1: The good news?
“Every person is going to have a circle of competence,” Charlie Munger writes in Poor Charlie’s Almanack, the Wit and Wisdom of Charlie Munger.
The bad news? “It’s going to be very hard to enlarge that circle,” Charlie observes.
Until his passing in 2023 at the age of 99, Charlie served as Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, founded by Warren Buffett. Berkshire is … continue reading
1: “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters – one represents danger and one represents opportunity,” John F. Kennedy once said.
Yesterday, we explored how the best CEOs create a small team of senior leaders to deal directly with the crisis. This prevents the CEO from becoming all-consumed by the situation and enables the rest of the organization to continue to get work done. … continue reading
1: Imagine being the captain of a battleship. A torpedo has hit the ship.
Now what?
“Send a portion of their crew to contain the hull breach,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in their book CEO Excellence.
The captain, however, “stays on the bridge, increases speed to full, and deploys the rest of the crew to keep fighting the war.”
The best CEOs take … continue reading
1: “It’s ten years out, and Netflix is a failed firm. Estimate the probabilities of the different causes.”
That’s the exercise Netflix CEO Reed Hastings poses to his leadership team.
“Let’s say one cause is that a plane crash takes out Netflix’s headquarters,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in their book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.… continue reading
1: It was January of 2014. Mary Barra was in her early days as CEO of General Motors when a major crisis hit. The carmaker had been implicated in a number of fatal crashes due to faulty ignition switches.
“When you have a crisis, it’s not like you know the significance of it immediately,” she recalls in CEO Excellence by McKinsey consultants Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram … continue reading
1: Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors in history. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, is valued at more than $1 trillion.
His business partner and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger describes what Warren tells business school students about his approach to investing: “I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only 20 slots in it so that you had 20 punches, representing all … continue reading
1: “Can you meet me at my house?”
The voice on the phone was Dan Martell‘s brother, Pierre, Dan shares in his book Buy Back Your Time.
“Sure. What’s going on?” Dan said.
“Well . . . it’s better if we talk in person,” Pierre said.
Pierre was in his twenties. Six months earlier, he had started a home-building business.
He was a self-described “jack of all trades,” and had jumped … continue reading
1: “By the time Stuart found me, he was in the fight of his life,” Dan Martell writes in his book Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire.
“I can barely leave the house,” Stuart told Dan. “I can’t take a full breath, and I’m having panic attacks regularly. I’m living a nightmare.”
Stuart was a once enthusiastic, thirty-four-year-old entrepreneur. After majoring in … continue reading
1: Dan Martell looked in his rearview mirror and saw two armed police officers running toward his car.
He glanced at the gun in his duffel bag.
“If I just point it at these cops, they’ll end my miserable life for me,” he recalls in his book Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire.
Dan rubbed the sweat from his eyes. “I’d just … continue reading
1: There are currently eight companies worth over $1 trillion.
Six are technology companies. The seventh is Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, which some consider a technology company.
The eighth trillion-dollar company is Berkshire Hathaway.
“One of these things is not like the other,” goes the saying.
Berkshire Hathaway was led for many years by Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger until he died in 2023 at … continue reading
