Veteran investor John Rogers shares 3 tips for young people to get ahead — and his advice for wealthy parents

• John Rogers says young people should follow their passions, nurture their networks, and keep their promises.

• The Ariel Investments chief says kids of wealthy parents should pursue different careers to them.

• Treating everyone with respect and paying up for quality are vital lessons to learn, Rogers says.

Passion, relationships, and reliability are key to a successful career and life, John Rogers says.

“Build your career around areas that you love to read about and study and think about,” the Ariel Investments founder, co-CEO, and chief investment officer told Business Insider when asked for his advice for young people.

People make “better decisions” when they stay within their “circle of competence,” Rogers said, referring to Warren Buffett‘s famous concept of sticking to things you understand. “There’s just no doubt about it.”

Rogers — who founded Ariel at age 24 in 1983 and has since built it into a $14 billion asset manager — also urged students to invest in their personal networks.

“When you meet really smart and thoughtful and ethical and honest people, keep those relationships alive for your career,” he said.

The veteran fund manager said he’s “always calling” skilled investors he met decades ago as well as friends from high school and college, and seeks their advice with tricky personal and professional decisions.

Someone you only met yesterday might not return your call, or might not care enough about you to be genuinely helpful or supportive, he said. But “long-term, smart friends” who you trust will give you their best ideas with no agenda besides helping you, he said.

Rogers, a former captain of the Princeton University basketball team, said his third piece of advice for young people was to “show up as a good teammate” — always come through for your friends and colleagues, and live up to the commitments you make to them.

If people know they can count on you to deliver on time and to not make excuses, he said, “success follows, and you get more and more responsibility, more and more opportunity.”

The Nike and New York Times Company director also shared a crucial lesson that wealthy parents should teach their children to stave off entitlement, and offered some advice for kids from affluent families to have fulfilling careers.

“Just treating everybody the same, showing respect for everyone, I think is really important if you’ve been fortunate to have a lot of wealth and lots of opportunity,” Rogers said.