I spent Saturday at Berkshire-Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting, listening to Q&A with Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. Here are a few concepts that stood out to me.

Cooperation and Choosing Battles

Warren was asked why he didn’t vote against the Coca-Cola compensation plan he believes is excessive. He said that they did not want to go to war with Coca-Cola. Going to war is almost never a good idea. Charlie agreed and said voicing your disapproval of everything you disapprove of is not an effective way to operate. “If we all did that nobody would be able to hear each other talk. … You have to pick your spots.”

Interesting coming from some very principled and independent-thinking people. They are not stubborn idealists who insist on their way, they value cooperation in the context of disagreement.

Lawsuit Risk

Warren and Charlie are aware their company possesses some of the deepest pockets in the world, and that attracts lawsuits. They intentionally stay out of businesses (athletic safety gear, airport security) that have a high propensity for getting sued when something goes wrong. High-liability industries are for people with a lot less to lose. I hadn’t heard them express this before.

Reputation

Trust earned from a long track record of consistent action is a precious, and fragile, asset.

Warren Buffett has a big advantage in business deals because his integrity is highly trusted. He is keenly aware of this and afraid of losing it due to any illegal or unethical behavior by his 300,000 employees.

Every minute, we are building or damaging our reputation by the choices we make and the way we treat people.

Patience

When asked about why others are not more successful doing what they do (growing a big investment and business portfolio) they said because it’s slow, and people don’t have the patience. It’s not that it’s rocket science, it’s just slow. Charlie joked that “The downside of it being slow is you’re dead before it’s done.”

Simple Truthfulness

They answered questions with simple truthfulness whether controversial or not. Charlie with fewer words and less tact. Both with simplicity. My sense is their great clarity of thought is a side effect of this practice of simple truthfulness.

You can grow at any age, and that includes major shifts, whole new ways of thinking, and dramatically better outcomes. You can grow leaps and bounds as an adult, and that growth will not happen to you automatically, accidentally, or by the simple passage of time. Even major life events won’t, by themselves, create growth.

When you are driven by a hunger for growth, and you intentionally engage in a healthy process over time, you grow. This is more than learning new information, it’s also engaging in new experiences, attempting new challenges, and especially engaging in growth-promoting relationships.

So…. Who and what will you put on your calendar for the express purpose of your growth? What’s your personal growth plan?

If you’d like to make a plan, or add to one, I can help. I invite you to schedule a free conversation with me.

Here’s the kind of situation that tends to move people toward personal growth:

1. When you are in a circumstance that is painful and ongoing.

2. When, while painful, it is not overwhelming.

3. When you care a lot about the situation and/or relationship.

4. And when it’s difficult to escape from.

Leading a business with challenges fits those four quite well. It sure did (and still does) for me.

Growth and discomfort go hand in hand. This is not pleasant news. It’s just the way it works.

The smart (not easy) thing to do in these situations is enter a process of personal growth sooner rather than later.

I’m so fanatically enthusiastic about personal growth I didn’t even realize some people think it all but ends at adolescence. I’ve always expected myself and people I work with to grow regardless of age, and we have.

In the last couple of decades research on neuroplasticity and the evolving self has shown that adults can continue to grow and dramatically change their brains all throughout life.

To me a long adulthood of stagnated growth sounds deeply depressing. Thanks science for the encouraging confirmation. You are never too old to engage in processes that produce growth.

In the real world of daily execution, lots of random nitty-gritty problems come up. Sometimes I laugh at how unlikely they are to ever be covered in a business or leadership book. Don’t get me wrong, I love theory and models. They help a lot. Sometimes the real world is just… different.

A few weeks ago I got a call from one of my managers: “The customer service team is leaving for the day. We think an animal died in the building somewhere, and it smells really bad. People are feeling sick and yeah, they’re leaving.”

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I wasn’t ready for that one. “Umm, ahhh, can we try to figure out where the smell is coming from?”

“A couple of the guys are looking in the crawl space, it’s pretty wet down there and they haven’t been able to find anything so far. We think it might be in the walls.” …

So much of success in business is overcoming the nitty-gritty obstacles — getting the daily work done even when things get in the way. That’s a mixture of expertise, creativity, and sheer persistence.

As a coach, I promise never to forget that those who launch and lead deal with some very un-theoretical stuff. Here’s to all of you who persist and succeed in the real world.