Sir Richard Branson Speaks Before BNI Conference in Jakarta

The program which just aired last night on local Jakarta TV of Sir Richard Branson's speaking engagement before the BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia) was quit interesting.  He got some great, and rather very direct, questions from the audience.  Perhaps too direct; particularly the one from the college student gal asking him how he or an entrepreneur deals with [very] corrupt governments.  And one gentleman was very direct in asking him about his lack of any higher education or being a high school drop-out and what his views of education were for young aspiring entrepreneurs.  Mr. Branson, or should I address him as "Sir Branson", handled the questions with tact, diplomacy; and yet with a sense of candor and humor at the same time as well. 

As he so eloquently or poignantly pointed out; to be a successful leader of a company or organization, you have to surround yourself with positive visionaries who share the same goals and passions as you do. Also as he stated, it's not about making money that should be your first or primary focus; but it should be on MAKING A DIFFERENCE somehow in this world through the product or service you develop.  As he also pointed out, you have to DELEGATE and TRUST people or managers in your organization and ALLOW THEM TO MAKE MISTAKES or do things differently than you might think or do; ENCOURAGE (not stifle) CREATIVITY in people and give them  praise and positive feedback.  One should truly enjoy what they are doing and have a passion for their product or service.  As he also mentioned, he LISTENS to what every level of his organizational staff have to say and carries a notepad with him to jot these things down and remember and take action upon what people in his organization have to say.  All too often the "rank and file" in large companies or government civil service are too scared to speak up for fear of reprisals against them.  A company or organization which fosters open, positive and caring communication from the top down of the organization will foster better growth and creativity. 

A very simple paradigm perhaps; but how many companies or organizations are run on these basic principles, ideals and philosophy ?  Unfortunately, not enough of them!

Richard Branson did make a very good point about creating funding for entrepreneurs outside of banks or SBA (Small Business Administration) type of mainstream, conventional loans and funding streams.  As he pointed out (and I can attest to this from first hand experience with my own real estate business) often an entrepreneur just needs a relatively small infusion of funding or capital to get started - usually < $30-50K USD.  He did touch on the high rate of defaults, however, in these type of personal or unsecured loans to entrepreneurs which brings up another very good point. He stated that the default rate was somewhere between 6-7 out of 10 (or about 70%).  I would venture to say that it is actually higher; being around 80-85% default rate.

But for every Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump in the world.... just think about how many have failed or crashed and burned trying.  I think that is why we admire these iconic figures; because they embody in all of us the "human spirit" to try, achieve, fly higher, succeed and ultimately WIN or triumph in our endeavors....

P.S.  It was nice to see Richard Branson dressed in "smart casual" Batik; and I agree with what he said about the business suit being unimaginative or stifling individuality or creativity.  He made a nice comment about Indonesia's Batik styles.  If you watch news footage of U.S. Congressmen on Capitol Hill, they all look exactly the same in their conservative dark business suits, white shirt and blue or red tie. I am not advocating that they dress in mod styles or colors by any means; but a little more individuality or color in the business suit would be nice, rather than them all looking like robots in the same "uniform."