The CEO of a $2.6 billion company shares the best piece of advice he ever received

Good advice doesn't land in our laps often - but when it does, it can be life-changing.

Business Insider recently spoke to Rick Goings, CEO of home products company Tupperware Brands, which brought in $2.6 billion in revenue last year. He said the best piece of advice he ever received - which came from a Navy officer - has helped him become a better leader and grow a successful business:

The officer told me, "The higher you go in any organization, the nicer the people should become."

It's something I truly believe makes a difference in company culture. All of this really connects to transcendental meditation, something I've been practicing since I was 22, and the goal to try to be the best version of yourself.

As a leader, if you go in with the attitude that there are sleeping giants of potential inside people (no matter their position), coupled with an operating landscape that lets them grow and helps them become the best version of themselves, you can create future generations of leaders.

Even from a business perspective, all a company ever is is a collection of people. If you're working with a high percentage of people who are all trying to be the best versions of themselves, you can't avoid success.

One other piece of advice he admires, he says, is something written on a candy dish in a guest room in his home: "Skills and savvy get you to the top, character is what you keeps you there."

"Character is what you do when nobody is watching," Goings says. "And the best quality of what makes a great leader really starts with character at the core. Character gets molded in the way you behave. There isn't a single more important ingredient than character."