Dan Sheridan has worked at Brooks Running for over 25 years, and he’s been CEO for over a year now, but he says he’s still learning things every day from his own boss: Warren Buffett. The 95-year-old investing legend is famous as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his deep business acumen. You won’t see Sheridan disagree with that sentiment.
“We’re so fortunate,” Sheridan recently told Fortune‘s Leadership Next podcast, reflecting on Brooks’ status as a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. “Our ownership structure may be the greatest in the world, right? We’re owned by—who I would call the GOAT of capitalism—Warren Buffett,” Sheridan remarked. “GOAT,” of course, stands for “greatest of all time,” an acronym from the sports world increasingly spreading to other walks of life.
The remark is more than a casual compliment. For Brooks Running, being part of the Berkshire Hathaway family has meant a rare degree of stability and confidence, especially in a retail world known for its fickleness and fast pivots.
Sheridan, a 25-year Brooks employee who took the reins as CEO in April 2024, fondly recalls his encounters with Buffett over the years, including the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings. These gatherings, often a pilgrimage for investors and business enthusiasts, also became a time for Brooks to celebrate milestones with its famously hands-on owner.
Back in 2014, as Brooks marked its 100th anniversary, Buffett made a special trip to Seattle to commemorate the occasion. Speaking before Brooks employees, Buffett distilled his investing philosophy into a single, memorable challenge. “Berkshire focuses on the long term, and your jobs are simply this: to make sure the brand is stronger at the end of the year than it was at the beginning,” Sheridan recounted. The advice resonated deeply—and has continued to shape his outlook as a leader.
‘You have to do a thousand things to keep your brand strong’
At first glance, the maxim sounds simple. But as Sheridan points out, “The truth is, that’s a huge thing for us to do. You have to do a thousand things to keep your brand strong. You have to create great product. You have to keep your morale and your culture going. You have to keep your customers happy. For me in my leadership role, that’s how I think about it: Is our brand strengthening every season, in every market?”
This focus on gradual and consistent improvement echoes the Warren Buffett playbook, eschewing quick fixes and risky gambles for what Sheridan calls “investment, really hard decisions, and capability.” For Brooks, that has meant steady investment in innovation and technology, careful brand cultivation, and an unwavering connection to its core community of runners. But Sheridan is alert from something he learned from another Berkshire GOAT, Buffett’s long-time right-hand-man, Charlie Munger.
Mind your ABCs
Sheridan has adopted a leadership mantra learned at Munger’s heel: Avoid the “ABCs” of corporate decay. “He talks a lot about organizations avoiding the ABCs: arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency.” For Sheridan, this is more than a cautionary tale; it’s a daily discipline.
“I approach things with low arrogance because I don’t know everything. So I’m super curious in how I approach people,” Sheridan said. He stresses the importance of humility and listening, aiming to foster an organization where questions are invited and learning is constant—echoing a central tenet of Munger and Buffett’s shared philosophy of lifelong learning.
Sheridan’s intolerance for bureaucracy is equally strong. “I often say I’m allergic to bureaucracy … even in nonprofits or school committees that I’m asked to be on, my first question is, ‘Is there a lot of bureaucracy in this organization?’ I can’t function in that. I don’t know how to function in it. And so, Brooks is a place where there’s low bureaucracy,” Sheridan remarked.
This approach has helped keep Brooks nimble—despite its size and growing global reach. Complacency, the third danger, is ever-present at market leaders like Brooks. “I think every organization can rest on your history, and we’re not immune to that at Brooks,” Sheridan acknowledged.
Brooks breaks forward
Brooks Running currently holds the No. 1 position in performance-running shoes in both the U.S. and Germany, and has seen record-breaking growth in international markets—posting a 15% jump in global revenue in the first quarter of 2025, with surges as high as 221% in Asia Pacific and Latin America. But Sheridan is adamant: “In every other market, we’ve got a lot of room to grow.”
Brooks has been on a growth tear in recent years, posting $1.2 billion in revenue for 2023, with North America accounting for the lion’s share. Sheridan played a key role in navigating the company through everything from global supply-chain disruptions to the changing dynamics of consumer taste in the sporting-goods arena. Now, with a fresh mandate from both Buffett and the board, Brooks is looking to expand further overseas, especially in China and Europe.
That growth, according to Sheridan, depends on ruthlessly avoiding complacency and focusing on daily execution. Brooks’ recent expansion—from Olympic athlete partnerships to surging popularity in China and Europe—has been fueled by this mindset.
“We’re owned by who I would call the G.O.A.T. of capitalism: Warren Buffett.”
On the latest episode of #LeadershipNext, @brooksrunning CEO Dan Sheridan shared the best piece of advice he’s received from investing legend and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
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The CEO’s leadership style, shaped by nearly three decades at Brooks, has also been marked by a willingness to “keep your head above the clouds, but your feet in the mud,” Sheridan said earlier this year. For Sheridan, balancing a high-level vision with hands-on operational focus is crucial in leading a brand through rapid industry changes, fierce competition, and expanding global complexity.
For Brooks Running, the “GOATs of capitalism” at Berkshire Hathaway aren’t just distant boardroom figures—they are active mentors whose business philosophy shapes every major decision. By embracing humility, slashing through red tape, and refusing to coast on past wins, Sheridan aims to write the next chapter in Brooks’ century-plus story—one defined by resilience, adaptability, and above all, staying hungry.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
