Tag Archives: Richard Branson

Richard Branson Selects Mark Thompson as One of 5 Judges in the World

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Sir Richard Branson has selected me to join him as one of only 5 entrepreneurship expert judges in the world for the Virgin Global SBAU Entrepreneurship Competition.

The panel of judges also includes Jane Tewson (Igniting Change), Creel Price (Co-founder of Blueprint Management Group), Peter Boyd (COO, Carbon War Room), and Tony Banks (CEO, Balhousie Care Group).

 The Screw Business As Usual competition, launched in November 2011, was designed to find ideas from around the world that are truly screwing business as usual and making the world a better place. They have had a wealth of brilliant ideas, ranging from an ethical football Soccket that harnesses and stores energy from play for use as a power source in resource-poor areas to Rapanui, an eco-fashion brand that makes casual wear in line with the latest trends from sustainable materials, to an idea to introduce a ‘Thinking Class’ for air and train passengers to opt into, where passengers can donate their time and generate ideas through a virtual community platform.

 Sir Richard Branson and this great group of entrepreneurs will be responsible for judging the Top 10 ideas, as voted by the public. The winning idea will be announced on 14th May 2012. The lucky winner will join Richard on a money-can’t-buy Connection Trip to South Africa with Virgin foundation, Virgin Unite. As part of the prize, the winner will get to meet frontline leaders who are making a difference, share ideas with young entrepreneurs at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship and get to spend several days with Richard and the rest of the group, experiencing the beautiful wildlife of South Africa at Ulusaba, Sir Richard’s private game reserve.

The contest is open until April 17th 2012, so there is still time to vote for your favorite idea to help find the winner of the 2012 Screw Business as Usual competition.

Read more about it here.

World Business Forum 2012

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Announcing that Mark Thompson, Jack Welch, Jim Collins, Richard Branson and many more will be featured at Radio City Music Hall, NYC, for the Oct. 3 World Business Forum. You can register here.


DOUBLE YOUR VALUE…TO CUSTOMERS & YOUR BOSS.

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As we gear up for the release of our next book, Double Your Value, check out what the wonderful Richard Branson has to say about it (this will be the book’s foreward):

DOUBLE YOUR VALUE…TO CUSTOMERS & YOUR BOSS.    

By Sir Richard Branson

Our dear friend Steve Fossett once said that “anything worthwhile doing—that makes a difference—gets started when creativity, adventure and necessity finally outweigh fear, complacency, poverty, and outside criticism.”

Early in his career, Steve was disengaged from his work and life. He was a frustrated wage-slave but he broke free and built a new life and his own successful financial services business. He went on to attempt world titles in five sports, failing plenty of times; but ultimately he set 116 records—more than any other human being in history!

What you may not know is Steve and many of the world’s most successful people have felt overwhelmed in their lives—they’ve all experienced great frustration or fear of the risks necessary to do anything that really matters.

There is a cure: Taking Action.  You will Double Your Value (or more!) to the people who matter to you when You Ask What Can Do to make a difference. Most people want to make a meaningful impact, but get stuck along the way.  In this book, Mark, Bonita, and Marshall reveal powerful strategies from their latest research that will help you make it happen. Read it and then go try it.

 


The Big Bang Theory

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Imagine that you were invited by Sir Richard Branson to be on the virgin flight of Virgin Airlines: the plane is loaded with dignitaries, government and business leaders and crowded with news media and reporters. Just as you’re taking off down the runway, there’s a huge explosion with black smoke and flames!

“Nobody likes to be on a plane when there’s a big bang,” Branson laughs now. “Especially when it’s an inspection!”

Because this plane had only just arrived from Boeing and the inspection couldn’t be completed, it wasn’t insured. So Virgin Airlines was minus a million dollars from repairing the exploded engine–breaking their overdraft limit in the bank.

“We had no idea whether we could make a go of it at all and nobody was expecting us to succeed,” Branson admits. “Yet I just felt that traveling on other people’s airlines was not a pleasant experience and that there had to be a way of doing it better.”

In the end, Sir Richard did indeed find a better way, but when the crisis first hit, he actually avoided solving the problem. Instead, he put all of his energy into trying to find blame. The problem with that strategy was that no matter how much he blamed the bank, or the explosion, or anything else, he still had to deal with the issue at hand. Finally, he realized that his biggest priority had to be finding a way to save the day.

The truth is, you can’t have control over everything: stuff happens sometimes! You do, however, have control over the choices you make: you can take control of your destiny. The difference between good and great isn’t perfection. Rather, it’s finding the best solution: putting together a great team and making great things happen. So stay focused on your dream, the dream you deserve–no matter what.

Check out the video version of my interview with Sir Richard: