How do you lead a team across cultural divides?

Flash Forward: Looking back on Michaelmas term

 

The first term seemed to just happen, in the flashes of flashes. It has been a period of both getting settled into a new home and experiencing a unique curriculum that has given me invaluable insights into the makings of great leaders and managers.

 

Yet it has not been until well into the winter break that I have found the opportunity to reflect on the past few months. Before any of us realized, the first term was over, and we all dispersed to the far corners of the world; whether to visit familiar faces or discover new places. So now, chugging through the Slovakian countryside, journeying by train from Prague to Budapest, I am finally able to fully realize the extent of my learning in Michaelmas term.

Three Things I’ve Learned From Warren Buffett

I’m looking forward to sharing posts from time to time about things I’ve learned in my career at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation. (I also post frequently on my blog.)

Last month, I went to Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. It’s always a lot of fun, and not just because of the ping-pong matches and the newspaper-throwing contest I have with Warren Buffett. It’s also fun because I get to learn from Warren and gain insight into how he thinks.
Here are three things I’ve learned from Warren over the years:

Forbes Photographs 'Titans of Philanthropy'

Would you want to be remembered most for the money you made or the money you gave away? These 12 "Titans of Philanthropy," who grace the cover of Forbes magazine for its 30th annual Forbes 400 issue, which ranks the richest people in the world, have clearly chosen the latter path.

The portrait, taken by Forbes contributing photographer Michael Prince in the Trustees Room of the New York Public Library, captures a dozen people who represent a breathtaking amount of wealth -- and good will -- all in one room: not less than $126 billion in net worth for this esteemed bunch of philanthropists, including Oprah Winfrey, who stands over Warren Buffett and Bill Gates like a ministering angel. Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen sits on the lap of her husband, Marc Andreessen, and rocker philanthropist Jon Bon Jovi lounges on the rug.