In a brief article on LinkedIn today, Bill Gates says:

“Not many people get to ask Warren Buffett for advice on a regular basis. I feel very lucky in that regard: The dialogue has been invaluable to me, and not only at Microsoft.”

Find out what wisdom Gates gets from Buffet here: http://linkd.in/11YPGWj

On this date, Bill Gates is the second richest billionaire on the planet at an estimated $67 billion. To get there, and make Microsoft so dominant, Bill must have a big ego. A big healthy ego (self-image) has him say, “I know what to do”. He’s really got to trust himself.

What most people don’t see in these “self-made” people is the team they surround themselves with. Typically, very successful people have mentors and coaches. The old term “self-made man” simply meant that his parents didn’t give him all his money. It didn’t mean he was alone in life. .

When Bill started Microsoft, Paul Allen, 3 years Bill’s senior, was not only his business partner but also a mentor and confidant. Steve Jobs looked for mentors, finding Suzuki Roshi (the great Zen teacher) and many other teachers. A big reason Jobs hired John Sculley, CEO of Pepsi, was so Sculley could mentor him and teach him about leadership.

What strikes me about Gates’ revealing statement above is that he asks “advice on a regular basis.” Who do YOU ask for advice on a regular basis or is your ego telling you, “I’ve got this. I need to do it all on my own to prove something”? Who do you check in with REGULARLY to play your best at everything? Who is your sounding board, your bullshit detector, so you aren’t a slave to your ego mind calling all the shots?

Great coaches and mentors, like Buffet, ask powerful questions. You’ll notice that in the Gates article. They help you ask the right questions rather than tell you exactly what to do. A spouse is often a great bullshit detector. They can’t hear the chatter in your mind so they can just ask you better questions that you can on your own. Talking to a therapist regularly can be a great journey to be happier and play a better game. You might find a business mentor that has built a big business already. It could be a one-on-one connection to a spiritual teacher where you can explore true fulfillment. If you are committed to happiness, you wont’ try to do it alone. That’s just the ego trying to make us suffer.

I’m listening to the new Steve Jobs biography. It’s a great modeling project and I’ll share insights here as I work through the 25 hours.

History will look back on Jobs as being the man who really gave us the personal computer. As important as Henry Ford and the automobile, Carnegie and steel, or any of the great American inventors that really made America great.

In the first hour, I’ve already heard some core beliefs that are truly empowering and describe Jobs:

1. I’m special. – Though some said his birth parents ‘”abandoned” him he, with the help of his adoptive parents, turned the story into “I’m special.” It’s all just a story.
2. I can build anything. – He played with electronics as a kid and started out with Heathkits. They were electronics kits many of us asked our parents for. Many kids enjoyed building things instead of veg out on Facebook or Xbox. After building his first kit he built more complicated ones and formed this belief.
3. I know the real value of things. – His father would take him to car auctions and taught him he could learn what parts were really worth and buy them much cheaper because other people didn’t know the value. he loved selling things because he knew what they were really worth.

Put these beliefs together and you can see how Jobs led his field, constantly pushed to build more amazing products, and was able to not only charge a premium for them but also negotiate great deals so the profits we high.

We just described Apple Inc. in the last decade under Jobs. They went from a laughable company in the nineties, under the leadership of a Coca Cola exec focused only on profits to the most valuable company on earth.

You can learn a lot by listening for people’s beliefs. Our beliefs create our destiny. Destiny is not written on some magic tablet in the sky. Beliefs make the difference between feeling abandoned and unloved OR feeling special with a contribution to give the world. It’s all just made up beliefs.

Post on the blog what you discover from his biography and we’ll compare notes.

Before becoming a Professional Coach at the turn of the century, I was a manager and helped launch a software startup company that’s still in business today. In getting my degree in management, I learned that our understanding of companies and management came from America winning WWII.

You see, we did this great feat, those men came home, started building companies, and working in them. But, humans in general aren’t good at change. We’ve unconsciously been managing our companies, and our employees, as if they are military personnel in a great war that ended 66 years ago.

But some companies are changing this ancient model of management! Countless research studies, like the Federal Reserve study, are showing that business is more productive when the employees have purpose and are happy. We see this proven in technology companies like Google, Facebook, & Apple.

Zappos is an example of a retail company that is also proving that happiness increases profits. Here’s a great interview with the Zappos founder about his new book where he shares his formula for success.

Of special interest to me is when they touch on the old attachment business still has to keeping employees unhappy so they work harder (the war mental blueprint). As a satirist, Colbert is a master at pointing out what’s wrong that we haven’t been able to put our finger on.

Do you think it’s possible to drop the old war strategy of management? Post your comments on the blog.

Back on June 10th, 2009 I wrote an article titled “A multi-billion dollar idea!” My premise was that Facebook worked great for kids, who want popularity and everyone as their friend. But, adults actually have circles of trust, of friends. Not everyone is a friend. Not everyone is trustable or shares the same values we have in a given context. It’s something we must teach children. My prediction was that adults would start leaving Facebook as the novelty of “everyone is a friend” would prove to be unworkable. It’s OK for marketers and kids, but not human adults. It seemed that an adult way of working with human smaller circles had to happen.

Well, Google is getting close to launching their own social network with “Circles” as a major component. Soon you will be able to socially network as adults actually do in real life. You can have a circle of your closest friends. Some of them may overlap with your political friends or your volleyball friends. You’ll be able to reach more people the way you actually think, with circles joined by invisible links to each person. We’ll of course see Facebook follow with their own upgrade as they see what works and doesn’t with Circles.

Thanks dad for teaching me chess when I was little! We never know how some odd learning later helps us see the world in a different way so we can help others. Chess helped me see multiple scenarios into the future. Steve Jobs learned calligraphy and it helped him invent the Macintosh. Everything you’ve ever learned is a hidden gift waiting to be expressed.

Learn more about the coming Google+ here: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/google-launches-all-out-social-networking-assault-with-google/

The founder faced incredible odds, delays, law suits, you name it. But, business is just a game and games have obstacles if they are any fun. This article is inspiring as you will probably realize you don’t really have that many obstacles in your business.

Tip #1 is terrific: Keep the idea simple enough to draw on a napkin.

If you are in business, or have ever wanted to start a business, read this. Here’s the article: http://spiritmag.com/features/article/40_lessons_to_learn_from_southwest/

Do make some comments on the blog from what you learn and share with everyone else.