Richard Branson

[socialseobirmingham]

Losing His Virginity: How Branson Achieved Success



From a dyslexic high school dropout to a thriving billionaire and adventure capitalist knighted by the Queen of England, Branson carved a unique path to success using his personality as his greatest leverage. His career has spanned over thirty years and his brand has become one of the most recognized globally. How did he do it?

Leadership: Branson once joked, “I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.” Despite this, Branson’s success has come about in large part due to his leadership skills and the respect, care and autonomy he gives to his employees. He understood that without a solid team behind him, he would not be able to make his dreams come true.

Branding: "I want Virgin to be as well-known around the world as Coca-Cola,” Branson said. With over 250 companies bearing the Virgin name, Branson has come close to achieving his goal. With no university degree or formal education, Branson has managed to create a unique business strategy using unorthodox methods of licensing out his brand and promoting his products to no end. Despite claims of selling out, Branson has steadily grown his brand over the past thirty years and increased its presence worldwide.

Resilience: After a failed around-the-world balloon trip, Branson said of his experience, “It has been like hitting up against a solid brick wall. All day and all night long, we battled to get through it.” This battle is a familiar one to Branson, who has seen his share of failed business ventures. But, in typical Branson fashion, he rebounds from his failures with the same youthful energy he had the very first day he created Virgin Records. His passion to create cannot be quelled by any obstacle no matter how large.

Ambition: “We'd love to be involved with the creation of something very special, something quite large and something quite exciting,” says Branson. Never one to dream small, Branson always tried to be the best of the best. Whether it was breaking world speed records or providing impeccable airline service, Branson wanted his name to be at the top of whatever list he was dealing with. By dreaming big, Branson would leave his mark not only in the business world but also on the world as a whole.

Fun: “Fortunately we're not a public company - we're a private group of companies, and I can do what I want,” says Branson. He doesn’t care about accountants and doesn’t place much value in the advice of consultants. Instead, Branson flies by the seat of his pants and follows his instincts, often willing to take risks for the pure enjoyment of seeing if they will work out or not. He doesn’t partake in the formalities of the business world and as a result, has managed to take it by storm.

“Because I don’t see Virgin as a company but as a way of life and I fully enjoy it, I don’t think I’ll ever retire,” says Branson. As Chairman of the Virgin Group, he has revolutionized the business world and has had a blast doing it.

What an inspiration.. absolutely love this guy.. in 2009 I flew to Canada just to hear him speak. I even had a few tears of excitement at the time (a bit sad I know), but well worth the visit.
(Darren Wagstaff)

[socialseobirmingham]

I also hear he's going to be speaking in London on or around July 2nd.

Branson's even impacted me on the way I bring up my kids. His story of how his parents brought him up with challenges and adventure. Imagine getting a 4 or 5 year old to find their way home accross a field, the self belief you develop in the child would be incredible. (Obviously common sense needs to prevail). I have done similar things with my 5 year old, and she's turning into quite a go getter of a character for such a shy little thing.

We all need some inspiration at times.

[semmyw]

I really love this Guy!! He is the real entrepreneur

[nilsjoksts]

He is great and he's story is amazing!

[jimmyrodrics]

great read. I really enjoyed it!

[YoungME]

An awesome man, brilliant inspiration!

[MattWell333]

Great read. Branson is really a true tycoon. He is persistent and very intellegient. He never stays down when he falls, but gets up and keeps running. I'd love to meet him one day. Maybe I'll go to Necker Island when I'm rich.

[MMTProfile]

I have a friend who was working with Richard Branson, Chris Welsh and Graham Hawkes on Virgin Oceanic.

He gave me a bit of a lesson on speaking with Billionaires since he had the chance to work with Branson one on one.

He told me that you talk to millionaires (Hawkes and Welsh) about details - they need the details to make their decisions - and you talk to billionaires about vision and vision alone.

He told me that Richard ONLY thinks about what he wants to do and is utterly unconcerned with how to make it happen. He said that Richard is simply confident in his ability to find the solution.


I thought that was so cool.


CLICK HERE To Access Your FREE Copy of My New Productivity eBook "20 Productivity Boosting Methods for the Positive Mind'

[Museboxx]

A friend of mine just got to work with Branson a few times while with Virgin Oceanic. He was basically Chris Welsh's right-hand-man.

He told me that Richard cannot see details and that you can only talk to him about vision. (Something to this effect)

This is a quality I greatly respect and I too want only to focus on vision.

[AndrewPallett]

I was fortunate enough to meet him once - I was flying out to Mexico with my Dad en route to the USA, and Richard Branson was on the same plane! We were all lined up and got to shake hands with him, unfortunately he didn't have enough time to stop and answer some of my questions

Just working my way through 'Screw it, Let's do it' - interesting to read him being so candid about his mistakes. Definately worth reading!

Best,

Andrew

[422studios]

wow interesting post...

[RM Mentor]

Richard Branson is speaking at Business 2012 in March and is also doing a meet and greet with photos a book signing...

[whiteboard-entrep]

David, I agree. He has attacked every high-barrier industry you are told already has saturated the market. You don't do that without insane confidence (or plain insanity), and in his case it was the former.

[Brandon Quijano]

He truly LOVES what he does and it inspires me so much! DREAM Big. Set GOALS. Make a PLAN. Get to WORK. NEVER give up!

[aaron987]

Richard Branson is a huge motivation for me. I read "Losing My Virginity", and it was one of the best business books I have read. He also has a fairly new book called "Screw Business As Usual", although I have not read that one yet. He is a great businessman, and a true role model for any aspiring entrepreneur.