Some key lessons from Richard Branson

Someone on a forum I am a member of posted a link to this video when we were discussing the often fraught relationship between banks and business that bank with them. I watched it and realised that there were some really key lessons in it that were put very succinctly. Click on the title below:

Richard Branson – Advice for Entrepreneurs

The key message is less than 20 seconds in to the video: a company is simply a group of people. Later on, he talks about giving his management team freedom to succeed and make mistakes. Delegation is a strong theme for him as it is the only way that he can manage the portfolio of entities that make up the Virgin Group. In fact, Richard Branson is someone who has built a team of key lieutenants around him who have complementary skills. This enables him to concentrate on the things that he is good at and enjoys.

Industry in the UK has changed massively from the days when there were large numbers of people on production lines, effectively serving massive machines. Now, companies are defined by their processes and intellectual property – which largely reside inside the heads of their staff…. Keeping your people on side and feeling valued is more important now than ever before.