Some of the most valuable business lessons I have learned over the years have been from owner/CEOs of small companies with which I was closely associated.

One was an S&L in Southern California owned and managed by a wife and husband. Over time, it became the most profitable independent S&L in the state and then in the U.S.

Better yet, it achieved its success without blemish, allegation, or even suspicion.

What was the secret of its success?

The wife (the S&L’s COO) replied, “When our people must make a choice, we require all of them to ask this question: ‘What is the best business decision to make?’ They almost always do.”

That has also been one of the core principles of some guy from Omaha named Buffett and he’s done rather well while following it.