Ten lessons from Richard Branson

As you spend time thinking about your goals and your dreams, these ten lessons from Richard Branson will really help you dial in on that precision. The lessons stem from how Richard sets goals, and they form the core of my own beliefs and what I teach my children.

Let’s get right into Richard’s ten-step plan:

1. Politeness matters. Richard is extremely polite. When he was a kid, if he criticized someone, his mother would make him stand in front of the mirror at home and say, “What you are seeing in others is really what you’re seeing in yourself, so look in the mirror.” This educated him on the key leadership habit of looking for and then encouraging the gifts and talents in other people.

2. Be massively independent. Growing up, Richard did not have a mother who did things for him. In fact, Robin Sharma relayed the following story to me: When Richard was twelve, his mother told him to cycle one hundred miles alone to visit a relative. Those childhood experiences were his mother’s way of growing his self-reliance and building that invincible inner core that has served him so well as an entrepreneur. Now, this is a lesson I often see an opportunity for parents to teach in the community. For example, at the grocery store, I see a mom or dad unloading groceries from the cart, bagging them up, pushing the cart out to the car, and loading the groceries up themselves, and what are their kids doing? Not helping. Maybe they’re focused on their devices instead. This is something my kids never do. My kids unload, pack, and load up the truck, then take the cart back. My son’s autism consultant also shared more on this, saying that most kids, when they get into college or university, haven’t learned the skills to stand on their own two feet and be independent (so much so that they have to ask the professor if they’re meant to use a pen or pencil) because their parents always made decisions for them. True story.

3. Screw it—just do it. Yes, another of my favorites. What makes a great company and a great life isn’t so much an inspiring idea as it is flawless execution around that idea. Anyone remember what Edison said? “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” You’ve got to do the work. Richard shared with Robin Sharma that much of his success has come from his philosophy of disregarding the naysayers and remembering that the impossible is generally the untried. This is a man with a huge bias toward action.

4. Lavish praise on people! So important for everyone, and it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. The bigger the dream you have, the more important the team. Should I say it again? Every successful entrepreneur out there will tell you that you can’t do it alone. You’ve written out your goals and know your dream, but the real key is finding that genius-level talent to get your vision delivered into reality. If you know only how to surround yourself with mediocre people, what do you think your results will be? You’ll continue to experience mediocre results. Richard Branson is brilliant at finding the right people to bring his targets of opportunity to life, and one of the things he does is lavish his team with praise. Be relentless, and celebrate and develop and inspire your people. You’re the leader. This falls to you. Don’t fall into the trap of criticizing and focusing on the negative.

5. Be a radical innovator. Another one I love. When Richard Branson was a young entrepreneur with nothing more than a little college newspaper, he still showed a lust for disregarding the rules. He challenged the status quo and disrupted what was considered normal. You look at his life, and you see what he’s accomplished, the untried things he’s done, his out-of-the-box thinking and creativity.

6. Build your brand. This is one of the most challenging tasks for most authors—and for most people. Richard Branson gets branding, and he knows what he and the Virgin name stand for: fun, good value, and strong customer service. Figure out your brand, and remember that like Richard, you must master the art of getting attention.

7. Find your Necker Island. Did you know that Richard paid roughly $300,000 for his beloved Necker Island? He and his then girlfriend were visiting the Caribbean on a getaway, and they fell in love with Necker, but it was about $4,000,000. However, Richard wouldn’t give up. Don’t discount the power of a ridiculous amount of persistence around your most closely loved goals, because what happened was that a few months later, the owner needed cash, and Richard made his deeply discounted offer. Now, not everyone has that kind of cash or can buy a private island, but your Necker Island could be a spot in the park, a cabin in the woods… You get the idea. We all need a retreat, a place to go to recharge and get away so we can come back at the top of our game. What I’m saying is that we live in a world with so much noise and complexity, so you need to find your personal retreat, even if it is a rotted bench in a park where you can withdraw, think, create, renew, and rest.

8. Luck wins. We make luck! Do I need to say any more on this?

9. Don’t do it if it’s not fun. Richard wears a smile pretty much all the time. He laughs naturally, and he radiates happiness. No doubt, he loves his life and all that’s in it. Love your life, laugh, be happy, and do what you do only if it’s fun. Otherwise, why are you doing it? I remember just last year, my kids came home from school telling me what one of the teachers was telling the kids on career day: “A job is not supposed to be fun.” Yes, he really did say that, and that was the kind of influence the school was providing. That is so wrong! A career is supposed to be fun, or why are you doing it? My kids will never have him for a teacher again. As parents, we need to be mindful of the negative influences around us and our children. The lesson for us is that life’s too short to be doing work that destroys your soul. Right now is the best time in the history of the world for everyone to become an entrepreneur. So find the work you adore, that you love, that has you leaping from bed every morning as excited as a child on Christmas, and get busy changing the world with it.

10. With gifts come responsibilities. Richard is one of the wealthiest people in the world, and he gets that being a good person outdoes all those shiny toys. With great wealth comes great responsibility, so he spends a lot of his days with his foundation to help kids in need. This reminds me of something going on in my own community and across BC: Homelessness and a serious lack of affordable housing has hit epidemic proportions and has forced many, including many with children in school, to spend nearly all their income on inflated rents. Some are even living in tents. This issue is dividing communities across BC. Some are of the mindset that they’ve earned the right to live here, that they can afford to buy a second or third home, and that those less fortunate need to move on. Then there are those in the community who are stepping forward and doing their part, donating land and using their wealth and positions to advocate and fight the endless red tape for those without a voice so that none will be forced to leave and start over because of a lack of affordable housing. Just remember that every one of us has it in us to make a difference. Stay great! Be awesome!

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