Success By Ten: George Russells Top Ten Elements to Building a Billion-Dollar Business »

George F. Russell Jr. pioneered the business of pension fund consulting in the late 1960s and was named in 1993 as one of the four most influential people in the world of institutional investing. He is the creator of the Russell 2000 Index and the visionary behind Frank Russell Company, one of the world's leading investment management and advisory firms, with offices in financial centers worldwide. George Russell received the Lillywhite Award from the Employee Benefits Research Council for outstanding lifetime contributions to enhancing Americans' economic security in 1998, the CFA Institute's Thomas L. Hansberger Leadership in Global Investing Award in 2008, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service in 2009.

Michael Sheldon worked at Frank Russell Company from 1993 to 1999, writing marketing materials and helping George Russell draft articles and client communications. He cofounded XMedia Communications in 1999 to provide marketing, copywriting, creative content, and strategy to a diverse clientele.

Throughout his career, George Russell–a pioneer in the pension fund consulting business and driving force behind Frank Russell Company–has gone about doing things his own way. Avoiding textbook approaches, Russell has innovated best practices for managing money, and for building a long-lasting business. Under his leadership, the company, today known as Russell Investments, has grown into one of the world's leading investment advisory firms.

Now, in Success by Ten, Russell shares his experiences in building a better business with you, and shows how the right corporate culture and the proper people can play an important role in this process.

Broken down into ten engaging chapters, each of which represents a business lesson that has helped Russell excel over the years, this reliable guide weaves Russell's own story with the insights of colleagues he has learned from along the way. And while the information and innovations outlined throughout these pages spurred the professionalization of pension fund management– with the potential benefit of improving financial security for investors–they are broadly accessible and can be applied to organizations of any type or size.

Success by Ten puts the essential elements of building a profitable business in perspective. The practical advice you'll find here includes:

• Integrity must be non-negotiable, because one slip can ruin the entire enterprise

• Bringing people together and sharing credit with them will result in dramatic improvements in productivity

• Creative ideas may be ahead of the market; they require patience and a willingness to ignore the bottom line while you wait for the market to catch up

• Continuing to take risks is essential, because your competitors will be doing their best to make you obsolete, irrelevant, and unprofitable

• Occasional breaks, like the Russell sabbatical program—for every ten years of service, you earn a two-month sabbatical—are great investments; they enhance productivity and seed innovation

It takes more than just spreadsheets and statistics to create and grow a business in today's competitive market environment. With Success by Ten as your guide, you'll quickly discover how the principles that have served George Russell so effectively can also benefit your company, your customers, and your employees.

Acknowledgment.

Introduction.

Chapter 1 Non-Negotiable Integrity.

Building Character.

Reach for the Summit.

Our Business is Based on Trust.

Integrity is More Important than the Bottom Line.

Do the Right Thing.

Integrity Cannot Be Negotiable.

Chapter 2 Persistence, Patience, and Cold Calls.

Early Days at Frank Russell Company.

Building a Retail Sales Operation.

Harvard to the Rescue.

The Cold Call.

Paul Kaltinick’s Perspective.

A Unique Selling Proposition.

Evolving the Business Model.

Compensation.

Top 40 Hits: 1970–1974.

Minimal Debt; Reinvest.

Notes.

Chapter 3 Hire People Smarter Than You Are.

The Need for Innovation in Pension Fund Management.

Peter Dietz and His Method of Performance Measurement.

Helane Grill, Madelyn Smith, and Joan Sobba—The Three Musketeers of Manager Research.

Creating a Universe.

A New Process for a New Industry.

Madelyn Smith Shows Her Style.

Russ Fogler—Pioneer of Asset Allocation.

Duncan Smith Asks the Tough Questions—and Answers Them.

Don Ezra Defines the Right Way to Be a Fiduciary.

The Best Investment I Ever Made.

Notes.

Chapter 4 Be Creative.

The Treasurer’s Club: They’re Not Laughing Anymore.

Blake Eagle Puts Real Estate on the Map.

London Calling.

Our Battle to Exceed Client Expectations.

A Funny Thing Happened on May 1, 1980.

The Only Difference is the Zeros.

Making It Fly.

FRTC’s All-Stars.

From Wall Street to Main Street.

Concentric Circles.

Chapter 5 Work Hard.

Setting the Tone.

The 120 Percent People.

Work is Only a Means to an End.

Incentives that Worked.

Growth and Change.

Chapter 6 Share Credit.

Getting Rid of Titles.

Stars of the Investment Industry.

The A Team.

Our Biggest Mistake.

Plenty to Celebrate.

Sharing Credit—Globally.

Sharing Ownership.

Chapter 7 Recognize Luck.

Are You a Decision Maker?

The Decision Factory.

Decision Triggers.

Kelly Haughton Builds a Better Benchmark.

GM Starts with a Clean Slate.

Crossing the Threshold.

Testing the Concept.

How Much is Luck and How Much is Skill?

A Grammatical Postscript.

Note.

Chapter 8 Plan Transitions.

Hire and Train Your Replacement.

The Apprenticeship of Michael Phillips.

Mike Takes the Helm.

Continuity of Culture.

Selling the Company.

Closing the Deal—Complementary Skills.

Moving Forward.

Chapter 9 Take Risks.

New Opportunities.

The Inspiration of John Mroz.

The Opportunity of a Lifetime.

Access Matters.

Russell’s Venture in Alternative Investing.

Asset Allocation is Rocket Science.

The Final Frontier?

Chapter 10 Have Fun.

Fun in the Himalayas.

The Russell Sabbatical Program.

Fun at Work.

Transition to Philanthropy.

New Adventures: Russian Puppets and Nuclear Waste.

EastWest Institute.

The National Bureau of Asian Research.

The Pacific Health Summit.

The Business Humanitarian Forum.

One Nation Brings Together Americans of Different Faiths.

A Child’s Right.

Note.

About the Authors.

Index.