I’m not 100% sure if these tips are “officially” from Warren Buffett, but this set of advice is widely attributed to him, and there are plaques in various public places that list these as his ten basic principles of success.  They seem to dovetail with how he has run his business life, so here goes:

1. Reinvest Your Profits: When you first make money in the stock market, you may be tempted to spend it. Don’t. Instead, reinvest the profits. Warren Buffett learned this early on. In high school, he and a pal bought a pinball machine to pun in a barbershop. With the money they earned, they bought more machines until they had eight in different shops. When the friends sold the venture, Warren Buffett used the proceeds to buy stocks and to start another small business. By age 26, he’d amassed $174,000 — or $1.4 million in today’s money. Even a small sum can turn into great wealth.

2. Be Willing To Be Different: Don’t base your decisions upon what everyone is saying or doing. When Warren Buffett began managing money in 1956 with $100,000 cobbled together from a handful of investors, he was dubbed an oddball. He worked in Omaha, not Wall Street, and he refused to tell his parents where he was putting their money. People predicted that he’d fail, but when he closed his partnership 14 years later, it was worth more than $100 million. Instead of following the crowd, he looked for undervalued investments and ended up vastly beating the market average every single year. To Warren Buffett, the average is just that — what everybody else is doing. to be above average, you need to measure yourself by what he calls the Inner Scorecard, judging yourself by your own standards and not the world’s.

3. Never Suck Your Thumb: Gather in advance any information you need to make a decision, and ask a friend or relative to make sure that you stick to a deadline. Warren Buffett prides himself on swiftly making up his mind and acting on it. He calls any unnecessary sitting and thinking “thumb sucking.” When people offer him a business or an investment, he says, “I won’t talk unless they bring me a price.” He gives them an answer on the spot.

4. Spell Out The Deal Before You Start: Your bargaining leverage is always greatest before you begin a job — that’s when you have something to offer that the other party wants. Warren Buffett learned this lesson the hard way as a kid, when his grandfather Ernest hired him and a friend to dig out the family grocery store after a blizzard. The boys spent five hours shoveling until they could barely straighten their frozen hands. Afterward, his grandfather gave the pair less than 90 cents to split. Warren Buffett was horrified that he performed such backbreaking work only to earn pennies an hour. Always nail down the specifics of a deal in advance — even with your friends and relatives.

5. Watch Small Expenses: Warren Buffett invests in businesses run by managers who obsess over the tiniest costs. He one acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a friend who painted only on the side of his office building that faced the road. Exercising vigilance over every expense can make your profits — and your paycheck — go much further.

6. Limit What You Borrow: Living on credit cards and loans won’t make you rich. Warren Buffett has never borrowed a significant amount — not to invest, not for a mortgage. He has gotten many heart-rendering letters from people who thought their borrowing was manageable but became overwhelmed by debt. His advice: Negotiate with creditors to pay what you can. Then, when you’re debt-free, work on saving some money that you can use to invest.

7. Be Persistent: With tenacity and ingenuity, you can win against a more established competitor. Warren Buffett acquired the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983 because he liked the way its founder, Rose Blumkin, did business. A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her strategy was to undersell the big shots, and she was a merciless negotiator. To Warren Buffett, Rose embodied the unwavering courage that makes a winner out of an underdog.

8. Know When To Quit: Once, when Warren Buffett was a teen, he went to the racetrack. He bet on a race and lost. To recoup his funds, he bet on another race. He lost again, leaving him with close to nothing. He felt sick — he had squandered nearly a week’s earnings. Warren Buffett never repeated that mistake. Know when to walk away from a loss, and don’t let anxiety fool you into trying again.

9. Assess The Risk: In 1995, the employer of Warren Buffett’s son, Howie, was accused by the FBI of price-fixing. Warren Buffett advised Howie to imagine the worst-and-bast-case scenarios if he stayed with the company. His son quickly realized that the risks of staying far outweighed any potential gains, and he quit the next day. Asking yourself “and then what?” can help you see all of the possible consequences when you’re struggling to make a decision — and can guide you to the smartest choice.

10. Know What Success Really Means: Despite his wealth, Warren Buffett does not measure success by dollars. In 2006, he pledged to give away almost his entire fortune to charities, primarily the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He’s adamant about not funding monuments to himself — no Warren Buffett buildings or halls. “I know people who have a lot of money,” he says, “and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. When you get to my age, you’ll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. That’s the ultimate test of how you’ve lived your life.”

When people date they hope to meet a person who has the qualities they feel are most important, then fall in love, and form a meaningful and lasting attachment that is mutually rewarding. Hiring a key employee is almost the same – even to the emotional side – as most top executives will tell you there is a strong bond among their senior team.  Employers can learn a lot by delving deeper into the correlations between staffing and courtship.

