The High Value Person*

*Adapted from my basketball blog.

You may not know of Ernie Adams, the man called "Belichick's Belichick." Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's partner, was "Buffett's Buffet."

Munger who recently passed at age 99, emphasized character and decision-making. Steve Burns wrote a lengthy piece on Munger which I've shortened.

Munger's principles work for volleyball and life. 

1. You Focus on Deserving What You Want

Success is a choice and work is the entry fee on that path. You get what you earn. 

2. You Are a “Learning Machine”

Become a lifelong learner. Munger says that he has never seen anyone succeed who doesn't read. Become a reader if you're not. 

3. You Actively Try to Destroy Your Own Ideas

Why am I wrong? What am I missing? Self-assessment of both our creative and critical selves can only help. 

4. You Prioritize “Not Being Stupid” Over Being Brilliant

“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” — Charlie Munger.

5. You Know the Exact Edge of Your Competence

Know our "Circle of Competence." Increase it. Leverage it. And avoid straying from it. In life, we need a plumber, an electrician, a "car guy" and other specialists for projects outside our circle. 

6. You Guard Your Integrity Above Everything Else

Buffett said that success intersects with energy, intelligence, and integrity. And without integrity, the other two are dangerous. 

7. You Refuse to Work For or With People You Don’t Respect

Reputation is what people think we are. Character is who we are. If we work with people we don't respect, what could possibly go wrong? 

8. You Have a Long Attention Span

Part of success is the ability to sit in a chair and do the work. Flitting from project to project never works well. Focus is a superpower. 

9. You Actively Filter Out Intense Ideology

Think about "inversion," the opposite of an idea. Intense ideology limits flexibility, critical thinking, and active questioning of alternatives. 

10. You Reject Envy, Self-Pity, and the Victim Mindset

If being a high value person is about what we bring to a team or a group, how could envy, victimhood, or feeling sorry for ourselves benefit others? 

Lagniappe. Master self-control.