Tracy Britt Cool on Management Lessons From Warren Buffett

Thanks to Matt for passing this along.

Tracy Britt Cool, Warren Buffett‘s financial assistant at Berkshire Hathaway, says she was already familiar with the billionaire’s investing style when she joined the company in 2009, but working by his side for the past four years has given her a new appreciation for Mr. Buffett’s hands-off management style.

The big lesson, Ms. Cool said, was learning “how much you can get out of people when you… give them space.” Speaking at Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women conference in Washington, DC on Wednesday, the 29-year-old Harvard MBA said Mr. Buffett gives his managers “freedom and flexibility” to run their businesses as they see fit, even when he doesn’t agree with them.

As the chairwoman of four Berkshire-owned companies including paints maker Benjamin Moore, Ms. Cool said she spends a lot of her time “getting smarter about ways to help Berkshire,” especially in terms of helping improve operations and eventually, make acquisitions.