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

"If you had to pick one person to 'short' for the next 30 years, who would it be? You should determine that the person you want to buy is yourself. You all are holding winning tickets."

This question was asked of a group of students visiting Warren Buffett in Omaha years ago.

When asked who they would short within the room, it was added they should make a list of the qualities in the person and the reason they chose that individual. It was then that the idea we should pick ourselves was added to the conversation.

What's the point in this? We hold the key to our own future. While we definitely need to have input and mentors, in the end it comes down to us. While everyone has relied on and made it to their goals with help along the way, it's still up to us to see to it that we're the person people are going to buy into.

People are looking to buy into what a person is, because what a person is will be what a company or department becomes.

The purpose of the exercise is to see to it we are the type of person people want to buy into. This is what people sometimes miss with Warren Buffett. People don't buy into Berkshire Hathaway because they go through the portfolio of companies it owns and see it would be a good investment. They buy into Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, knowing they can count on the consistency of who they and what they stand for as long as they're in control of the company.

Workers and consumers will buy into you, nothing else. You will be the brand of a company or department. If you don't want to buy into you for decades, no one else will either.

This is why many marketing campaigns fail. You can't market your way out of who you are, and you shouldn't try. We need to be who we are, market to that reality and create great products and services for our customers built around those values.

People can even respect some who are bad, if they are consistent, what they can't and won't respect is a phony. If we want people to buy in to who we are, we must be who we are and nothing else. The reason why that's so important is people need to know they can count on you to be consistent while things may be changing all around us.

That's why Berkshire Hathway (BRK-A) is such a great company, it's a direct reflection of who Warren Buffett is and what he believes, and it will stay that way until he leaves the scene. The consistent growth and value of the company shows he doesn't stray off of who he is. Neither should we.