Warren Buffett on Leadership Quotes

"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing."

"Somebody's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

"Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don't expect it from cheap people."

"Culture, more than rule books, determines how an organization behaves."

"Managers should behave as if they are the owners of the business."

"You should only work for people you admire."

"I enjoy what I do. I tap dance to work every day."

"We want managers who can run businesses they love."

"I measure success by how many people love me."

"If you're in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%."

"I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will."

"Intensity is the price of excellence."

"You can't make a good deal with a bad person."

"No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant."

"Managers that always promise to 'make the numbers' will at some point be tempted to make up the numbers."

"We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds."

"Look for three things in a person: intelligence, energy, and integrity. If they don't have the last one, don't even bother with the first two."

"Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1."

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."

"The most important quality for an investment manager is temperament, not intellect."

"Our favorite holding period is forever."

"Publicity is not the same as popularity."

"Management's job is to optimize the long-term value of the business."

"Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."

"The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging."

"The best investment you can make is in yourself."

"If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room."

"I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business."

"An investor should act as though he had a lifetime decision card with only twenty punches on it."

"The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything."

"You have to be able to explain why you are taking the job you are taking."

"Writing a check doesn’t require any talent; managing a business does."

"The best thing I did was to choose the right heroes."