Warren Buffet's Residence Cost $31,500 and Other Leadership Lessons

I have had a great deal of respect for Warren Buffet since he showed his humanity by openly admitting he had been a bad public speaker and had taken lessons to give himself the skills and confidence to talk to groups.  It's also intriguing, in a voyeurish sort of way, to think about the Oracle of Omaha living in exactly the same property he bought in 1958...coincidentally the year I was born....which therefore seems a long time ago. Somehow, I suspect we may not be getting the full story about his residential quarters, but non-the-less it makes for a great headline and lesson in leadership! 

Indeed, according to Forbes the 6000 square foot home is valued at around $700,000. There may well have been one or two upgrades since I was born!

It's reminiscent of a story I heard when I met with Jim Sinegal, the founder of Costco. In his office, Jim kept the original decrepit desk he used when he started the wholesale giant with co-founder Jeff Brotman. Jim told me he kept it to remind everyone of the virtue of frugality which is easy to forget when every report you receive is denominated in round millions.  These days, since his retirement, Jim's not acting so frugally. He made this point in public recently when he hosted a fundraiser for President Obama at his home in Seattle.   

 

Jim Sinegal hosted President Obama at his Seattle mansion
. Source http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2014/08/03/13137630/

I think its fair to say that both Sinegal and Buffet have made great use of symbolism over the years, which is indeed a technique adopted by many energizing leaders. Here's some more lessons from Buffet that I extracted from a post by Travis Wright, a Venture Catalyst, and Marketing Technology Entrepreneur. (His post first appeared in Inc, and then Linked-in Pulse)

1. On Risk

"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing," says Buffett, which means one of two things. You can either be a big risk taker and gambler or you can learn what you need to do, play it a little slower and minimize your risks. Obviously the latter approach is best, but it doesn't lead to instant gratification. Put those multi-million dollar fantasies on the back burner long enough to get in control of your risk factor.

2. On Reputations

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." This is especially true in the digital era where if something's in writing or on a video, it's forever. You can even take a screencap of a Snapchat, so be diligent when building your reputation--online and off.

Remember Congressmen Anthony Weiner tweeting pictures of his genitalia? Yeah, don't be that guy. His reputation is toast.

3. On Who You Surround Yourself With

"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you'll drift in that direction." Birds of a feather flock together, and you're probably not in the position to be anyone's mentor yet. If you surround yourself with better people, they'll inspire you to do better yourself.

As I tell my children, "If you want to soar like an eagle in life, you can't be flocking with the turkeys."

4. On Hindsight

"In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield," quips Buffett. Of course, this is true in every other aspect of your life, too. Stop focusing on that rearview mirror, though, after you've gleaned the necessary lessons from it. Move forward, even if that direction isn't quite as streak-free.

5. On Stupid Mistakes

"I bought a company in the mid-90s called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. And it went to zero. And I gave about $400 million worth of Berkshire stock, which is probably now worth $400 billion. But I've made lots of dumb decisions. It's part of the game."

No successful person is mistake-free, and that's a good thing. Each stumble is a chance to learn and a warning when you're tempted to do something similar in the future.

6. On Knowing When to Quit

"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." In other words, ditch the stubbornness and know when to call it quits. Not every project is worth saving.