“The brands that will thrive in the coming years are the ones that have a purpose beyond profit.”
– Richard Branson
Richard Branson is one of the most well-known of the philanthropists, investors, and entrepreneurs. Virgin Group is comprised of over 400 companies and as the founder; you can imagine he’s learned a few lessons along the way. Luckily, he’s also willing to share his wisdom. Follow-these top leadership tips for success in business and in life.
- Establish and Protect Your Work-Life Balance.
Natalie Clarkson, shares a few stories about Richard Branson’s learning curve while Virgin was getting started. For Branson, striking a healthy work-life balance comes down to flexibility, trust, distance, and the best use of time.
- Flexibility. Branson describes the need to keep an open mind and watch for opportunities to hire advisors and specialists.
As world renowned marketing expert AJ Mihrzad, cofounder of our revolutionary new life coach digital marketing training program said recently: “The bigger the dream, the bigger the team”.
In other words: the bigger and more disruptive your business vision the more you need to build a dream team that compensates for your weaknesses while at the same time synergizes with your core “super-powers”.
Branson, saved himself several late nights of struggles by hiring a financial specialist to help with common startup growing pains when Virgin was first finding it’s legs. He recommends identifying weaknesses or knowledge gaps in yourself and your team. Then finding the person to ease that tension.
- Trust. You can’t do everything yourself. You’ve assembled your team. You have confidence in them. Now you need to actually delegate work.
If you can’t delegate, is it because you can’t trust them to do the work and do the work well? Or is it because you can’t let go? Branson describes delegation as being critical to striking a healthy work-life balance.
- Distance. Your team knows what they are doing and your job is to stay above their day-to-day decisions, remaining engrossed in the pursuit of your vision for the company. The best way to do this is to put some space between you and your team. Branson lived and worked on a houseboat, in a house, from an office next door to his house, and now from a hammock. This may not be possible for you (yet), but the lesson is to avoid getting caught up in your team’s day-to-day workflow.
- Use of Time. Take your vacations and personal days. If you’re working from home, make and take this personal and family time seriously.
Vary your hours as long as the work gets done. Leave your clearly defined work area (or office) at a reasonable hour. By setting up these boundaries, you’ll not only establish a healthy work-life habit, you’ll also show your team you can entrust them with key decisions. Plus, you’ll be setting an example of a healthy approach to work. This builds a strong culture of work-life balance through the ranks, which means your team will be healthy too.
- Start a Side Project.
Jack Preston discusses Richard Branson’s startup tips for entrepreneurs and he highlights a critical, yet less intuitive approach to success. In today’s startup environment, it can be tempting to go all out, risking lifesavings and leaving the stability of your day job. Branson argues against this.
Not only is it safer to make your startup a side project, but you’ll find your passion doesn’t turn into work when it remains a motivated evening and weekend project. All the companies at Virgin were started as side projects by team members, and look at how successful so many of them have become.
- Hone Your Public Speaking Effectiveness.
The ability to speak in front of crowds is feared by more people than getting a root canal, even more than death itself. Yet highly effective public speaking is an absolute critical success factor now in the digital coaching and fitness marketing world.
Justin Gmoser interviewed Richard Branson about his approach because it turns out, like most of us, Branson hates public speaking.
He doesn’t imagine the audience naked, but instead imagines he is having a friendly chat. Keeping that in mind alleviates tension and helps him to be more casual and himself onstage. You may want to have minimal notes with you, but in a conversation, you won’t have a prepared speech.
You’ll talk about what you know, which means you’ll be more genuine and comfortable, and you’ll speak from the heart. Branson summarizes, “keep it short and make people laugh. The worst speeches are long speeches.”
- Be A Convincing Leader.
Branson has a strong sense of his responsibilities and how he contributes in a meaningful way to his team and his organizations. Managers maintain processes, systems, and disciplines. Branson says entrepreneurs must be leaders that, “have vision, creativity, and the ability to influence others to follow and support them into uncharted and often risky territory.”
While both managerial and leadership skills are important, leadership is critical for the entrepreneur. A major attribute of leadership is passion. Passion keeps us motivated. It keeps us fearless, or close to it. And it helps us develop meaningful relationships that will benefit and contribute to our goals because we’ll be able to better connect with others who are passionate about the same things.
- Find and Create Happiness.
When Richard Branson gives his best advice on how to be successful and happy, the two go hand-in-hand. “Happiness isn’t just how I measure my success; it’s also the key to it. Most people would assume my business success, and the wealth that comes with it, have brought me happiness. But I know I am successful, wealthy and connected because I am happy. I wholeheartedly believe that happiness should be everyone’s goal.”
Branson has spoken and written on happiness more than once. In his letter to a stranger, he places a significant emphasis on just being. He gives those looking for success, permission to be stressed, scared, sad, heartbroken, and afraid. For Branson, “happiness is not about doing. It’s about being.” He actually suggests having a to-do list as well as a “to-be list”.
“Stop and breathe. Be healthy. Be around your friends and family. Be there for someone, and let someone be there for you. Be bold. Just be for a minute.”
Of course this last quote speaks to all of Branson’s best advice and top tips on how to be a leader. He recommends working smart by being flexible and assembling the right team, rather than putting it all on your shoulders. He encourages trust by delegation, building culture by example and using your time wisely to strike a healthy work-life balance.
He advises those leading a startup to remain wise and not to quit your day job or invest your life savings, but keep your passion as a side job until the business is ready to have you at the helm full-time. Learn to be comfortable with yourself and your audience, whether they are the general public or your employees. As long as you approach public speaking as if you are having a chat and making people laugh, you’ll find you speak from the heart and are a more convincing leader, rather than a manger.
Finally, view happiness as a habit. It should be a yardstick for your success as well as the key to it. And of course, the key to happiness, is to stay true to yourself. Be yourself. Be.
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