CAN YOU SUMMARIZE YOUR COMPANY’S STRATEGY in 35 words or
less? If so, would your colleagues put it the same way?
It is our experience that very few executives can honestly answer
these simple questions in the affi rmative. And the companies
that those executives work for are often the most successful
in their industry. One is Edward Jones, a St. Louis–based brokerage
fi rm with which one of us has been involved for more
than 10 years. The fourth-largest brokerage in the United States,
Jones has quadrupled its market share during the past two decades,
has consistently outperformed its rivals in terms of ROI
through bull and bear markets, and has been a fi xture on Fortune’s
list of the top companies to work for. It’s a safe bet that just