Richard Branson: It's always worth the challenge
Thurs "The Australian"
Richard Branson: It's always worth the challenge
December 11, 2003
We have all heard countless examples of champions who recount stories of how they were told by the establishment or by so-called experts in their field that something can't be accomplished.
Edmund Hillary probably heard many times "that mountain can't be climbed". Or when Tiger Woods is told "no male golfer can win a grand slam", I'm sure that motivates him to work even harder. And when Virgin was told that at 34 I couldn't create and operate a profitable transatlantic airline from scratch, it motivated us to get the airline up and running in just six months.
Today, Virgin Atlantic is the second largest long-haul international airline operating services out of London, flying to 21 destinations all over the world from Shanghai to the Caribbean and soon to Sydney. Being unafraid of failure is one the most important qualities of a champion.
My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them - an interest that was, perhaps, fuelled by my grandmother telling me at the age of 99: "You have one go in life, so make the most of it."
Whether I succeed or fail in meeting the challenge is immaterial - it's the effort and the opportunity that drive me. Through effort and risk, success is still waiting around the corner. But while champions aren't afraid of failure, they're truly made when they learn the art of turning failure into success.
The only time I could ever be compared to Jonny Wilkinson is when we were both four and I hazard a guess that neither of us could kick a football. He's a champion now because he learned how to do it. Innate talent and skill are certainly important, and so is hard work and perseverance.
My recipe for success has always been to understand my limitations and to surround myself with brilliant people who can pick up where I leave off. And, most importantly, to have fun on the journey. One definition of a champion is somebody who can empower people's ideas in order to fuel success.
It is no secret that I have always attributed the success of the Virgin Group and its brands to the people who work for our company. We have always had a policy of hiring good motivators over good businesspeople.
We always look for executives who put their people first and themselves last. So, in many ways, champions are selfless. They're also quick to put their faith in others. When a flight attendant approached me a few years ago with an idea to start a wedding business, I told her to do it, and I even wore a wedding dress to help her promote it.
When Brett Godfrey approached us with a business plan for a low-cost Australian airline - written on the back of a beer coaster - we provided the finance and the optimism and sent him to Brisbane to get on with the job.
Here was a success story waiting to happen - a brilliant business mind with a specific interest in customer service. All he needed was support and financing.
And that has been the case with many other special minds I've been lucky enough to know. Even the Sex Pistols were brilliant minds in their own way - people underestimate their ability to communicate a social message through their music. I saw that they had something special and decided to back them, and they went on to change the way we looked at rock music.
Australians must examine ways to support brilliance and bring it to the fore - particularly in the realm of business. Australia plays well above its weight in producing brilliant minds. From the superb research skills of Howard Florey to the creative genius of Baz Luhrmann, Australia has stunned the world with its contributions to all fields of endeavour.
Australia's great challenge is to harness that brilliance as a force for good in business. Can Australia encourage its young people towards a new spirit of entrepreneurialism and the embracing of risk to create economic benefit for the future? Can we teach Aussie children that Godfrey is a good role model -- a man who has, through a simple set of very brilliant ideas first sketched on the back of some beer coasters, created thousands of jobs for his fellow Australians, and an investment vehicle to create wealth for many hundreds of thousands of his countrymen?
Can we create an educational and cultural environment where young Australians understand that it's OK to take a risk and invest in their own enterprise and vision? Can we assist them to create the jobs and wealth of tomorrow? I hope to use my ongoing investment in, and love affair with, Australia as a way of encouraging that new entrepreneurial spirit.
Richard Branson is life president of Virgin Blue and chairman of Virgin Group. This is an extract from his address to the Centre for the Mind Award Ceremony in Sydney yesterday.
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