Memos from the Chairman

Alan C. Greenberg, the cigar-smoking, shirt-sleeved trader who chaired Bear Stearns, worked from a seat at the centre of the trading floor and sent staff periodic memos that many believed set its tone. The collection gathers those messages, which are humorous and sometimes biting and together amount to a simple management philosophy. Greenberg tells employees to go around anyone, himself included, whose decisions seem wrong rather than respect the chain of command, threatens spot checks on clumsy call transfers, holds up the Green Bay Packers as proof that executing the basics beats trick plays, and warns that conceit and complacency are dangerous in his line of work. Warren Buffett wrote the introduction.

It appears on a published list of 12 books Jeff Bezos thinks everyone should read, which notes how often Greenberg's memos restate the bank's core values, modesty and frugality above all.