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From Warren Buffet to Jeff Bezos and from Michael Bloomberg to Sergey Brin, when billionaires speak, people listen. Rightly so.  These are individuals who each took the seed of an idea and converted it into a multi-billion dollar empire.  Some are household names like Mark Zuckerberg and others less mainstream such as David Koch.  But these titans of business all are not just incredibly successful but also have devoted audiences of listeners and readers, depending on whether they blog, podcast, give interviews or post on social media.  People hang on their every word.  Arianna Huffington and Oprah Winfrey are media moguls who not only have direct control over media outlets but are often the face of it.  And then there are billionaires like Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates who are media darlings.  They are constantly quoted and promoted.

Emulate Worthy Role Models

Why are people enthralled with what successful people have to say?  Because they want to not just imitate but emulate what they say and do.  After all, the collective wisdom and guidance of the top 1% is at the very least like chicken soup. It can’t hurt and it will probably help. 

Last week, we read three top tips from the moguls and magnates.  Here are a few more.

Advice from Business Greats

4.   Innovation comes from the ability to see every change or challenge as an opportunity, not a threat. — Steve Jobs

The advice of most billionaires is to embrace challenges as chances to learn and grow.  And to reflect on failures in order to identify areas for improvement.  The key is to reframe them as opportunities.  Indeed, the late Steve Jobs’ advice encapsulates a profound truth: one’s perspective on adversity can be the catalyst for extraordinary growth. It’s about shifting mindset from one of victimhood or target to one of empowerment, transforming obstacles into stepping stones.

When faced with challenges, defeats, or disappointments, it’s easy to become consumed by negativity. Surely every business tycoon has experienced more than their share of setbacks.  However, within every trial lies the potential for immense learning and growth. As the adage goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But how did they cultivate this resilience and optimism?  How can we?

• Embrace a growth mindset – The first step is to adopt a growth mindset. Instead of seeing failures as definitive judgments of your abilities, view them as opportunities to learn and improve.  Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin once said, “The only way you are going to have success is to have lots of failures first.”  There is power is in believing that you can improve your abilities through dedication and hard work—engaging in challenges, persisting in the face of setbacks, seeing effort as a path to mastery, learning from criticism, and finding inspiration in the success of others. 

• Cultivate curiosity – When setbacks occur, resist the urge to dwell on the negative. Instead, approach the situation with curiosity. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” or “How can I turn this into a positive outcome?” This mindset shift allows you to focus on solutions rather than problems.  As Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.  This suggests that entrepreneurs can grow from successes and failures alike and that every businessman should cultivate curiosity and expect to learn from failures. 

• Zoom out for perspective – Sometimes, the best way to overcome a challenge is to step back and gain a broader perspective. As Sir Richard Branson, the entrepreneurial titan, suggests, “If something isn’t working, don’t do more of the same thing expecting different results.”  That is what insane people do.  Instead, take time to reflect on the bigger picture. What are your long-term goals? How does this challenge fit into the overall scheme of things?

• Learn from others – As you are doing by reading this article, gain wisdom through others.  Surround yourself with people who possess a similar outlook. Seek out mentors and role models who have overcome adversity and emerged stronger. Their experiences and insights can provide invaluable guidance. As Oprah Winfrey wisely stated, “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”  

• Be grateful – Cultivating gratitude can shift your focus from what’s missing to what you have. By appreciating the positive aspects of your life, you can develop a more resilient mindset. As Oprah Winfrey also said, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

• Earn gratitude – As Peter Diamandis, American marketer, engineer, physician, and entrepreneur put it, “The world’s biggest problems are the world’s biggest market opportunities. And that’s a huge thing. Solve hunger, literacy and energy problems, get the gratitude of the world and become a billionaire in the process.”

• Embrace the unknown – Change is constant, and it can be unsettling.  However, it also presents a world of possibilities. As the late, great Walt Disney once said, “The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” By embracing change and viewing it as an opportunity for exploration, you open yourself up to new ideas, perspectives, and paths.  

