During their lunch, Buffet explained how he and his longtime business partner Charlie Munger approach the truth, honesty and integrity. “He and Mr. Munger use an internal yardstick,” Pabrai told CNBC.
Buffett gave the men an unconventional method to determine their integrity, asking them: “Would you rather be the greatest lover in the world yet be known as the worst, or would you rather be the worst lover and be known as the greatest?”
“And he said, ‘If you know how to answer that correctly, then you have the right internal yardstick,'” recalled Pabrai.
Spier continued, “It’s a very interesting person who can walk around, imagine that the world, the feedback that they’re getting is that they’re awful at what they do, but deep down they know that what they’re doing is right.”
However, Buffett has long been a big believer in cultivating integrity, especially at young age, and has previously noted that he looks for this key characteristic in all employees.
“A student [of college age] can pretty much decide what kind a person they are going to be at 60,” the billionaire said in an interview for the Nebraska Business magazine. “If they don’t have integrity [now], they never will.”
