10 Jul Surprising advice from a financial wizard and a rock star
Reading Time: 2 minutesFinding related wisdom from people poles apart is always a nice surprise. And it’s hard to come up with two more divergent types than witty finance wizard Charlie Munger and rebellious rock star Nick Cave.
Cue my happy dance when a quote from each man recently crossed my path. And their lessons reverberate into how you show up—part of the small set of things you control, whether you lead an organisation of many, work for one or work for yourself.
Neither idea is headline-worthy or particularly timely. They don’t talk about crushing it. Nor how to hustle or hack productivity with AI. You might even label them mundane and quaint. But hear me out, because they are, in every respect, worth considering.
Be reliable. Take responsibility.
I know! Game-changing stuff. And without them there’s simply no way anyone will count on you. For anything. Oh sure, others might have to work alongside you, but you’ll come with an asterisk. A fine-print warning.
So, let’s start with reliability. As told by Buffet’s business partner and life sage in his own right, Charlie Munger, its absence is a one-way ticket to adversity.
[If you want to guarantee a life of misery], be unreliable. Do not faithfully do what you have engaged to do. If you will only master this one habit you will more than counterbalance the combined effect of all your virtues, howsoever great. If you like being distrusted and excluded from the best human contribution and company, this prescription is for you.
His wilful misdirection aside. The message is clear. Not much else matters if you’re unreliable. It’s a deficit AI can’t plug, talent can’t offset and skills won’t fix. And under every broken promise is something someone didn’t do.
We all know one of those people. You might like them quite a bit, and also know you can’t trust them to do what they say they will. You might even be that person …
Next, Nick Cave weighs in with advice for keeping those promises by taking responsibility for your actions.
Rather than feel impotent and useless, you must come to terms with the fact that as a human being you are infinitely powerful, and take responsibility for this tremendous power. Even our smallest actions have potential for great change, positively or negatively, and the way in which we all conduct ourselves within the world means something.
Sitting inside his hopeful and genuinely emboldening message is an idea which has become akin to kryptonite. Personal responsibility. Today, blaming others has become a team sport with no winners and ‘who’s the biggest victim?’ is a close second. Yet sitting inside responsibility is how you respond, one of the few things you genuinely control. You may not control what happens in organisations; few individuals do. You can always choose how you respond.
The advice from Munger and Cave is good for rank-and-file workers, but leaders should also take note. Because there is a tipping point. When too many people in the same organisation, particularly those in leadership, aren’t reliable and don’t take responsibility for their behaviour and choices, it becomes how you do everything. And who would want to keep working where no one does what they say or owns what they do?
Both quotes illustrate how a well-rounded, practical idea can guide your culture. So, sit for a moment and just imagine how your organisation might transform if the things you valued were those two most unheroic of values.
Be reliable. Take responsibility.
Thanks for reading.