As part of a fundraiser for Strike a Chord for Cancer I had the opportunity to glean first hand some insight into the philosophy of Sir Richard Branson. Without eulogizing over the status that this king of branding has attained and the unusually high personal popularity rating his entrepreneurial endeavours have garnered, I’ll cut straight to the content.
A series of questions were posed, crossing a wide spectrum inclusive, business, environment, education and space travel. Despite the diversity of topics some consistent messages emerged.
A core strength of his myriad of businesses is the empowerment of the people. Selecting those with exceptional communication skills seems to be a pre requisite in the hiring process.
Instilling the mindset of his team to not only identify problems but to also take immediate action to rectify.
Focus on the goal rather than the monetary outcome.
Encourage creative thinking in the education process.
Encourage continual feedback from the customer in order to respond hastily to problems.
Global collaboration in the pursuit of peaceful resolution of conflict.
Big goals require the ability to delegate.
Treat everyone with equal respect, regardless of whether they are cleaners or managers.
Have fun.
Take the wisdom of successful entrepreneurs, and elder statesmen and apply some of their strategies to global problems.
Like most true wisdom, it never seems quite so profound when delivered in bland script. The power of a message is compounded by the status of the messenger, and there are few have attained such an iconic status of achievement as Sir Richard Branson. His message therefore resonates so much clearer.
Common sense it would seem is rather uncommon.
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