From the horses' mouth: Five biz giants share their advice for people in their 20s

Eric Schmidt
Say yes to more things
In her book The Best Advice I Ever Got, author Katie Couric quotes the advice she got from the Alphabet CEO: “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.“


Google's Eric Schmidt (Image: BCCL)

Bill Gates
Keep things simple
In a TV interview, the Microsoft co-founder and chairman said he admires Warren Buffett's ability to keep things simple and it is the best advice he can give. “You look at his (Buffett's) calendar, it's pretty simple. You talk to him about a case where he thinks a business is attractive, and he knows a few basic numbers and facts about it. He picks the things that he's got a model of, a model that really is predictive and that's going to continue to work over a long-term period.“


Microsoft founder, Bill Gates (Image: BCCL)

Warren Buffett
Exercise humility and restraint
The Berkshire Hathaway CEO during the annual shareholders meeting, told a curious seventhgrader that the key to making friends and getting along with coworkers is learning to change your behaviour as you mature by emulating those you admire and adopting the qualities they possess.


Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffet (Image: AP)

Sheryl Sandberg
Do what you are afraid to do
The Facebook COO in a Quora post recommended having a long-term, abstract dream to work toward in addition to a more concrete short-term plan. “The long-term plan allows you to dream big while the short-term plan forces you to push yourself and think about how you want to get better over the next year and a half. Ask yourself how you can improve and what you're afraid to do and that's usually the thing you should try.“


Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg (Image: BCCL)

Steve Jobs
Give something back
The late Apple founder's biographer Walter Isaacson recalled an exchange he had with Jobs shortly before he died. “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 others could benefit from.“ .


Steve Jobs (Image: BCCL)