Just as dating is a series of growing expressions of feeling and interest, hiring involves a sequence of actions that escalate the connection between employer and employee.  Let’s look at each stage:

Screening: In dating, sometimes people meet by chance, but when they meet by introduction, or on-line, there is an opportunity to screen for the criteria that are most important.  Do people rule in or rule out?  Depends on how interested they really are in dating!  When hiring (especially for key leaders), the same phenomenon occurs.  You can read a resume to find things that fit, or to find things that are lacking.  We encourage employers to be open, to find reasons to rule people in, because they might find the depth and capability they seek when they meet people and look deeper.

Meeting: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.  In interviews, as in dating, appearance counts a lot.  But look at who people date and who they ultimately marry.  Marriage decisions are usually more than skin deep.  In the workplace, we know that substance and capability count more than looks.  While the chemistry ultimately has to be there, we advocate that employers suspend judgment of the usual first impression checklist for 30 minutes, and discover whether the candidate can really do the job.

Evaluating: In a courtship, people get to learn about their potential partner over many dates, over a longer period of time (than in hiring). But if you think about it, the knowledge gained really comes in fleeting glimpses sprinkled over that long period.  In employment, we have to condense and concentrate those glimpses into a few hours of interviews.  But, as in dating, past and current behavior is a good predictor of future actions. Employers can drill down and ask detailed questions about how prospects got things done, what challenges they faced, how they solved problems, how they reacted in a crisis, what they believe about core issues. Good interviewers will find the best way to ensure that they know the candidate’s capability well before moving forward.

Comfort: In dating, people can often be awkward and nervous until they know the level of interest of the other person.  They often make mistakes and stumble, until they know they are really accepted.  In interviewing, people are often at their worst, and similar awkwardness occurs.  Good executives aren’t usually experts at interviewing, on either side of the table – they don’t do it too often!  For both employers and candidates, the way to cut through the nervousness is to have a good process.  If both parties are committed to discovering if there truly is a fit, there can be greater comfort.  Focus on specific objectives – what does the employer need done; what is the candidate’s capability of doing those things?

Connection: The suitor who says “But enough about me; what do you think of me?” doesn’t often get to a second date.  Courtship and hiring both involve mutuality – the art of getting your needs met while also meeting those of someone else.  Candidates have to demonstrate how they can add value, solve problems and enable growth.  Interviewers owe it to candidates to show them what is valuable about the company, and how they will benefit by being employed there.  This mutuality creates real connection.  When a suitor proposes marriage, emotions run high.  Easy “yes” answers come when there is already congruency – Both people already know it is a fit.  Employment offers create similar stirring of emotions, and the best way to get to a “yes” is to ensure the candidate sees clearly why it is a fit, on all levels.

The ideal result of a good courtship for most people is marriage, and the ideal result of a staffing process is a good hire.  Both require sensitivity to the needs of each party.  Handled correctly, a good hire leads to a lasting and rewarding relationship, just like a marriage.

Take a look at the interesting changes in personal goals over a decade:

Because of the mystique of the recruiting business, candidates often assume that there is a lot the recruiter cannot tell them – the name of the employer, the compensation, the location, etc.  Secrecy is actually rarely required in a retained search situation – the recruiter is partnered with the employer, and unless is it a confidential replacement search, the recruiter can candidly discuss most aspects of the search parameters, and in fact should be able to discuss a lot about the company –to enable the candidate to be comfortable enough to move forward.

When a recruiter persists in keeping much about the job a secret, it is a sign they may be on a non-exclusive contingency assignment – competing against other recruiters, where only the recruiter who places the candidate earns any fee.  This situation requires the contingency recruiter to be secretive, because there is a risk of the candidate “going around” the recruiter.  So, secrecy is, in a sense, a sign that the relationship between the recruiter and the employer is not very strong.  Passive candidates (not active job seekers) are justifiably wary of such situations.

In retained search, the employer trusts the recruiter, the candidate trusts the recruiter, and the recruiter acts with full transparency, to be deserving of trust.  The issue of candidate control falls by the wayside, and information flows freely, to everyone’s mutual benefit.

Some recruiters make the transition from contingency to retained, but forget that they can and should change their behavior, and continue to play games with candidates.  Information is power, so they use the game of information exchange to retain control. But that works both ways.  Candidates who are confidentially looking don’t always tell one recruiter about opportunities they are pursuing through another recruiter, or perhaps on their own.  They mislead the recruiter about their compensation and sometimes other critical job history factors, to avoid being ruled out prematurely.  It takes an effort to win their confidence and candor.

In an atmosphere of trust, there is less likelihood of a hierarchy being perceived or needed.  The recruiter who sets this up properly creates a win/win/win for him/herself, the candidate and the employer-client.

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the Winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, with respect to the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all, and a successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2012, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other great cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that the US is necessarily greater than any other country), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal.  It is freely transferable with no alterations to the original greeting.  It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.  This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Best wishes (always subject to the above warranty and disclaimer),

BOB

We usually think of interviews as threatening situations more for the interviewee, who is on the firing line, having to think quick, answer questions on the fly, and deal with many unknowns.  Even seasoned sales and marketing people behave differently in interviews. We have to counsel ALL job candidates to think of the situation differently, so they don’t get caught up in the interviewee “persona” – too humble, modest, respectful, caught in a “one-down” hierarchy, etc.  Instead, job candidates need to be engaging, confident, and put themselves on an equal footing with the interviewer.

