Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013. It is a news piece: “yesterday” refers to Buffett’s Levo League talk at that time, and the remark that most company leaders are men is from 2013.
Warren Buffett acted as a mentor to young women yesterday during a talk at Levo League, a professional network and website. Clearly, the advice he gave women applies just as much to men. He shared personal stories about business, including how he overcame his fear of public speaking. His most important advice was:
1. Find your passion
This advice is nothing new; any successful businessperson would tell you the same. Warren Buffett insists that you should never give up looking for a job or career you are truly passionate about. His advice: try to find a job you would keep doing even if you were rich, because there is nothing better than doing what you love in the company of people you love. (Read: How to turn your passion into a business)
2. Be careful who you admire
“Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you how you’ll turn out.” It is very important to have the right heroes in life. Buffett said he has been very lucky to have a dozen heroes, people he admired and considered smarter than himself, and that none of them ever let him down. He learned from all of them, owes part of who he is to them, and encourages everyone to find their own heroes.
3. Learn to communicate effectively
Buffett said that while he was doing his MBA, the idea of speaking in public terrified him. In fact, he signed up for some classes to fight his fears. He recalled that when he got to those classes there were 30 people who couldn’t even say their own names in public; it was pathetic, he said, but he learned to do it and it improved his life. Fight your fears. And if public speaking is one of them, learn to do it as soon as possible, because it is one of the things you will need.
4. Develop good habits by studying people
Choose people who have the right habits: who are cheerful, positive and generous, and who give people credit for what they do and not for other things. Look at all the qualities you admire in others and think about which of them you would like to have, because in life everything can be learned, especially when it comes to improving yourself. (Read: How to excel at whatever you set out to do)
5. Learn to say “no”
You won’t be able to control your time unless you are able to say “no”. You can’t let other people be the ones who run or set your agenda in life, in your career or in business.
6. Work, but not for someone who won’t pay you fairly
Buffett encourages women not to settle for a lower salary because they are women. He said it really bothers him, and that more than once he has thought about how he would feel if he were a woman getting the same results as a man and being paid less. In his view, if someone is going to be unfair to you on salary, they will probably end up being unfair in a hundred other things.
7. Learn everything you can about your industry
Buffett says that if you read for more than 4 hours every day because you believe in developing your intellectual potential, it will also help you think critically about the problems that may come your way in the future.
8. Young women should look for male mentors
Buffett recommends that women who are starting out choose male mentors, because most of today’s leaders in companies are still men. And how do you know which mentor to choose? According to Buffett, you’ll recognize the right one as soon as you see them.
Further reading
Featured image: Randstad Canada from Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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