Richard Branson’s Post

Three leadership values that can’t be understated: - Make work fun. It’s infectious. - Take your work seriously, take yourself less seriously. - Roll up your sleeves, and lead from the front. Adam Grant, thank you for having me on your wonderful podcast. Here’s a link to the full episode in case you’re interested: https://apple.co/3Lr9zoI

I went to have dinner with the Virgin Voyages team recently, and ended up staying on the ship all week! I genuinely love being on-board, which is such a simple but important reminder for all entrepreneurs. You've really got to love your product. While I was on-board, I played a lot of chess with the other sailors, and they really put me through my paces! I find that chess is such a great way to get to know people much more quickly than you otherwise could…

Thoughts on the debate over Joe Biden: https://virg.in/3S98hCD

It’s difficult to be inventive when you’re looking down.

A hat trick of favourites! Congratulations to Virgin Hotels, Virgin Voyages and Virgin Limited Edition for the multiple appearances in Travel + Leisure’s Readers’ Choice Awards. Whenever we start a Virgin company, we do everything we can to make sure it’s the best possible experience for our future customers, so seeing these accolades (picked by real customers!) is a wonderful testament to this work. Thank you to the thousands of people working across these companies that make all of it possible. Here’s a quick summary: - Virgin Hotels voted Favourite Hotel in New York City - Virgin Voyages voted the Best Mega-ship Ocean Cruise Line for the second year running - Virgin Limited Edition's Finch Hattons property voted the 3rd best Safari Lodge in Africa and the 30th Best Hotel in the World. 👏 👏 👏

Are entrepreneurs born or made? I was asked this recently by a friend’s kid and it got me thinking. I think everyone is born an entrepreneur, but only some people do something about it. What is the difference between someone who has a great idea and an entrepreneur? The entrepreneur has given it a go! Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve always had ideas and thrown myself into them. It didn’t matter if they didn’t work, I tried to improve it, took some advice or tried something else. Failure is part of the journey. When I was at school, I had an idea to make money from Christmas trees. My plan was to plant 400 of them in the field behind my house and wait for them to grow large enough to sell. I did some of the maths and thought I might be able to make £795 of profit if I could sell them for £2 a tree. I planted them and dreamed about what I could do next if I made that money. Unfortunately, I came back from boarding school in the summer holidays and I was dismayed to find that there were only a few tiny plants growing – the rest had been eaten by rabbits. Did I let this stop me? Absolutely not. I realised that I couldn’t make a Christmas tree farm work because I wasn’t there to tend to it – and, if I was honest with myself, the only positive that I would get from it was making money. It made me start thinking - what could I do where I could stay actively involved in it everyday and make a difference to people’s lives? I realised the student community didn’t have a voice. We cared deeply about the issues of our time (from the Vietnam War to the war on drugs, we were always out protesting), but no one was producing material for us. And so the idea of Student Magazine was born. Thankfully, this went a lot better, and from that sprang Virgin Records. More than 50 years on, the Virgin Group has more than 40 companies and 60,000+ employees around the world. But if it wasn't for those first few failures, the future successes would never have happened. You can listen to more stories from my life in my updated audiobook memoirs, Losing and Finding My Virginity: https://lnkd.in/ehTMgbd8 #entrepreneur #founder #failure #ideas

Finding the spotlight isn’t about standing in it. There’s so much to be gained from working with people who support each other to achieve great things.

It’s great to see the launch of #Mission2025 – a high-ambition coalition ready to work with governments to deliver 1.5C aligned climate plans ahead of #COP30. I recently visited Brazil with the Planetary Guardians, as both the G20 and COP30 will take place there in the next 18 months. We all left Brazil feeling like COP30 really can be the “Planet COP” – focused on all the Planetary Boundaries as the only way for a safe climate landing. We look forward to supporting #Mission2025 as they work to secure the success of our economies and the wellbeing of people and the planet.

“Ask for help. Confidently.” I couldn’t agree more with this advice that Simon Sinek gave to a room full of Virgin StartUp supported founders. Leaders should never be afraid to speak up when they don’t know something. It encourages others to do the same, and it’s the fastest way to learn! Here’s more from Holly: https://virg.in/3zbUlkR