Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

I am reminded of a story that Warren Buffett talks about in the area of buying businesses as investments:

“I guess I had too much inclination originally to buy mediocre, or worse than mediocre, businesses at a very cheap price. That works OK, in the sense that you never lose money; but you never end up with a great business that way either.

"So that emphasis has shifted over the years. We don't want to buy the worst furniture store in town at the cheapest price; we want to buy the best one at a fair price.”

Now here is someone who is probably one of the truly great investors of all time, not just in stocks, as we think of them, but in businesses. Yet when he is talking about the lessons he learned above, it took him years to learn it.

The point is that as managers and leaders, we must realize that we manage with all the insight and understanding that we have at the moment while we continually look for ways to improve daily.

Buffett didn't stop investing because he didn't know the ultimate best way of doing it; his own words say that. But he continually looked for ways to buy businesses and invest in them profitably with the purpose of never selling them.

Being not only one of the great investors, but he is also one of the great managers, which few people pay attention to. If he takes years to learn things in his particular discipline, it will take you time too.

Don't be discouraged if you make some mistakes or fail in an effort. The only thing that would be a tragedy would be if you give up rather than learn from it.

Even the very best take time to be great. They didn't start that way, they progressed to where they are by sticking with it and learning from their mistakes.