Melinda Gates: Warren Buffett taught me how to be a good friend

Melinda Gates is often credited for helping her husband develop his kinder, gentler side. During his formative years Bill Gates was notoriously hard-nosed. There are many stories of his tantrums when he and Microsoft were young. After marrying Melinda and having a family, Gates mellowed. While he's still opinionated, he's clearly a happier, more cordial person. His philanthropic work to end poverty and disease makes him a role model for other leaders to follow.

But the woman who helped tame Bill Gates had to learn how to be a good friend herself, she said in an article where CEOs have offered their best advice. And the person who taught her how to do that was fellow billionaire Warren Buffett.

Here's how that happened, Melinda says: "One of the things I was most impressed about when Bil l and I met Warren Buffett very early on was he introduced us to his friends. And Warren has the most high quality set of friends you could meet, and these are friends that he has had over his lifetime. And it really got me thinking, 'Wow, I better cultivate my friends.' Warren does little things with his friends, like he will send you an article of something he is thinking about, reading about. That was a way to help me think about my friends."

Melinda adds "On the day I die, I want people to think that I was a great mom and a great fami ly member and a great friend."