Management & Work

Blackstone’s Jon Gray Sees Calmness as Strategic Advantage

Blackstone’s heir apparent sees equanimity as a key leadership skill
Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone Inc.Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg
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Blackstone’s Jon Gray has a rare leadership profile: part investor, part operator, part institutional memory, and part extremely calm person in situations that would have most people at least raising their voices at a spreadsheet. Where does the placidity come from? Read on for takeaways from my latest podcast episode.

Jon Gray is president and chief operating officer of one of the largest investment firms in the world, which means many days he’s making multibillion-dollar decisions while the rest of us are still debating what to have for lunch.