Melinda French Gates shares the best lesson she got from Charlie Munger: ‘What a thing to aspire to'

Stefani Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images

Charlie Munger wasn't just an acclaimed investor, one of the masterminds behind Berkshire Hathaway's decades of financial success.

He also gave great life advice, according to billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates.

French Gates, 59, shared her favorite lesson of Munger's during a recent commencement speech at Stanford University. "Charlie famously said that the highest form which civilization can reach is a seamless web of deserved trust. Totally reliable people, correctly trusting each other," she said. "What a thing to aspire to."

"As a society, we aren't always set up to feel responsibility for the person who's next to us or the person who's on the other side of a divide or a debate," French Gates added. "But we need each other. No matter who you are, there will be moments in your journey when you need to be carried or when someone else will need you to carry them."

Munger, who died last year at age 99, spent decades as the vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway — Warren Buffett's longtime business partner and right-hand man. His advice often extended beyond finance and investing, and was usually shaped by his down-to-earth demeanor and optimistic outlook on life.

[video_shortcode_youtube src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/npfQcvUcQYM" itemprop="image" content="https://www.youtube.com/embed/npfQcvUcQYM" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/npfQcvUcQYM"]

For most people, connections can play a major role in your personal or professional success. Bosses and mentors may help you excel in the workplace or open their network to you. Your friends might give you great relationship advice. Even a stranger at the grocery store could introduce you to a new brand of food that you grow to love.

Assembling connections intentionally is even a leadership strategy: Lisa Skeete Tatum, founder and CEO of career coaching company Landit, told CNBC Make It in 2022 about the personal board of directors she created to help her make decisions, provide a listening ear or speak up on her behalf.

"I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for people who believed in me," said Skeete Tatum. "If you want to progress, you have to surround yourself with people that have higher expectations of you than you have of yourself."

DON'T MISS: The ultimate guide to becoming a master communicator and public speaker

Her comments echoed Munger's lesson that people can go much further together than they can alone, and by being a caring, trustworthy person, others will provide you that same kind of support. Similarly, French Gates urged her audience to make "strong, reciprocal bonds with other people, even if they disagree on issues big or small."

"You are graduating into a broken world, but it is community that rebuilds things," she said. "Together is how you'll make the broken things whole again."

Want to be a successful, confident communicator? Take CNBC's new online course Become an Effective Communicator: Master Public Speaking. We'll teach you how to speak clearly and confidently, calm your nerves, what to say and not say, and body language techniques to make a great first impression. Sign up today and use code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off through July 10, 2024.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.