Richard Branson

Richard Branson

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How did you become the person you are? What did your parents teach you?

My parents taught me, as a child, not to judge. If I said something negative about someone, they would take me in the mirror to see me and start with me. This instilled in me respect for others from an early age and is something that I appreciate very much. They taught me not to talk about others, to always see the good of each person.

An anecdote: When I was a child, one day I took the money that my dad kept every night in his drawer. The next day I went to the candy store that was next to my house and I spent everything. The store owner told my dad to tell her that she thought I had stolen money to buy sweets. My father, very firm, said: "Madame, how dare you accuse my son of being a thief." He never told me anything, only what I heard. I felt so bad that I never went near the drawer again.

How do they decide on Virgin which businesses to launch and which ones to get rid of?

We do business in all parts of the world, from Great Britain to emerging markets like Chile and Brazil. You have to be where growth is and where there are deficiencies in quality or service.

I think there is a new way to do business, we call it "Screw Business As Usual". In my book I have many examples of great companies doing good and doing well, committed to helping the community in which they operate, which is a great model, because companies really become part of that community. It is a more sustainable scheme and works as a good advertisement. That is why we created the Carbon War Room, to forge an economy that does well, and to establish incentives to reverse the problem of climate change. When you help turn your business into a slightly less dirty operation, as we are doing from Virgin Atlantic with the fuel, while other airlines refuse even to try because they believe that it is impossible to generate clean energy for the planes, we become a Best airline and a better brand that people remember.

What was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?

Want to defeat Coca-Cola with Virgin Cola. For a year we had a fantastic success. What did we learn? That if we are going to go against the big companies we have to be better. Between two cans of soda can never be a huge difference, so now we enter markets in which we can add value. When British Airways wanted to get us out of business, it could not because we were better.

You are a serial entrepreneur and a very dear leader. What are your differential skills? How do you motivate people?

Some entrepreneurs are good managers, others are efficient launching projects, but they need executives who run their business. When managing people, the important thing is to care about them, to know how to get the best out of each one. It is the key to entrepreneurial success: praise instead of criticism. This is how it is motivated. Putting the team first, even before customers, and giving them a product that is the best on the market. Offering them the tools to do their job well. Your product should be the best in the world for customers to smile.

How do you define your life?

Frantic! That's why I live on an island. I wake