So what was it like to meet Sir Richard Branson?
Well, the first thing I noticed was that for the first time in my life I felt a feeling like I assume all those screaming young girls do when they see their favourite boy band. Okay, I didn’t exactly want to scream, but there was an inner feeling of “wow” occurring. Could it really be that here I was about to meet the guy whom I have been inspired by for so long?
When you have only know someone through their books, and the occasional appearance on TV, and this has been the case for 15 years or so, I guess the mind almost assumes that this person actually lives IN the book or TV, and not necessarily in “real life”. As such, when I first met Richard I was a little shocked. Not only for the fact that he was in fact “real”, but also for the fact that he was actually there, at Necker Island. The reason being that just 48 hours earlier (and just as we were due to arrive at Necker Island), Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip 2 had crashed into the Mojave Desert, killing one of its pilots. Richard of course had immediately left Necker and traveled to the site to be with the Virgin Galactic staff and the family of the pilot. Many of us had come to accept that our encounter with Richard may never occur given the circumstances as we didn’t know how long he would have to be away. But here he was, back to see us …
He opened by apologising for not being there to greet us upon arrival at Necker Island and noted the situation at hand and his sadness for what had occurred (you could tell he was quite affected by it). He then followed by saying that he wanted to ensure he could see us during our visit and that this day may be the only one possible, as such he had returned to ensure it happened (keep in mind that this required him to fly back across the USA to Necker just to see us, a group of entrepreneurs that he didn’t know and owed nothing to).
When the floor opened for questions, two in particular stood out for me:
Q: Richard, given the situation with the crash none of us expected you to come back. Thank you for doing so, but why did you?
A: “Well I had told Fiona (the organisor) that I’d be here to spend time with you guys, and so I did my best to be here. Once again, I’m sorry I couldn’t be here to greet you all yesterday”.
Now here is a guy worth billions of dollars, whom can do as he pleases, sitting in front of us in a pair of shorts and a singlet saying such words. I would love the world of entrepreneurs to take note – it’s clearly not the fancy suit, or the flashy cars that define success. Rather it’s the actions one takes that define the individual whom is capable of creating such success. His actions are what create the people that love him, which create the brand the company is globally renowned for and what consumers love.
Q: How have you handled the current crises with Virgin Galactic and crises in prior business dealings?
A: “Crises will occur, and survival is the key. You must remain positive and have a great team to make it through. Our team at Virgin Galactic is 400 strong, so it not just me that is feeling this right now – it’s all of us. Some (external parties) have suggested we should give up … that is just not an option for our team as we believe in what we are doing. We must remind ourselves of WHY we started it all in the first place. We believe that we should be able to colonise other planets as our population grows. Why should we be restricted to just earth? We should also be able to travel much quicker – it is still far too slow to travel to places like Australia”.
Again I was not only impressed by his answer, but reminded of why I have admired him all along. He leads with his vision (the why) and builds a team of people that share that vision. And he never forgets that it is all about the group, not just him. You could see clearly that he cared about the group and was just as committed as they were.
Okay, so was there anything else worth noting?
Yes. He seemed rather relaxed and carefree for a guy who heads up such a large organisation. Further, I couldn’t help but notice he had an almost childish way about him. When he spoke for example he rarely looked you in the eyes, and when he walked he’d struggle not to want to skip a little and then jog a bit – like a little kid would do. Quite the opposite to the serious world of business we are all exposed to in our “normal” daily lives …
Thank you Sir Richard for all that you have done to inspire and educate me in my life, for all that you’ve done for the many other entrepreneurs of the world, and for all you’ve done for the world at large – you are an amazing man.
Daniel Davis
CEO, Gallop Solutions
