Advice from the world’s most powerful people

1. Beyonce

Beyonce’s domination of the music industry seems never ending with the singer hitting number 21 on Forbes’ The World’s Most Powerful Women List in 2015.

“I’m learning how to drown out the constant noise that is such an inseparable part of my life. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world.”

2. Warren Buffett

 The second richest man in the US, Buffet is considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. Famously grounded, the 84-year-old still lives in the three-bedroom home he bought in 1958.

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” 

3. Arianna Huffington

The co-founder and editor-in-chief of Pulitzer Prize winning The Huffington Post, one of the most influential and widely read news and blog sites in the world, Huffington is a champion of work/life balance.

“Have you noticed that when we die, our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success?”

4. Simon Sinek

Ethnographer and author Simon Sinek is an expert in leadership and his popular Ted Talk  has been viewed over 23 million times.

“The only way people will know what you believe is by the things you say and do, and if you’re not consistent in the things you say and do, no one will know what you believe.”

5. Taylor Swift

At 25, the pop star has become a brand unto herself and landed a spot on Time’s 100 Most Influential People list for her prolific social media following and business acumen.

“Other women who are killing it should motivate you, thrill you, challenge you and inspire you rather than threaten you and make you feel like you’re immediately being compared to them.”

6. Susan Cain

The author of New York Times bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking created a revolution with her manifesto for recognising the strength and value of introverts.

“One genuine relationship is worth a fistful of business cards.”

7. Sonia Sotomayor

Sotomayor was appointed the first Hispanic and third female US Supreme Court justice in 2009.

“Idealistic people are put off the whole business of networking as something tainted by flattery and the pursuit of selfish advantage. But virtue in obscurity is rewarded only in heaven. To succeed in this world, you have to be known to people.”

8. Joanne Liu

International president of Médecins Sans Frontières, Liu took the position in 2013, just before the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and has led the organisation to fight the epidemic.

“I feel that [in] any position of this kind of exposure and commitment, you have to accept that you won’t be as balanced as you would like. I always think of it as a privilege, an honour.”

Dale Rolfe is AAT's Content Manager.