8 Strategies for Women from Warren Buffett, the Feminist Capitalist

5) Pick the right role models and heroes. Study what they do that makes them successful. You should be able to distill their motivation down to a simple credo. For example, Russian immigrant Rose Blumkin started Nebraska Furniture Mart with one goal, to “Sell Cheap and Tell the Truth.” Buffett bought the company in 1988 for $60 million. Each of the company’s two current stores sell more than a million dollars of home furnishings and electronics every day. Susan Jacques is CEO of Borsheims, also owned by Buffett and the largest single-location jewelry store in the U. S. Her mission statement is “to provide exemplary customer service and the Midwest attitude” — “Midwest attitude” being another way of saying “tell the truth.” Cathy Baron Tamraz at Business Wire, a wholly owned Berkshire Hathaway company and global leader in press release distribution, joined the company 1979 and is now CEO. Part of the corporate mission statement reads “We develop and maintain relationships … based upon mutual respect and integrity.”

“Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours,” Buffett has said, “and you’ll drift in that direction.”