Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, billionaire Warren Buffet, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, 'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, The Huffington Post cofounder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington and other similar successful greats show that the tides have not turned and the solid principles of their generations are still invaluable to young professionals today. The following gems were compiled from various sources by Business Insider:
#1 Steve Jobs, former Apple CEO
According to biographer Walter Isaacson's recollections, Steve Jobs said shortly before his death: "Yeah, we're always talking about following your passion, but we're all part of the flow of history ... you've got to put something back into the flow of history that's going to help your community, help other people ... so that 20, 30, 40 years from now ... people will say, this person didn't just have a passion, he cared about making something that other people could benefit from.
#2 Marissa Mayer, Yahoo President and CEO
Marissa Mayer shares the best advice she was given in her life: "My friend Andre said to me, 'You know, Marissa, you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself to pick the right choice, and I've gotta be honest: That's not what I see here. I see a bunch of good choices, and there's the one that you pick and make great.' I think that's one of the best pieces of advice I've ever gotten."
#3 Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder and The Good Entrepreneur chairman
Sir Richard Branson shares a nugget of wisdom from his own mother: "The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures, rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me. I have fun running ALL the Virgin businesses - so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve."
#4 Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO
Sheryl Sandberg's advice quotes Fortune Magazine's Pattie Sellers, who says: "Careers are not ladders but jungle gyms. You don't have to have it all figured out...Ask yourself how you can improve and what you're afraid to do, that's usually the thing you should try."
#5 J.K. Rowling, 'Harry Potter' author
J.K. Rowling values the failures she overcame before becoming successful. She once described her beginnings in a Harvard commencement speech in this way: "An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless ... By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew."
As she spoke on the 'Today' show with host Matt Lauer, Rowling says: "I don't think we talk about failure enough. It would've really helped to have someone who had had a measure of success come say to me, 'You will fail. That's inevitable. It's what you do with it.'"
#6 Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman/CEO
The billionaire philanthropist shares a valuable advice he received from Berkshire Hathaway board member Thomas Murphy: "Never forget Warren, you can tell a guy to go to hell tomorrow - you don't give up the right. So just keep your mouth shut today, and see if you feel the same way tomorrow."
#7 Bill Gates, Microsoft cofounder and chairman
Bill Gates believes that keeping things simple is the best path and has great admiration for Warren Buffet's penchant and ability toward simplicity.
#8 Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post editor-in-chief and CEO
Arianna Huffington addresses the common notion that success requires wearing the self to the bone: "This couldn't be less true. And for far too long, we have been operating under a collective delusion that burning out is the necessary price for achieving success."
She wishes she had someone give the same advice to her: "Arianna, your performance will actually improve if you can commit to not only working hard but also unplugging, recharging, and renewing yourself."
#9 Eric Schmidt, Google executive chairman
Google's Eric Schmidt shares a gem from Katie Couric's 'The Best Advice I Ever Got': "Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids."
#10 Melanie Whelan, SoulCycle CEO
Melanie Whelan endorses the value of getting experience from all types of work: "Get a job and work hard. You are going to learn a ton in whatever that job is, so don't stress too much about what it is or where it is. Just take a job and put your head down, work hard, raise your hand for anything anybody asks you to do."
#11 John Chen, Blackberry CEO
John Chen does not believe in limelight and credit-hogging: "Most employees think that the best way to show value to their boss and get promoted is to aggressively claim credit and ownership over everything they do. While it's important to be recognized for what you do and the value you add, grabbing the glory is going to turn off your coworkers. Trying too hard to show you're a superstar tells me that you only care about what's best for you, and not the company as a whole."
#12 Rick Goings, Tupperware CEO
Rick Goings believes in being pleasant and personable with every person: "I like to check with the driver, our receptionist, and my assistants on how the candidate interacted with them. How you treat others means the world!"
