They don't mention it in the article, but if anyone gets a chance, I would suggest they read about his activities as a board member for The Washington Post.<p>When Buffett joined the board, Katharine Graham had just taken control. Her husband had recently committed suicide and she had to steer the company at a time when there were virtually no other females running companies of that size in America. He taught her everything from reading balance sheets to guiding the company in good capital allocation practices. Those things helped her get the assurance she needed to run the company.<p>The lessons are pretty applicable to business today. Your advisors should be people who are smarter than you, at least with respect to filling in with areas you are not too knowledgeable about. Rather than picking yes-men/your friends who will only reassure and agree with you.