roundtable

What’s the Best Business Advice You Ever Received?

For our first-ever Bizmore Roundtable, we asked our team of experts — an undeniably successful group of folks — what invaluable nugget of business advice they have come to swear by over the years, and where it came from and when. Here’s what they consider the secrets of their success. Enjoy, and feel free to share your own and join the discussion.

  • Jeffrey Pfeffer

    I'm a: Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business
    Expert on: Management

    Peter Drucker once said, “business is simple.  After all, there is no company without a customer.”

    We overly complicate things.  As Greg Brenneman, the chief operating officer during Continental Airlines’ turnaround noted, most of what the company did to go from worst to first in on-time performance was straightforward. He also noted more»

  • Jason Jennings

    I'm a: Leadership consultant and author
    Expert on: Leadership

    The single most important piece of business advice I ever received occurred long before going into business and my eventual writing and speaking career. 

    Throughout college I worked as a rock disc jockey and eventually a radio talk show host in Marquette, Michigan, a small Midwestern college town. After some time, I was given a chance to fill in for a vacationing talk host on Detroit’s WXYZ radio. I knew that if I did well I’d be offered a full-time position (which was pretty heady stuff for a young guy of twenty-one because, at the time, Detroit was the nation’s fifth largest radio market).

    Although the producer and I had carefully planned the guests and topics I was more nervous than I’d ever been as airtime approached. Only a couple of minutes before going on the air, the engineer – one of those tough, cranky, been-around-the-block kind of guys on the other side of the studio’s thick glass window turned on his microphone and said, “Kid, there’s only one thing you have to remember and you’ll do just fine. Don’t waste your time trying to be too interesting,” he warned and added, “Be interested instead!”

    I’ve received a lot of great advice and help over the years but there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t pause and remember his sage advice. I attribute every success I’ve ever achieved because I work hard to be interested instead of being interesting.

  • Libby Sartain

    I'm a: Business advisor, HR leader
    Expert on: Human Resources

    It was from Herb Kelleher, co-founder and former chairman of Southwest Airlines. He used to say, 'Manage in the good times so you'll be able to do well in the bad times.

     

    He told us that in all his years of being in the business world he usually saw about two recessions per decade. So we were always getting ready for the economic slowdown. We didn't overhire, for instance. We always thought that a downturn would come, and when it did, we were prepared.

  • Tim O’Reilly

    I'm a: Founder of O'Reilly Media
    Expert on: Web 2.0, Technology

    Create more value than you capture. This came from Brian Erwin, one of my executives, back in 1998 or 1999, summing up our approach to the marketplace. It's become something of an unofficial company motto ever since. So many people building businesses think about what's in it for them.  If you're creating value for customers, suppliers, partners, and employees, it's hard not to create value for yourself. But if you focus on what you get out of it, it's easy to make your business completely uninteresting for all the other people who are part of making your business a success.

  • Vince Thompson

    I'm a: Founder and managing partner of Middleshift
    Expert on: Startups

    Help others win. It’s that simple. When those around you are successful you’ll find yourself quite successful. Beside, this isn’t about the gold in your pocket. It’s about how well you sleep and how you feel about your role in the world around you. If there ever was a time to create the future you’ve dreamed of, it is now.

  • David Ulrich

    I'm a: Cofounder of The RBL Group
    Expert on: Management

    My parents taught me by word and by deed that I could become all that I wanted if I followed their counsel.


    Think big. Have grand ideas, think outside the box, think new.
    Work hard. Do your best, be creative, and leave the campground cleaner than you found it.


    Engage others. Share credit, apologize often, be humble.
    Learn always. Be curious, self aware, open to feedback.

     

    My parents were right. I am indebted to them for so many things.

  • David Wise

    I'm a: Senior consultant at Hay Group
    Expert on: Compensation, Human Resources

    My father runs a small construction company in central New Jersey.  As a Russian émigré, and a self-made man running a self-made company, he had a lot to teach about conducting oneself in business.  And at an age well beyond typical retirement, he’s still at it.

    The most valuable piece of advice he ever gave me is to make sure to choose my partners carefully, because once I do, in order for that partnership to be successful, I’ll have to always be thinking of their interests right alongside mine.  His advice reminded me of the famous quote from the movie The Godfather, Part II: “One by one, our old friends are gone. Death, natural or not, prison, deported. Hyman Roth is the only one left, because he always made money for his partners.”

     

    It’s a reminder that the best business relationships – and those that create value over time – result when all parties are aligned and focused on outcomes for each other.  I’ve never forgotten this as a consultant – a relationship business, no less – and it’s helped me create a list of long-term clients that I want to work with, and more importantly, that want to work with me.

  • Hal Adler

    I'm a: President and founder of Leadership Landing
    Expert on: Leadership

    From Gordon Bethune, the retired CEO of Continental Airlines. He was addressing an audience one on one and he talked specifically about how you need to get clear about what you believe in and stick to that regardless of outside pressure. Working as hard as you can to define what you believe in and then sticking to those core values was a very strong message.

  • Al Lee

    I'm a: Director of quantitative analysis at PayScale
    Expert on: Compensation, Data Analysis

    From Gordon Bethune, the retired CEO of Continental Airlines. He was addressing an audience one on one and he talked specifically about how you need to get clear about what you believe in and stick to that regardless of outside pressure. Working as hard as you can to define what you believe in and then sticking to those core values was a very strong message.

  • Reuben Advani

    I'm a: Founder and president of Telestrat Education
    Expert on: Finance

    Expert Answer

    Early in my career, I worked for a major Wall Street investment bank. One morning, I overheard a senior partner discussing his financial problems with a colleague. A vacation home, a new boat and European shopping sprees were driving him to the verge of bankruptcy. Later that day, I shared this story with a friend who ran the food stand outside of the office building. I asked him how someone so wealthy could be in such a situation.

     

    He smiled at me and said, "Wealth is not how much you earn, it's how much you save."

  • Steve Jurvetson

    I'm a: Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson
    Expert on: Venture Capital

    The ideas that end up changing the world are never unanimously regarded as good ideas in the early days.

  • Kevin Beaver

    I'm a: Independent information security consultant with Principle Logic
    Expert on: Information Security

    I’ve received two bits of advice in the form of simple quotes from two very wise men. Johann Wolfgang Goethe said, “The things which matter most must never be at the mercy of the things which matter least.”

     

    And Og Mandino said, “Use wisely your power of choice.”

     

    Living by these principles has had a profound impact on both my personal and professional lives. They have a nice tie-in to information security and managing business risks that business executives should bear in mind as well.

  • Geoff Smart

    I'm a: Founder and CEO of ghSMART
    Expert on: Leadership

    "Calendar your personal life just like your business life, or else you won't make time for what is truly important." This piece of advice came from Juergen Stark, a friend and Motorola executive. It was from Juergen that I came up with an idea to have Daddy Dates with a different child every other week.

     

    I have four kids. It's a great chance to have real conversations and build a strong relationship with each of them by having concentrated one-on-one time. I'm taking my son to our first Daddy Vacation this winter at a Navy Seals father-son boot camp. My kids tell my wife and me that their Mommy Dates and Daddy dates are some things they enjoy the most.