Today I found an old Fortunte magazine on my shelf dated March 2005. Warren Buffet is on the cover – looking a good 13+ years younger – and the title proclaims: “The best advice I ever got.” Perhaps this had more significance to me because I was wrapping up my MBA and about to start full-time at Deloitte, but I kept it, thinking I would open it up from time-to-time. Uh, well. . . Today was the first time in 13 years, here we go.
You’re right not because others agree with you, but because your facts are right. Advice to Warren Buffet (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway) from his father. Classic advice from the sage of Omaha, Willing to be different. Winning because his facts are right.
Recognize the skills and traits that you don’t possess, and hire people who have them. Advice to Howard Shultz (CEO of Starbucks) from Warren Bennis. Know what your own SWOT, and build a team around you. Jobs/Wozniak, Gates/Allen.
Have the courage to stick with a tough job. Advice to A.G. Lafley (CEO of Proctor and Gamble) from his boss, after his 6th year at P&G. (Story: Lafley was tired of the bureaucracy at P&G and turned in his resignation. Boss did not accept it. Told him to not come to work for 1 week, but instead come to his house every night for beer. Eventually convinced Lafley to stay saying, that he shouldn’t run from problems)
Don’t limit yourself by past expectations. Advice to Vivek Paul (CEO of Wipro) from an elephant trainer. (Story: huge elephants will not run away even thought they are tethered to a small rope because they were trained as baby elephants. They tried to pull out the stake as babies, failed, and never tried again)
When you negotiate, leave a little something on the table. Advice to Dick Parsons (CEO of Time Warner) from previous CEO. (Story: Parson came from banking, used to negotiating hard for everything. Old CEO advised that it was a small company and all the people he was negotiating with would be the people he sees daily in the office and work with in the future).
All you really own are your ideas and the confidence to write them down. Advice to Brian Glazer (Movie producer) from Lew Wasserman (MCA chairman)
The real discipline comes in saying no to the wrong opportunities. Advice to Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) from Peter Drucker. Everything has an opportunity cost. Your attention (even the time reading this) is valuable.
Get good or get out. Advice to Peter Drucker from his first boss who threatened to fire him if he did not improve,
Let others take the credit. Brian Roberts (CEO of Comcast) from his father, who founded the business.
Surround yourself with people of integrity, and get out of their way. Advice to Hector Ruiz (CEO of AMD) from Bob Galvin (CEO of Motorola). This is so deep. Perhaps my favorite quote. Hire good people who have the judgment, so that you would (most of the time) just agree with the decisions they make. Give people the freedom of decide and control.
You can learn from anyone. Advice to Clayton Cristensen (HBS professor) from Kent Bowen (MIT professor)
Keep things in perspective. Advice to Meg Whitman (CEO of EBay) from her husband. (Story: When EBay went IPO, she called her husband in the operating room to brag. He said, “That’s nice, but Meg, remember that it’s not brain surgery. Snap.
Here is the link to Fortune archives for the full article here.
What’s the best advice you ever got? What’s the back story?
It is simple and elegant- “never work for an a**hole”
Completely true. So simple, so true. Are you thinking of the same senior manager I am? heh heh.
Yeah, my Dad gave that one to me many years ago. Still valid today.
I especially liked the one from Lafley. I once had a boss who was a retired engineering professor from Purdue. When things would get a little tense for us at work he would grab us, tell us to follow him, and lead us to a nearby bar where we would allow us to vent. Usually he would pass on a little trick and tip he had learned over his career that was relevant to the situation. Good guy!
Super fan of that. I tell my students – seemingly with more regularity now a days – being a human is a superpower. Be human, totally differentiates you from 90% of “people” out there.
Similar to Brian Roberts from Comcast, “Be the wizard behind the curtain and make your client look good.” When you do this, they’re very likely to hire you again. 🙂
Big fan. Thank you for reading.
In every interaction, there’s a Buyer and a Seller.
Be the Buyer!
One word: focus
Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are apparently good friends. Gates was having dinner at Buffet’s parents house one day. And Buffet’s father asked both Bill and Warren to write down on a piece of paper the one thing that they each felt was the biggest driver of their success.
They both wrote: focus
Amazing. Focus.