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20 Business Magnates Share The Wisdom They Learned From Their Fathers

This article is more than 7 years old.

 

 

What did your father teach you? Here are 20 insightful life lessons business leaders got from their dads, just in time for Father's Day.

The voluble Richard Branson says his father showed him to listen more than he speaks. Bill Gates' dad pushed him to try new, challenging activities. And Martha Stewart's father told her she could achieve anything she set her mind to it.

Read on for paternal advice from the fathers of CEOs and billionaires.

 

 

 

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo

 

 

 

 

 

“My father was an absolutely wonderful human being. From him I learned to always assume positive intent. Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a person or problem becomes very different. When you assume negative intent, you're angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed.”

As told to Fortune

 

 

 

 

 

Kenneth Chenault, CEO, American Express

 

 

 

 

 

“I would say the best career advice I got was from my father who said, ‘Don’t get confused about who you are with the title or job that you hold.’ And the message there is very clear: that your career, your job, is very important, but who you are as a person, your values and beliefs, are most important.”

As told to London Business School

 

 

 

 

 

 Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft; Cofounder, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

 

 

 

 

 

“My dad and my mom were great at encouraging me as a kid to do things that I wasn't good at, to go out for a lot of different sports like swimming, football, soccer, and I didn't know why. At the time I thought it was kind of pointless, but it ended up really exposing me to leadership opportunities and showing me that I wasn't good at a lot of things, instead of sticking to things that I was comfortable with.”

As told to Fortune

 

 

 

 

Steve Collis, President and CEO, AmerisourceBergen

 

 

 

 

 

 “It’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish it.”

As told to Fortune

 

 

 Barbara Corcoran, Cofounder, The Corcoran Group

 

 

 

 

“[My father] would quit his job when the boss told him to do something ... My father taught us a great heaping of insubordination and I think that's why [his children] didn't want to grow up working for anybody.”

As told to Inc.

 

 

 

 

 Brian Roberts, CEO, Comcast

 

 

 

 

 

“My mentor is my father, Ralph, who turns 85 this month. When I wanted to start my Comcast career at corporate headquarters, my father wisely insisted that I learn the business from the field, even though that isn't the way he started… I struggled to climb the telephone poles, strung cable, and went into people's homes to wire them. I really learned the ropes from people at the system level.”

As told to Fortune

 

 

 

  Debra Cafaro, CEO, Ventas Inc

 

 

“My father always supported me and said ‘You can do whatever you put your mind to.’ Looking back, I realize how incredibly unusual and important his constant support and reinforcement were.”

As told to Bloomberg

 

 

 Mark Cuban, Investor, Owner, Dallas Mavericks

 

“My dad says it over and over, 'Today’s the youngest you’re ever going to be. You’ve got to live like it. You've got to live young every day.' And that’s what I try to do.”

As told to BuinessInsider

 

 Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP Plc.

 

“My father told me to find something you enjoy doing, work hard at it and develop a reputation in the field, and then, if you want to start something on your own, go ahead. If you enjoy your work, then it is not work.”

As told to Fortune

 

 Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO, General Motors

 

“My mom grew up on a farm during the Great Depression. My dad grew up in an iron-mining area of upper Minnesota. They taught my brother and me two lessons: ‘There is no substitute for hard work,’ and, ‘Work before you play.’”

As told to Esquire

 

 

 Meg Whitman, CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

 

“‘Be nice to people.' This sounds like a platitude, but I'll never forget my father telling me that. I was 10, and I had been mean to someone. He said, 'There is no point in being mean to anyone at any time. You never know who you're going to meet later in life. And by the way, you don't change anything by being mean. Usually you don't get anywhere.’”

As told to Fortune

 

 Richard Branson, Founder And Chair, Virgin Group

 

“When I grew up our house was always a hive of activity, with Mum dreaming up new entrepreneurial schemes left, right and centre, and me and my sisters running wild. Amidst all the fun and chaos, Dad was always a supportive, calming influence on us all. Within this discreet support lay one of his best and most simple pieces of advice for me: listen more than you talk.”

As told to LinkedIn

 

 Sara Blakely, Founder and CEO, Spanx

 

“My dad always encouraged me to fail, and because of this, he gave me the gift of retraining my thinking about failure … Failure for me became about not trying, instead of the outcome."

As told to BusinessInsider

 

 Steve Ballmer, Former CEO, Microsoft, Owner, LA Clippers

 

“My dad said, ‘If you’re going do a job, do a job. And if you’re not going to do a job, don’t do a job. And that is the key of everything.’ No, seriously, the notion that if you’re going to do something then do it heart, body and soul and do it.”

As told to BusinessInsider

 

 Steve Jobs, Cofounder and Former CEO, Apple

 

“You got to make the back of the fence that nobody will see just as good looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know, and that will show that you're dedicated to making something perfect.”

As told to biographer Walter Isaacson 

 

 T Boone Pickens, CEO, BP Capital

 

“A fool with a plan can outsmart a genius with no plan any day.”

As told to LinkedIn

 

 Ted Turner, Founder And Former CEO, CNN

 

“The best advice I ever got came from my father. He told me to go to work at his billboard company when I was 12 years old… I learned sales and leasing. I could paint billboards ... My father would explain how the business world works--how a good business depends on good labor relations, enthusiastic leadership, making a profit and reinvesting it. When I was 21 and went to work in the company full-time, I was ready."

As told to Fortune

 

Walt Bettinger, President and CEO, Charles Schwab

 

“The best advice I’ve ever received came in a simple reminder from my late father: ‘Most things in the world can be bought or sold, but not a reputation.’ With these few words of great wisdom, my father instilled in me a framework for behavior, interactions with others, and decision making that shapes my actions every day.”

As told to Fortune

 

 

 Warren Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway

 

“My first hero was my dad. I grew up with this incredible love and admiration for him. I wanted to be like him. He gave me more good advice than anybody, and he was enormously helpful and important to me in all kinds of ways. He taught me that what’s on your inner scorecard is more important than your outer scorecard... If you are comfortable with your inner scorecard, you are going to have a pretty gratifying life.”

As told to LinkedIn

 

 Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

 

“The best advice I’ve ever received was from my father when I was 12 years old and willing to listen. He told me that with my personal characteristics, I could, if I set my mind to it, do anything I chose. This advice instilled in me a great sense of confidence, and despite the fact that sometimes I was a little nervous, I stepped out and did what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.”

As told to LinkedIn