-          You can’t predict a hero.

-          The truth is never wrong.

-          Humanity is just as important as hierarchy. 

Grano repeatedly shows how these six principles have served him well—whether faced with financial bullets or real ones. Born into a working class Italian-American family in Hartford, Connecticut, Grano enlisted in the Army at age 18, and attended officer training before deploying to South America with the elite Green Berets. He then led the most effective combat unit in Vietnam and became a decorated hero before returning home to begin a career as a stockbroker at his local Merrill Lynch office. Through hard work and innovative strategies, he quickly rose through the ranks, holding various senior management positions over the course of 16 years. In 1988, Grano joined PaineWebber, and turned a division that had lost $96 million into one which made profits of $13 million before becoming chairman and guiding the company through an $11 billion merger with UBS.

After the attacks of 9/11, Grano emerged as a natural leader for the financial industry, encouraging his peers to focus on rebuilding with dignity and humanity in the wake of this catastrophe. He was chosen by the White House to be chairman of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council after 9/11, a position he held from 2002-2005. Today, Grano is chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC, a company that advises private and public companies, as well as a producer of the Tony Award-winning smash Jersey Boys.

            Written initially as a gift for Grano’s only son, YOU CAN’T PREDICT A HERO will inspire anyone looking to make sense of our rapidly changing world, and how to grow and even thrive through any challenge. It is a book on how to lead life with determination, intelligence, and above all, honor.

YOU CAN’T PREDICT A HERO:

From War to Wall Street, Leading in Times of Crisis

By Joseph J. Grano with Mark Levine

Jossey-Bass

Publication date: September 14, 2009

240 Pages / Hardcover / $27.95

IBSN: 978-0-470-41167-4