Best Advice from the Best in the World

LinkedIn recently asked top CEOs in the world what the best advice they have ever received in their life was and the answers will help you think about how you are approaching life. There's actually 70+ people but here are a few. The rest can be found here.

Richard Branson
Founder of Virgin Group

"The best advice I ever received? Simple: Have no regrets. Who gave me the advice? Mum’s the word."

Jeff Weiner

CEO of LinkedIn Group

"As a child, I can't recall a day that went by without my dad telling me I could do anything I set my mind to. He said it so often, I stopped hearing it ... It wasn't until decades later that I fully appreciated the importance of those words and the impact they had on me."

Jim Clifton
CEO of Gallup

"The best advice I ever received came from my dad, Don Clifton. It was actually a piece of simple, yet profound wisdom that has shaped my life. 'Your weaknesses will never develop', he told me, 'while your strengths will develop infinitely'."

T. Boone Pickens
Chairman of BP Capital Management

"If I had to single out one piece of advice that’s guided me through life, most likely it would be from my grandmother, Nellie Molonson. She always made a point of making sure I understood that on the road to success, there’s no point in blaming others when you fail."

Martha Stewart
Founder of 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."

Jim Kim
President at the World Bank

"I received some great advice from Marshall Goldsmith, one of the preeminent authorities in the field of leadership. He told me this: 'If you want to be an effective leader, listen to and accept with humility the feedback that comes from your team'."

Spencer Rascoff
CEO of Zillow

"The best advice I have ever gotten was to always hire people who are even better than you. You have to try to be comfortable enough with your own position that you hire people beneath you who are extraordinary."

Brad Smith
President and CEO at Intuit

"I was finishing college and facing a 'make or break' decision. I was agonising between two job offers I had received, and was fearful that I would make the wrong choice, propelling me down a doomed career path forever more. My dad sat me down to give me a few pointers about choosing the best course.

"He advised me that choosing the right job was not a sudden lightning bolt of realisation, nor was it for most of us something we knew we wanted to do since we were kids (oh, how I envied those kids). Rather, it was a process of trial and error – a voyage of discovery."