In a recent phone call with the University of Nebraska Chancellor Ronnie Green, alum Warren Buffett (class of 1951) shared valuable perspective and advice—a conversation that served as the keynote address during the school’s virtual graduation on December 19th. This according to an article in Nebraska Today.
Here are some highlights:
- The 90-year-old Buffett said he would happily trade places with any of the grads: “They feel they’re going out into an uncertain world and all of that, but there’s never been a better time.”
- Buffett advised the grads to find a job they would take even if they didn’t need a job: “I mean, you’ve got to make a living, too,” he said, “But don’t settle for anything, eventually, that’s less than working for a company you admire or people you admire, and really the job that if you had no need for the money, it’s still the job that you’d jump out of bed for in the morning.”
- Strong speaking and writing skills are essential, according to Buffett, as well as constant learning: “It is such a wonderful time in life to have every day end up knowing a lot of things you didn’t know the day before.”
- According to Buffett, having the love of family and coworkers is a good measure of success: “I’ve seen loads of people who had maybe more talent, more money, more fame, but if they didn’t have that it was very hollow.”
- Buffett said he is “very bullish on the world,” and that, although every day can’t be perfect, he challenged the graduates to “think of another country where you’d rather be, try to think of another era in which you would rather exist. I don’t think you can do it.”
