Mind Your Business
Presenting Richard
Branson’s 10 tips to help make you a better businessman.
10. If you can swing it, work from home
"When
I’m working, I don’t like to waste my time. When I’m on holidays, I like to
waste my time a little bit. I’ve always worked from home,
I’ve never worked from an office… I work from a hammock."
9. Find some quality “you time”
"I get
up quite early in the morning - maybe 6:30. I will maybe go kitesurfing, maybe
play tennis,
maybe go for a swim. It’s the advantage of working from home and working from
Necker Island, which is my home, which is very nice."
8. Take a real lunch break
"I don’t
believe in sandwiches for lunch. I like to eat from my balcony. I’ll have good
food. Having said that, I drink far too much tea and coffee
and all that."
7. Strive to be a pioneer in your
industry
"If you
try to achieve things that people say are impossible, it does involve taking
these risks.
People said it was impossible to take a hot air balloon around the world, and
we had great adventures proving them wrong. Fortunately, we survived it. We
were the lucky pilots. A lot of pilots lose their lives trying these things. I
just finished a book that’s coming out this week called Reach For The Skies,
which is about all the aviation pioneers who’ve lost their lives over the
years."
6. Take the risk, but don’t be
ill-prepared for the outcome
"In any
adventure, we try to figure out beforehand, if we hit the water,
how will we survive? How will the company survive? Luckily, we have survived,
and we’re here to tell the tale."
5. Don’t be a workaholic
"My
philosophy in life is that you only live once. Live life to its
fullest. It’s a lot more fun. Don’t say no. That’s the way I’ve
always approached things. As one of my book titles says, Screw It, Let’s Do
It."
4. Have a succession plan Twitter
"One of the
advantages of always taking adventure-type
risks is that I have to make sure that I have a good succession plan
and have lots of great people in place and have delegated well. Virgin America
has a great team of people. If my balloon ever bursts, my companies will
continue on."
3. Consider the time wasted commuting
"One of
the advantages of working from home is that you’re not wasting a couple of
hours of the day commuting
and travelling. By working from home, I can get people to come to me instead of
having to go to them. I’ve always managed to do that."
2. Delegate the small stuff
"I have
a couple of lovely assistants who work with me from home. I don’t do my own BlackBerry.
I can dictate my e-mails."
1. Spend time with your family (What are
you doing all this for, anyway?)
"The
most important thing is to bring your kids up with tons and tons of love -
lots of praise and little criticism.
They should be able to talk to you about anything and have a completely open relationship.
If they’re going to smoke a joint, either do it together or make sure they’re
not embarrassed about having to go and do it behind your back."
No comments:
Post a Comment