What can SMES learn from Robin Sharma and Sir Richard Branson?
HAVING a great role model is a wonderful way to learn how to do something. But when it comes to starting or running a new business not everyone has someone in their circle that they can personally follow.
Another approach would be to pick one or more successful people on a local, regional or world basis that you admire and study them. Learn everything you can about their early beginnings, how they got started, their failures and successes, their philosophy, etc.
Look for appealing traits that you would like to integrate with your style. Select one and then each day look for how you can live that one trait. It could be something as simple as learning more about the desirable trait and steps to incorporating it into your life. If the role model is published, read everything they’ve written or that others have written about them.
Two people I admire are Robin Sharma and Sir Richard Branson. Recently they both were invited to speak in Bucharest. During the event, Sharma interviewed Branson and elicited some pearls of wisdom that are worth sharing.
Branson says “Don’t do it if it’s not fun.” Frequently people equate success with hard work, long hours and struggle when actually the advice he gives is simple. “Life is too short to be doing work that destroys your soul. This is the best time in the history of the world to become an entrepreneur. Find the work you adore and get busy changing the world with it.” When you are doing what you love, it never feels like hard work or struggle even if you work long hours.
Many would-be business owners say they want to start a business, but don’t have a new idea. Rather than looking for a new idea, look for ways to improve an existing product or service. When one studies Branson’s businesses, they will see that he frequently took existing business ideas and in an innovative way improved them by offering better service.
For example, Branson started his career publishing a college newspaper. He interviewed John Lennon and got Lennon to record an original piece of music for him. Branson then put the song on a special disc and packaged it with the newspaper next to his article. He gave an experience to his readers, which was unheard of previously.
With each business that Richard Branson has started, he improved on what was currently being done. At a time when the airline industry was going through upheaval, Branson started Virgin Atlantic. Eager to innovate, he chose to cater to the rst class passengers by offering massages onboard and homebound limousine service.
Branson was an early adopter of branding. Since he started Virgin Mail Order in 1970, every one of his companies uses the name Virgin and its logo. Because of his branding, all his companies gain a signi cant advantage because any promotions are promoting the brand.
Richard Branson has a “just do it” philosophy. He claims what made his companies great wasn’t so much the inspiring idea, but the awless execution around the idea. He ignored negative people that told him his ideas were impossible and instead took action to bring his dreams into reality.
One leadership trait Branson learned from his mother is to look for and encourage the gifts and talents in other people. The way his mother taught him was clever. Each time she heard him criticising another, she would have him stand in front of a mirror at home and repeat the following words: “What I’m seeing in others is really what I’m seeing in myself so look in the mirror.”
Sharma has a saying: “The bigger the dream, the more important the team.” Both of these men have learned the value of developing, inspiring and celebrating the members on their team. Branson says, “I lavish them with praise.” The biggest motivator is ap- preciation. Use and genuinely.
Branson says “ nd your Necker Island” and Sharma says “ nd your personal retreat, even if it’s an aged wooded bench in a public garden”. One of my mentors always said, “You need a book, a place and a person.” It’s true; we all need a place of silence where we can reconnect to our inspiration and purpose. A book inspires, bringing more of oneself into the world and a person that sees more in you than you see in yourself; encouraging you to risk moving out of your comfort zone reaching for something greater.
The last piece of advice comes from actress Judy Garland. She said: “Be a rst rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else”. This can be easily applied to business. Instead of copying what everyone else is doing in your eld or industry, look for how you can bring your unique gifts and talents to create something really outstanding.
— Susan Bagyura, a leadership coach and business consultant, works with
SME owners who want to create financially sustainable businesses. The audio to this article may be heard at www. susanbagyura.com/audio/
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