Peak – Book Review

Author: Chip Conley

Category: Leadership

Audience: Leaders, Investors - PE, VC, M&A

Overview: Exploring the relationship between company leadership and investors through the lens of trust, confidence, and transformational leadership.

Read time: 3 minutes

I’ve read Conley’s work before and this book is an update from an earlier one. This version references Maslow’s pyramid and hierarchy of needs in the context of company leaders and investors.

This time it was a bit more interesting to me because Conley shared stories of his experience as a company owner whose property was purchased by investors and what he learned from that experience.

I’ve read and run across several posts in the past few months that speak to the importance of both transactional and transformational leadership.

I wanted to learn what the author shared from his own perspective, so this review is zeroed in on Chapter 10 - Creating Trust and Chapter 11 - Creating Confidence because as always human aspects are critical in any success story.

Chapter 10 - Creating TRUST

As the author says, ‘The deal is the glue that keeps the company and investor together at the bottom of this pyramid’. It’s about identifying and understanding investor goals. It’s transactional.

A strong organizational foundation is based on the ability to ‘meet investor expectations…and understand their goals. Get this right and you’ve created trust’.

And trust is a major foundational and cultural aspect within any type of organization. Conley cites a 2002 Watson Wyatt study: "Total return to shareholders in high trust organizations is almost three times higher than in low trust organizations."

The author then outlines 5 key elements the investor is looking for and although this seems complete, you may have your own list:

1. Rate of return

2. Liquidity timing and strategy

3. Definition of the market and the company’s approach to differentiation

4. Cash needs to execute on the business strategy

5. A single metric that defines effectiveness.

Item #5 is about performance - and the one item the author says yields ‘animated discussions.’

Chapter 11 - Creating CONFIDENCE

Chapter 10 was about transactions, but this one is about transformations. It’s about relationships. Their development. Their alignment. Emotional intelligence. And ‘long term collaboration.’

Whether the investor is a VC, PE group, or Angel, it’s essential to understand their need or desire to purchase your company.

The author suggests asking something like...”What has been your most satisfying investment relationship and why?” You can learn a lot from the answers to this question that can help any relationship become more satisfying.

The bottom line is to speak to an investor like you would to anyone interested in buying what you sell. The objective is to learn and understand more, so you may deepen the relationship with someone interested in you and what you have to offer.

The book’s final quote - borrowed from Jim Collins' Good to Great - beautifully encapsulates the human element: "The people we interviewed from Good-to-Great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with."

Cynthia Kyriazis is the Chief Experience Officer at The Culture Think Tank. Her experience includes executive coaching, consulting, and training. Book a 15-minute chat to discuss your people, performance or profit challenges.