Business Superhero: Warren Buffett

7 Jul 2016

There are a lot of reasons to admire Warren Buffett: his investment prowess, his entrepreneurial spirit, his philanthropy, his down-to-earth perspective, his devotion to his family—you name it and I admire him for it.  Buffett serves as an example to anyone in business that enthusiasm and dedication are only part of the story when it comes to being a success in business.

From watching his business and personal life over the years, there are three lessons that I personally have found invaluable.

You don’t have to make big investments, just smart ones.

Warren Buffett started out his career at the tender age of 11, making small investments at his father’s stockbrokerage shop and selling bubble gum. Eventually, he built up a series of enterprises that allowed him to actually leave university having made a profit of $10,000 from said childhood businesses.

If that’s not entrepreneurial spirit, I don’t know what is.

These businesses weren’t huge, but he built them up over the years, patiently watching them grow and nurturing them when they needed a helping hand.

At the end of the day, it’s a job.

After leaving university, Buffett chased the career he wanted, climbing the business ladder until he became a household name. But he doesn’t seem to have let all of this success go to his head. Just this year, Warren Buffett was listed as the third wealthiest person in the world in 2016. And yet he still lives in the “normal,” five bedroom house he bought in 1957.

Instead of making his money to spend it, I’ve always thought that, from the outside, Warren Buffet seems to be making money because he actually enjoys what he does…luckily for him, it’s a job that results in a big paycheck.

Leave the world a better place than you found it.

Warren Buffett made headlines years ago for his refusal to leave the bulk of this money to his family, citing his children’s need to learn how to be productive members of society, which he didn’t believe they could do with billions of dollars waiting for them in the bank. And so they have, all three are leading philanthropists in their own right.

This spirit of philanthropy was clearly something they picked up as children, as evidenced by Buffett’s announcement in 2006 that he would be giving 80% of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation…the largest charitable donation in history.

I’ve watched Buffett’s announcements about his charitable work (and that of his children) for years and am still blown away by what seems to be his genuine desire to make the world a better place. He’s got a perspective on the world and his place in it that I personally find inspiring.

 

As our July Business Superhero, Warren Buffett serves as a reminder to everyone that making money is only one part of being successful in life.