"Berkshire is the company I wanted to create. It's not the company Alfred P. Sloan wanted to create. It fits me. I run it with our investors and managers in mind, but it is designed to fit me."
It's really an interesting statement to hear the way Warren Buffett thought when he created Berkshire Hathway (BRK-A). It's valuable to see how he kept the two important parts of the process in his mind while he did it.
He didn't neglect the important part of having his investors and managers in mind while he created the company, but he also had to be true to himself while he did it.
The company definitely had to fit who and what Buffett was, and he was determined to ensure that it happened; and of course time has proven it worked out that way.
It's important to see how Buffett describes what he does. The company is run with others in mind, a very important element of Berkshire's success, at the same time the design of the company was built around who Buffett was, giving him the type of environment he wanted to operate in.
There are times in the past where Buffett has said he never wanted to work in New York where the business and financial climate has such a potential and negative impact in endlessly talking about the next big stock about every five minutes; a key reason he remained in Omaha.
It's also a reason he maintains the long-term outlook, which both fits him and works for the best in connection to his investors and determining the type of people he wants have as managers.
Any company or division we run should include similar aspects if it is going to flourish. I think as someone over other managers, we need to keep mind who they are and hire according to the environment a company represents. Never assume you can change somebody once you hire them, that is not going to work. You will never be able to fit a round peg into a square hole. It just doesn't happen.
In the end, it's knowing what environment exists in the company and those that fit it best that drives extraordinary success. When Buffett buys companies, he's really buying the managment; when he buys management, he's buying those that will fit into the environment he's created to fit him. The two go together. The results for Berkshire Hathaway speak for themselves.
Other Buffett Resources:
MSU students have special visit with billionaire Warren Buffett
Sticking to what you know Core businesses
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