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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Mary Buffett
“Can you really explain to a fish what it is like to walk on land? One day on land is worth a thousand years talking about it, and one day running a business has exactly the same kind of value.”
.c1
Dealing with real manufacturing problems and getting and keeping real customers is what separates the academics from the managerial real world.
.c2
Age and experience before youth and enthusiasm has become Warren’s battle cry
.c3
“It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.”
“When ideas fail, words come in very handy.”
.c1
when your great idea blows apart and you lose the business, you will use words to conjure a great excuse so you won’t look as if you’re incompetent.
.c2
By not taking the blame they are essentially saying that the buck doesn’t stop here. If it doesn’t stop with the CEO, then he must not really be our leader, right?
.c3
Warren has never forgotten that Berkshire’s shareholders own the business that he runs. That is why he is always forthcoming, not only about the good news, but also the bad.
.c4
Being a leader means owning the bad stuff too.
“The really good business manager doesn’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘This is the day that I am going to cut costs,’ any more than he wakes up and decides to practice breathing.”
.c1
Warren believes in proactive management—fixing the potential problem before it becomes a problem. You keep costs low from the start, which keeps more powder dry for an attack by your competitors and creates more profits when things are good.
.c2
What do you think of a company with management that does not have a grip on costs? Do you think they are going to make their shareholders a lot of money?
.c3
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could buy love for $1 million. But the only way to be loved is to be lovable. You always get back more than you give away. If you don’t give any, you won’t get any. There’s nobody I know who commands the love of others who doesn’t feel like a success. And I can’t imagine people who aren’t loved feel very successful.”
Love is important in Warren’s personal life and he has incorporated it into his business and management philosophy. He only hires people who love what they are doing, because if you love what you are doing, you will treat others well so that they will, in turn, also love what they do.
.c1
he encourages them not to dwell on mistakes and to get on with business.
.c2
He gives them complete control over them, which promotes a strong sense of responsibility. Warren talks endlessly about how proud he is of his management teams and never hesitates to sing their praises in public.
.c3
Love and respect really do beget love and respect; it’s the first step on the road to being a success in life.
.c4
“We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds, though I have learned to live with those also.” People who are passionate about their jobs will come to rule their trade or profession because they love the process more than the money. The funny thing about passion is that money usually follows it.
“If you hit a hole in one on every hole, you wouldn’t play golf for very long.” A job with challenges keeps things interesting, creates high self-esteem, promotes creativity, and attracts the highest-quality people.
.c1
give them a work environment that will allow them to make the mistakes that come along with the successes.
.c2
“There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don’t like because you think that it will look good on your résumé. Isn’t that a little like saving up sex for your old age?”
.c1
