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Nov30
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Some final thoughts on Richard Branson When contemplating Richard Branson's life, you see that he is a man that is always on the go. I don't mean primarily in physically running around the world, although ultimately it results in that. But I mean that within himself he has these ideas constantly floating around that he is looking at ways to give expression to. What that does in his being competitive, is make him a hard target to hit, because he never settles down within himself. How do you hit a moving target? It's not easy.  This is what life is about though - isn't it? As he has said about all the things he does, he doesn't consider one thing work and another thing play ... he considers it all a part of life. And he gives himself to whatever he is doing at the time.
Another tremendous strength he has is to make people want to work for him. That very perpetual motion machine within him, makes him someone that you never know what will happen next with. It's exciting to work for him, there's really no other way to put it. Branson and Family
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Nov30
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He Loves to Give BackBranson has a special relationship and love for South Africa. When his good friend Nelson Mendela asked him to help him out with a business in South Africa that was failing, and would result in losing...
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He's Still Thinking BigWhen I talk about Branson and thinking big, it's not necessarily connected to how much money he brings in, because he's said more than once that it's not the key decider in what he does.Thinking big to...
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Branson the RebelAnybody that knows even a little bit about Richard Branson understands the underlying rebel in his personality and life. He doesn't play by the rules at all, which is a major reason some of his competitors are so...
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Another Reason we Need People Smarter Than we areLast post we talked about if you want to grow past a certain stage or size in your business, the day will come when you have to hire people smarter than yourself.In...
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Surrounds Himself with People Smarter Than HimselfThe secret to great managers and business leaders is understanding their limitations and surrounding themselves with people that are far better at a lot of things than themselves. Branson is not an exception to...
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Nov29
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Why Passion is so ImportantOne of the reasons so many business owners don't like their business is because they've never had a passion for it in the first place.He has said that while so many people obsess with the bottom...
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His Most Important Piece of Advise to EntrepreneursWhat do you think the most important thing that Branson considers an entrepreneur must have? He says that when all is said and done, it's nothing more than the willpower to stick it...
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Another Way He Gets into BusinessesWe've talked about how Richard Branson will tap into people everywhere to come up with creative ideas that will turn into profitable businesses.Here's one that for him personally is the key indicator. When he simply...
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He Sees Opportunity Where Others See HopelessnessLike other great businessmen, Branson is able to look over situations that seem hopeless and see all sorts of hidden value that the regular person can't find.He sees horrible management that has no idea...
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First Take Care of Your PeopleIn his first book "Losing My Virginity" Branson makes one of those common sense statements that we hear all the time but really don't pay much attention to as business owners or leaders.He says in...
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Nov28
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There's Never a Lack of OpportunitiesBranson said one time: "Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming."One thing about this outlook in life and business is that it's true. Once you start looking into business and ideas that...
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You've Got to Move FastOne of the things that Branson considers part of his 10 secrets to success, is that he says you must "move like a bullet."An example that recently happened shows that in this one case he didn't...
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A Business Must Challenge your Creative InstinctsWe've already talked about Branson's insistence on his people having fun in his businesses. Another thing that he wants to ensure are part of the businesses he gets involve in are that they will...
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His ability to see Intangible AssetsThis is a skill that very few entrepreneurs have; even the good ones - the ability to look at their business and see assets that are not easily visible or noticable.The most obvious is one...
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Branson Wasn't Originally Interested in Being an EntrepreneurBranson's original plan for his life was to be either an editor or a journalist. His first venture was a student newspaper. The problem he found out was that in order to ensure...
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Nov27
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More on how Branson Prepares to Start a BusinessWhile not all of Bransons' businesses have went great, by far the larger majority have. For this to be the case, there is something that would have had to have happened before...
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When you Know Your Brand has made itDo you want to know what the ultimate compliment to a brand would be? Look at what Richard Branson did earlier this year (2006) and you'll get the idea of what he's done...
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Branson's Grasp of Reality and FocusBranson talked to a group of business students one time concerning their desire to make a difference. He gave them a dose of reality that everyone in business needs to hear. He said that people...
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The Importance of People to BransonBranson once did an interview for Forbes and he was asked about how he was able to turn so many businesses into successes. His answer was that it was all about people. He added that...
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Understanding Strategy and Making MoneyVirgin Airlines gives a great example of how Richard Branson runs a company. In place of getting caught up in price wars which really nobody wins, and as a result cutting back on service, he elected...
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Nov26
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Earns the Respect of His Friends and ColleaguesBranson is a good friend of Nelson Mandela. Mandela called Branson one time to ask him for help. A large chain of health clubs were about to go bankrupt in South Africa, which...
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Branson Won't Let a Mistake LingerA few years ago, Branson's Virgin Atlantic had introduced some new first-class sleeper seats. Unfortunately, through customer feedback they found out that they had gotten it wrong. The problem was that the seats wouldn't completely...
