Study Richard Branson
by Miki Saxon
Study Richard Branson as an entrepreneur.
Study him as a leader.
Study him as a manager.
Study him as an example of how to live your life.
Don’t just study Branson; study those around him, such as Stephen Murphy, Virgin CEO since 2006.
Studying both allows you to see how Branson differs from so many of his counterparts.
According to Murphy, “He [Branson] is a listener. He will say ‘I hired you to listen to you. I am not hiring you to tell you what to do’.”
Branson is known as Doctor Yes while Murphy is nicknamed Mr. No; together they make Virgin far stronger than either could separately.
Murphy balances Branson’s “screw it, let’s do it” attitude, but recognizes Branson’s positive mindset, “When there are nine good reasons not to do something, Richard is always the person who focuses on the one reason to do it.”
Branson is a master delegator, not just the responsibility, but the authority and once he delegates he lets go.
Study Branson to learn the value of controlling your ego or, better yet, being confident enough to let your people shine, knowing that giving them the spotlight doesn’t reduce your own place in the sun.
Last year I wrote a very short post on following and Branson seems to fit.
So when you are deciding whom to follow, who’s vision to trust, skip the shiny baubles and silken words and look to see who keeps turning the spotlight on others.
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gulltaggen/4564600916/
