I really like this portrait of Richard Branson as in a Che Guevara out of all of his bizarre and interesting portraits and photographs. Who exactly is this Richard person you might wonder? Wiki gives a full list of what he does and all his ventures, his company site gives a thorough autobiography of himself as well. But as I see it, as entitled in the picture, he is a true “Business Revolutionist.”
From a Student Magazine to a billionnaire, from Virgin Airlines to Virgin records to Virgin condom, from world records to a father of two children, he definitely has too many tails to tell. When he was at school, his headmaster predicted he would wind up either a millionaire or in jail. And he’s done both. (To jail first though,twice!)
To be honest, I was not so interested in him as an entrepreneur before even when his crazy action at the top of the Jinmao Tower in Shanghai generated huge coverage in Chinese newspapers. But His recent talk with Chris Anderson on TED conference has inspired me a lot. And I’d like to share with you here.
There are certain points that I really like about him in this talk:
1. How he breaks all the rules and doesn’t really care about all the stupid comment around him.
2. How great leaders should share their entrepreneurial know-how to help government to do things a bit differently.
3. The way he re-intepreted the word “bollocks” to save him from thrown into prison again!!
I was amazed by all the energy he’s got. Cross the Atlantic ocean on a hot ballon? Many would call him a maniac but apart from all the PR value he created for his brands, he definitely has enjoyed his life to a very large extent. This I admire very much. I can’t help but wonder, what is it we really need to become a great leader? A great mind? An aspiration? Courage? A big heart? craziness??
One of Che’s famous lines is “In a revolution, one triumps or dies.”
And Richard’s stories have just proved it.
