"Do they love the business, or do they love the money? This is the first filter."
Warren Buffett said the above comment when asked what it is he looked for when examining a management team.
We have to remember with Buffett that he thinks in terms of buying a business through Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) when focusing on the management team in place. He's not thinking of searching for candidates to put in management positions.
Even so, his idea can be transferred to what to look for in a potential manager from within or without a company.
I remember years ago talking to a young man with a lot of ambition. In talking to him though, he would only talk about goals related to accumulating a certain amount of money by a specific age, he didn't talk about wanting to do something, it would always be about the money.
Consequently, I lent him a book one time talking about how some people had achieved financial success, which he promised to return to me in a short time.
Not only didn't he ever return it, but he avoided and wouldn't talk to me again.
It's been a long time since this has happened, and I haven't lived in that town for 25 years. Yet I always keep this young man in mind, because I know he probably hasn't reached the success he had ambitions for.
When a person isn't faithful and honest in little things, they won't be in big things either. This person is a caricature of a lot of people who only love the money and not the business or people they serve.
If we're looking for people within our business to bring into leadership, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone that really loves what they're doing. According to Buffett, this is the primary filter to sift people through. If they can't make it through that filter, there's no reason to go any further with them as far as leadership material goes.
Other Buffett Resources:
Warren Buffett: The trouble with being a legend
Warren Buffett: 'I told you so'
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