However, it might surprise you that interviewers have a lot of fear too.  Interviews are high risk in some situations.  You might miss a good person, or make a mistake and hire someone who won’t work out.  The stakes are high.  You have to come up with questions, and work at it to understand the candidate’s answers, fill in your company’s rating form, read body language, etc.  Oh, and don’t forget you also have to adequately sell the candidate on your company – incorporating recruitment into the interview.  Lots of opportunity to mess up equals fear for the interviewer too.

The best way an interviewer can reduce fear is by being better prepared.  Most don’t take the time to familiarize themselves with the candidate’s background first.   Read the resume.  Read any accompanying documents.  Look the candidate up in Google, on LinkedIn, etc.  AND, even more importantly, prepare by knowing what it would take to do the job you are hiring for, so you can ask better questions, and receive more meaningful answers!

What if business owners could trade employees, like teams in the NBA?  Our local L.A. teams, the Lakers and Clippers have recently been in the news over big name trades, with Chris Paul coming to the Clips, NOT the Lakers, and the Lakers throwing off the NBA’s Sixth Man Award Winner Lamar Odom, much to Kobe Bryant’s consternation.

I think if trading were possible in business, we’d see some interesting deals.  A company with a really aggressive sales plan could acquire a really aggressive VP of Sales, and perhaps shed their plodders, who might fit in at a company more concerned about teamwork.  A visionary product development person (the equivalent of an outside shooter in the NBA) might help a company stuck with stale products to hit more three-pointers.  And, a financial whiz could help in a turnaround scenario more than in a slow-growth company.

What if, instead of salary caps and luxury taxes (in the NBA), there was a no nepotism rule in business.  So, if your son or daughter wanted to come into your business, you had to trade him or her for someone else’s progeny.  Wouldn’t that make business more interesting?

By the way, before you start pining for a first round draft pick, how would you like it if your VP of Sales & Marketing could change his name to Metta World Peace (like the Laker’s Ron Artest did).  How would that look on your business cards?!

Have fun watching basketball this season… what’s left of it, anyway!

George says he is willing to relocate, no problem.  Weeks later, many obstacles materialize that would interfere.  These aren’t sudden changes in his life.  Why did George lie?  Because he didn’t want YOU to rule HIM out for the opportunity.  He wanted to be in the driver’s seat to judge if this would be a compelling position for him.  Is there a way to get at the truth?  Yes.  You must be willing to go right up to the line, right up front, and ask, “What obstacles could there be to your ability to relocate?”  Most candidates will then be truthful, and when they open the door to those issues, you can explore them.

Mary tells your researcher/recruiter (first line point of contact) that she is making $150K.  Your position pays $130-140K, so you think perhaps you should rule her out.  But she is so qualified, you take her through a few more steps.  When you, the person in charge of the search, talk to her in more detail, Mary reveals her base salary is $127K, but with bonus (not paid in the last year) and stock options (which are on a vesting schedule), her PACKAGE is $150.  However, last year, Mary made about $125K without bonus, before her raise, and with minimal option vesting.  So, your opportunity at $140K, with a targeted 20% bonus indeed represents a step up.  Why did Mary lie?  She didn’t want to undersell herself.  She thought if she said $127K, it might lower the ultimate offer she’d get from the employer.  When a candidate talks about comp, train your recruiters to ask, “So your base salary is….?  And your bonus potential is…?  And the actual amount of bonus you’ve received in the past three years has been …?”  This detailed line of questioning must be asked congruently – as if you expect the truth.  Don’t waffle.  Make sure the candidate knows you mean business, and that the employer expects the exact amounts.

Harry says he was recruited to his last two positions.  Later on, in exploring his job changes in detail, he reveals that his departure was a “mutual decision.”  Probing, you learn he was let go, then contacted recruiters, and found jobs through those recruiters – not quite being “recruited.”  Why did Harry lie?  This one is obvious: He didn’t want you to rule him out because of a spotty track record.  We ask, “What were the circumstances of your departure from Company A?”  If the candidate takes more than 2 sentences to answer, and if you are unclear on what they are saying, odds are they were fired.  Probe, probe, probe, with questions like: “Who made the ultimate decision?  What would your boss say about the circumstances of your leaving?  Did you receive a severance package?  Did you have the new position before you left Company A? Will your ex-boss from Company A be a reference for you?  No? Why not?”  Get the details.

Unfortunately, these patterns occur all the time.  Mostly, candidates are trying to protect themselves from harm – the harm of being deselected too soon – before a recruiter really knows the whole story.  What candidates DON’T always understand is that many of these facts won’t necessarily rule them out.  If they have all the qualifications, employers have learned to not always judge the fine print in the past, especially if the candidate has been forthcoming and truthful.