Warren Buffett and Secrets of Management - 13
Once when Buffett and Bershire Hathaway experienced a catastrophic event that made a huge hit on the insurance companies, he got together with the leaders of his companies to encourage and give them some insight into how to keep running their businesses.
In response to the catastrophe and how they should be running their businesses, he told them that they need to keep doing what they always have done.
Here's the master at not being moved, anchoring his troups and telling them not to be moved off of the rock of what they know. He went on to tell them that they were prepared for what happened and have handled crises situations before. After all they're in the catastrophic insurance business.
What did they always do that he was talking about?
Widen the moat. In other words, continue to make the business an extremely difficult competitor. Construct long-term competitive advantages that are almost impossible to overcome.
Delight Your Customers. What needs to be added to it? Simple, easy to understand, and hard to get right. Those that get it right always survive the hard times.
Relentlessly Fight Costs. He says that there's not much that will happen that made sense a month ago, that won't make sense today. In other works, keep up the fiscal fight.
All of this was meant to show them all one thing: Nothing that has happened without, will change how we operate within. The outward circumstances rarely will determine operations; especially not in the short-term.
His managers were skittish and somewhat disoriented. He wanted them back on track and doing business as usual. He simply reminded them that the company hadn't changed, and they would continue on as they always had. It was brilliant and it worked.
The event that happened? 9/11
Other Buffett Resources:
Warren Buffett: The trouble with being a legend
Sponsored link: The outsourcing every manager requires - Tampa Locksmith
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