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Protecting the Virgin Brand NameBranson is fiercly protective of the Virgin brand, and makes decisions based upon that protection. He had a venture into the PC business one time where the product was made by anothe company while having the...
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Branson's ability to identify weak management While we've talked a lot about Richard Branson going into businesses because they're fun and he loves to do it; also how he is able to promote the company through his goofy antics.There is...
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More Branson on Marketing and BrandingWith Branson's goal of turning Virgin into "the most respected brand in the world," he has come a long way on the path to turning that into a reality; at least in the majority of...
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Nov25
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Richard Branson and MarketingThere's an interesting way that Branson goes about marketing and branding his company that confounds a lot of competitors, and those that follow him don't understand.One example is the time Branson started from New York to attempt to beat...
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Richard Branson and Overcoming ObstaclesThose of us that know quite a bit about Richard Branson, know that he struggled tremendously through his school years. Not only was it a challenge for him, but evidently, it was a nightmare. He had...
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Branson's Mastermind GroupWe've talked a little about Branson's hunger and love of learning concerning things he knows little about, and then sometimes starting companies from that searching out of knowledge.Now another thing that Branson loves is people; one of the...
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A Few Insights from Virgin Mobile USA's LaunchSeveral years ago when Branson launched Virgin Mobile in the U.S., there were some things from the early going that are good insights into how he operates when starting a business off.He did...
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What is it that Motivates Richard Branson?Branson was quoted one time saying that he loved learning, and he enjoys it so much that he loves to learn about industries that he doesn't know much about. As a result, he adds...
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Nov24
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What Richard Branson wants in His ManagersBranson ultimately practices what he preaches when it comes to the way he treats his people, as we've talked about recently here. The other side of it is that he also expects it of...
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Why Richard Branson Makes it Look EasyOne of the things that are mentioned about people who are great at what they do is that they make it look easy. Richard Branson has that unique quality about him. His boyish good...
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Richard Branson's Demand for Fun in the WorkplaceMany people who look at Richard Branson feel that his unique personality and way of doing things will die with him and the company won't be able to go on. He doesn't agree:"As...
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Richard Branson and His Obsession with Branding VirginThe one thing that Richard Branson probably does better than anybody else in the world is the way commits himself to the Virgin brand. There is almost nothing he won't do to bring...
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Another Branson Secret: No LimitationsWhen you talk about the way a brand should be handled, again, Branson breaks all the rules. It has plastered the Virgin name across hundreds of companies, in a way that observers say should be stretching...
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Nov22
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Why the "Experts" Hate Richard BransonThe one thing that makes the so-called experts angry, infuriated and hateful of people like Branson, is that he demolishes their little theories and "expertise" on what makes a business successful; in other words, he...
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Richard Branson and his Hunger to Experience LifeWhen asked about watching and sitting in on a hurricane that pummeled his island home a couple of years ago, he said that he sat in it on purpose. He commented: "I hate...
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Nov20
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The one thing that Richard Branson does well is to simplify things so that it's easy to understand for those he works with. Another area, concerning him managing his business empire, is that he also simplifies his time management. There...
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Nov19
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Richard Branson commented one time on how work was work and fun was fun, but it was all about living life. We're to talk for several posts on Branson's outlook on business, management and life, and his input into how...
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On his Career Intensity blog, Dave Lorenzo was recently talking about several things that empower someone to accelerate their goals. One of the key areas he spoke of was "time;" especially as it related to negotiations. When you think of...
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Nov18
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The recent trip by the executives of the Big Three automakers to Washington to try to artificially prop up their businesses, to me was a disgrace and extremely poor decisions by their leadership. Some economists blasted the move saying that...
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One of the airline strategies that has been working great for high-end customers has been their upgrading and offering of high quality lounges. British Airways itself has pumped $10 million into its JFK lounge several years ago, and over $1...
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Nov17
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What's the difference between a company that has a clear vision and one that simply has a statement of their vision written down? How can the difference be measured and known? The measuring part of the equation really isn't that...
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Nov16
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A technique that works in parenting and sales, also works great in managing in the workplace. For example, in sales, it has been a very effective tool when talking with someone that's in the middle of making a decision, one...
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Nov15
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When W. Edwards Deming modified Walter A. Sherhart's original Plan, See and Do method of managing; changing it to Plan, Do, Study, and Act (PDSA), he made a tremendous breakthrough in Total Quality Management (TQM). At first America resisted it...
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Nov14
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You talk about the ultimate in mismanagement, and you have it here with the art transporting company that lost the 228-year-old painting by Francisco de Goya called "Children With a Cart." As of now the company hasn't been named who...
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The announcement by Wal-Mart (WMT) that it will compete largely on price for the holiday season has everyone talking about the way it will impact their nearest competitor - Target (TGT). The truth is that I think Target has positioned itself...
