Bill Gates. Credit: Wikipedia Commons

When I was 9 years old and hoping to become the next great Mets pitcher, my father’s advice was pretty simple: watch Rich Wlodarczyk.

Rich, who was 11, was the best pitcher on my little league team. So I watched him, did what he did and, largely through osmosis, became a pretty good pitcher myself (cough cough three-time MVP, but who’s counting).

Anyway, I think my father taught me a pretty good lesson: learn from the best. And I think that applies to hiring as well.

So, without further ado, he’s some great quotes from some of the world’s greatest CEOs –

Warren Buffett

“Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without [integrity], you really want them to be dumb and lazy.”

Elon Musk

“We have a strict ‘no a-hole policy’ at SpaceX. And we fire people they are. I mean, we give them a little bit of warning. But if they continue to be an a-hole, then they’re fired.”

John Rockefeller

“I would rather hire a man with enthusiasm than a man who knows everything.”

Jeff Bezos

“I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.”

James Goldsmith

“If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.”

Steve Jobs

“When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart. But the real issue for me is, Are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself. They’ll want to do what’s best for Apple, not what’s best for them, what’s best for Steve, or anybody else.”

Malcolm Forbes

“Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.”

Bill Gates

“I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”

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