• Take action. – Finally, remember that perspective without action is merely wishful thinking. Once you’ve reframed the challenge and gained a fresh perspective, take decisive steps to move forward. As the saying goes, ‘The only way to overcome fear is to confront it.’

By embracing these principles, it is possible to transform challenges into opportunities for growth. Remember, every setback is a setup for a comeback.

5.  Listen more than you talk.  – Sir Richard Branson

According to business tycoons / billionaires Richard Branson and Tilman Fertitta, all successful entrepreneurs share one critical skill:  the ability to actively listen. Both Branson and Fertitta happen to be experts at it. 

Fertitta, an American billionaire businessman and television personality, is founder, Chairman, CEO and owner of Landry’s, a conglomerate of 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos and entertainment destinations in 35 U.S. states and D.C. including Chart House, Morton’s Steakhouse, Joe’s Crab Shack, Houlihans, Bubba Gump Shrimp, Rainforest Café, and hundreds more.  Fertitta also owns the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets. Fertitta is Chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System. As of 2021, Landry’s employed 58,000 people. He also happens to be host of CNBC’s program “Billion Dollar Buyer.”  So the man has the gift of gab, but when asked about the specific qualities he looks for in young entrepreneurs, Fertitta said “We look for people, believe it or not, that will listen.  Developing this skill ensures you won’t repeat the same mistakes.” Fertitta explained that “There’s nothing like history. I don’t make mistakes today that I made many years ago, because I’ve already made them.”

Self-made billionaire Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, once posted on social media that “Nobody learned anything by hearing themselves speak.”  Indeed, his advice is to master the power of Active Listening, which he sees as invaluable and essential to great success.  It is important to focus on what others are saying, not just what you want to reply.  And avoid interrupting or formulating your response while the person is speaking. 

Here is what some other business greats have advised about the power of listening.

• Listen at least as much as you talk.  Lee Iacocca, former President of Chrysler once said, “I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.”  Branson agrees.  His advice is that the next time a business leader is in a meeting or conversation, try jotting down notes instead of dominating the conversation.  After all, Branson added, “if you aren’t listening, you are missing out.” Bernard Baruch, financier and presidential advisor concurs. “Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”

• Listening is a sign of respect and leads to bonding and creativity.  To say that a person feels listened to means a lot more than just their ideas get heard. It’s a sign of respect. It makes people feel valued.  According to Dr. Karl A. Menniger, “Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”

• Learn by listening.  According to Peter Nulty of Fortune Magazine, “Of all the skills of leadership, listening is the most valuable — and one of the least understood. Most captains of industry listen only sometimes, and they remain ordinary leaders. But a few, the great ones, never stop listening. That’s how they get word before anyone else of unseen problems and opportunities.”  Larry King of CNN agrees.  “I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.”

• Listening open and actively.  According to Betsy Sanders of Nordstrom, “To learn through listening, practice it naively and actively.  Naively means that you listen openly, ready to learn something, as opposed to listening defensively, ready to rebut. Listening actively means you acknowledge what you heard and act accordingly.” 

• Learn to bite your tongue.  It’s important not to retort with snide or sarcastic responses and quips.  According to John Bryan at Sarah Lee Corporation, “You have to be willing sometimes to listen to some remarkably bad opinions. Because if you say to someone, ‘That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard; get on out of here!’ — then you’ll never get anything out of that person again, and you might as well have a puppet on a string or a robot.”

• Use your eyes and your ears to listen.  Listening is a part of paying close attention.  But it is done with both eyes and ears.  Malcolm Forbes said “If you make listening and observation your occupation, you will gain much more than you can by talking.  The art of conversation lies in listening.”

Next week, we’ll embrace a few more invaluable words of wisdom from the titans of industry and the masters of money on what to do to be successful.  Stay tuned.

Quote of the Week

“If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.” Warren Buffett

© 2024, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.