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Nov12
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Understanding the things that should never change, along with the things that will always be in transition, is a key to becoming an effective manager. In the case of vision and writing an annual business plan, this understanding couldn't be...
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Nov11
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In this world of instantaneous communications, we need to more than ever slow things down when we quickly are ready to respond to something. Carmine at Slow Leadership writes about this relating to sending out responses that can be forwarded...
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The results of the ISM Membership Needs Survey 2006, reveals some of the emerging trends in the supply management industry. Included in the results were that while the majority of workers responding still are involved with purchasing activities, a large...
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Nov10
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Having been put in an interim position of president and CEO of Wendy's (WEN) International, Kerrii Anderson was named the official president and CEO of the company. She held the former designation for seven months after the sudden early retirement of...
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The continual stories of corporate scandals have had companies reeling for a number of years. Integrity Interactive Corporation recently unveiled the result of their recent study, along with the two top concerns that companies want their people to understand. As...
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Nov 9
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Small business owners expressed the highest optimism in over a year and a half, with almost 75 percent of them saying that their current financial status is good or very good, and around 80 percent saying that they believe it...
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A new McKinsey & Co. study, cited by Hispanic Business, concerning 700 family business across the U.S., France, Germany, and Britain, found that installing the oldest son as chief executive of the company didn't pay off. The results of the...
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Nov 8
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Answering some questions from executives, Kevin Cashman makes some good points on balancing our work and our lives. One questioner asked: "I love what I do...Why should I build in more balance if I love my work? While there is...
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Receiving a vote of no confidence from the steering committee of Volkswagen's (VLKAY.PK) supervisory board, CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder quit late on Tuesday after a 6 to 0 vote. It's a little bit of an odd move since they just renewed...
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Nov 7
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While smoking bans are becoming more prevalent across the U.S., there is one thing that I don't like about it that needs to be talked about. It's the requirement by some commissions that business owners must enforce the laws. A...
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Isadore Sharp, chairman and chief executive of the Four Seasons (FS) hotel chain, in somewhat of a combative mode, has said the bid for the company that he helped put together is the only one he'll consider. Sharp commented: "This...
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Nov 6
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I remember when I was managing a co-op business for the married owners. They had a lot of corporate accounts that they offered buying on credit to. The problem was that they were trying too hard to please them by...
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Nov 5
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Continuing on with our look at management and stress in the workplace, let's investigate the things that we can do to combat it so our people can perform at their optimum level. Remember that stress is generally the belief that...
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Continuing on with our look at stress in management and the workplace, we'll look at some of the causes of stress for our employees, and some of the things we can do to lessen them. Like we talked about last...
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In many businesses, stress has unfortunately become a way of life. The good news is that it doesn't have to remain that way. Let's look at one of the more common, agreed upon definitions of what stress actually is: "...
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Nov 4
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In thinking about plans for the next year, all managers need to examine themselves in the light of the results of the plans made in past years and how they performed. Many times our strategic planning efforts are thwarted even...
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The retail industry has been holding their breath waiting to see which way Wal-Mart (WMT) will go in its holiday strategy. With numbers coming out that they only had a miniscule 0.5 percent gain in same-store sales in October, the...
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A new study shows that major companies are continually investing in training concerning corporate ethics and compliance. Specifically on Sarbanes-Oxley, using computers correctly and financial integrity. The study was spread across 350 companies and included the compliance-training records of 2.5...
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Nov 3
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One of the great misconceptions about "talent" in the workplace is its connection to being a superstar or genius. Great managers understand that this isn't what makes talent at all. As a matter of fact, when someone thinks of himself...
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The news that unemployment rates reached a five-year low, coming in at 4.4 percent for October, confirms something we've been talking about at managersrealm for awhile: the affects of the beginning of a labor shortage. At first glance this is...
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Nov 2
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With the continuing challenge of retaining good employees, we need to understand a key element of that crucial area as far as it applies to managers. In one survey it has shown that 36 percent of people that quit their...
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In the area of manager and employee relations, trust has always been one of the toughest areas to bridge between the two. When we consider trust, we must look at two things. There is the feeling of trust and then...
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Nov 1
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Citing a report by the Harris Interactive consulting firm, Steve Rucinski at Bizinformer tells us that unscheduled absenteeism at U.S companies and organizations has risen to its highest level since 1999. Here's what he quoted concerning the reasons given: "......
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I was pointed, by the GSC management blog, to a white paper called 'Disorganisation' by telco Orange UK and Demos. Basically the study reiterated something we've talked about here on what workers will continuously want from their workplace. What it...
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This is what life is about though - isn't it? As he has said about all the things he does, he doesn't consider one thing work and another thing play ... he considers it all a part of life. And he gives himself to whatever he is doing at the time.
