Lead Like Branson

“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”

– Richard Branson

I’ve been fascinated with Richard Branson for a while now. What entrepreneur wouldn’t be? He’s a billionaire, started his first business at the age of 16, and has a private island. He’s done all this while staying fit (he is now in his 70’s) and appearing to have blast with everything he does!

I was reading an article about his fitness routine today. The article referenced his management style and I wanted to dig deeper. How does “Sir Richard” lead so many companies in such diverse industries while having such a good time? Here are the leadership lessons that have driven Branson’s success. 

1. Do Work You Are Passionate About – It’s age-old advice, but it’s true. We’ve all been given giftings and passions that we are called to use to better the world. The more we can ditch tasks that don’t excite us, the more value we will create and the happier we will be. What might surprise you is that there are people who are passionate (and proficient) and work you hate. You’ve just got to find them. 
2. Give Autonomy – Start with small tests and keep giving those who succeed more responsibility and more autonomy. Daniel Pink’s research shows that employees crave Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Branson’s style leverages all 3. 
3. Delegate – Delegating to great people gives Branson the ability to focus on work that his passionate about. He delegates and gets out of the way, which helps build the leadership capacity of those he delegates to. 
4. Build a Positive Culture – Branson always favors personality over resume and he doesn’t mind taking a risk on people. He wants to make sure he hires leaders that people will want to follow. “Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home; why wouldn’t you have fun at work?”, says Branson. 
5. Listen (and take notes) – I started carrying a notebook with me everywhere after I read Branson’s book “Losing My Virginity” many years ago. Branson says not taking notes is rude. He loves to “walk-around” and listen to front-line employees and customers. By writing down what he hears, he shows that he cares and it gives him the ability to follow up. Taking notes allows Branson to capture great ideas and great moments in business and life. 
6. Make Decisions (and mistakes) – Branson contributes his participation in competitive sports for teaching him to leave mistakes behind and focus on the next play. He believes leaders need to get their hands dirty, make big decisions when they need to and move past any mistakes they and their people make. 
7. Give Second Chances – “If someone steals from the company or something, we’ll always give them the benefit of the doubt, and by and large, by giving them a second chance, they become the best performers in the company. We’ve taken on a couple of hundred people straight from prison to work for the companies and not one of them have reoffended,” says Branson. 

Branson says looking for the best in people is probably the best piece of leadership advice he has been given.  

7. Wake Early and Get Your ZZZs – Branson rises each morning at 5 a.m., but goes to bed early enough to get eight good hours of sleep. “I need eight good hours of sleep, unless there is a party or something…” says Branson. 

I’ll close with a couple of great quotes on fear, which holds back so many dreams. 

“My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you are moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.”

“Whatever your goal is you will never succeed unless you let go of your fears and fly.”

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