Since the 1990s, he has more than doubled his donations to Republicans and Democrats, giving the maximum to mainstream politicians such as Mitt Romney and Harry Reid.
"The secrets of my entrepreneurial success? One, behave humbly. Be humble about your importance, about how many answers you know and about how much you don't know (which is always more than you think), humble about the need to engage with and learn from people around you, humble about customers, humble about learning. Please understand that I'm saying behave humbly; I don't think you can actually will yourself to be humble, but you can behave humbly. Which means saying, often, 'I was wrong.' Which you'll discover is the moment when the real insights and breakthroughs occur. And when it's hard to behave humbly because you're afraid people won't value you, just remember: People already know, they can see through you. They know what you're good at and what you're not, so don't pretend. Instead, try being true. Be human, and vulnerable the way you really are. And you'll find that by admitting you're not good at stuff you build a bridge to people. You give them room to contribute. Two, get a coach. Because people aren't going to tell the boss what you need to know about yourself. Bad news never travels all the way up. So get a coach who helps you, and criticizes, and makes demands, and holds you accountable. Don't you think there's a reason that even superhuman athletes, the best in the world, always have coaches? Yet how many CEOs do? I occasionally had a coach and made some of my best decisions when using him. And lastly, realize that to a scary degree a company grows to reflect its founder. Unlike with your kids, there are no unalterable genetics to blame, it's all nurture. You get to start the code. So be customer-driven. (My biggest surprise was discovering how customers will invent your business for you.) And commit to the right values--be straight, tell the truth. Especially the bad news. You'll discover that people always get over it, and even admire the effort you make trying to fix things. Short-term losses become long-term gains. It works.