The nine business fundamentals that have never let me down

The start of a new year is always a wonderful time to set goals and dream big. Fresh after launching the Elevator of Dreams at Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch with Simon Squibb, I started reflecting on the fundamentals that have shaped my career. No matter what industry or market the business is in – these are the principles I always work by.

HelpBnk

1. Look after your people and your people will look after your business

Let people be authentic at work, and watch them thrive. They will find more pride, fulfillment, and passion for the job – which translates directly into better experiences for customers, heightened creativity, and greater productivity. Introduce policies that ensure your people are their healthiest and happiest selves. A few examples I’m most proud of include Virgin Management’s Unlimited Annual Leave policy, Virgin Media’s Paid Carer’s Leave, Virgin Atlantic’s gender-neutral uniform policy.

2. Find your purpose, and use it to guide everything you do

Virgin’s Purpose is ‘Changing Business for Good’, which means that whatever industry we work in, we try to make it better. Whether that’s a better customer experience, better working conditions, or making things better for communities and the environment. Businesses should be a force for good in the world. A few examples that make me proud include Virgin Media O2’s work to help one million people who face digital exclusion; Virgin Active taking a bold stand against the toxic aspects of ‘wellness’ culture; Virgin Management changing its Articles of Association to remove shareholder primacy; Virgin Atlantic’s pursuit of Sustainable Aviation Fuel; Virgin StartUp’s leadership in closing the gender funding gap; and Virgin Unite tackling some of the world’s toughest issue and generating £5 billion in impact!

Harry Kinnaird

3. Surround yourself with a good team and get good at delegating

I’ve been collaborating and delegating from day one of my career – as a dyslexic and a school drop-out, I didn’t have any choice! I’ve always been a people person with good intuition (a common skill in dyslexics), which helps me place trust in the right people. A good example was the launch of Virgin Atlantic. I had no experience in the aviation industry, but I knew there was a better way of flying. And so I formed a wonderful relationship with Sir Freddie Laker and I built up a team of people with all the different skills we needed to get the airline off the ground and shake up the industry. The rest is history!

4. Listen more than you speak

My mum drilled this into me when I was young, and it’s stuck with me ever since. Listening more than you speak is the best way to pick up new ideas, and keep your finger on the pulse. You can’t get genuine feedback from your employees and your customers if you don’t truly listen to them. This means listening to the good and the bad. It’s also a simple sign of respect, which shows people you trust and value them. This is critical to being a good leader – and a good person! Some of the ways I do this include walking up and down Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia flights asking for feedback from passengers and crew; hosting Virgin Unite events on Necker where I sit in the background taking notes from each speaker; taking a notebook everywhere I go so I can jot down ideas from the conversations and meetings I have.

Virgin StartUp

5. View every failure as a learning opportunity (even if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re falling forward)

With every ‘failure’, this sentiment rings truer. One example would be Virgin Cars - an online business that aimed to change the way cars were sold. It didn’t work out when we realised (the hard way) that the industry’s problem wasn’t the way cars were sold but the way they were powered and operated. We’ve since invested in a really pioneering, AI-powered, autonomous vehicle company called Wayve. Every failure has helped me refine things, and has brought me closer to where I need to be.

6. Only enter industries that are ripe for disruption

Virgin Cola was the perfect reminder that we should only enter industries that are ripe for disruption. With Virgin Cola, we tried to enter a market that wasn’t ripe for disruption with a product that didn’t have a big enough point of difference. Virgin Voyages is a more positive example where we really got it right. The cruise industry was getting stale. It was time to shake things up. So we created a cruise line that ticked a lot of different boxes – from being adults only, to swapping out buffets for Michelin-star dining, and ditching single-use plastics. The proof is in the pudding as Virgin Voyages sweeps up award after award; and I meet people who have been on more than voyages with us!

Bold Man Media

7. I live by a theory of ‘circles’

Here’s how it works: Begin by drawing a circle around yourself and make sure everything inside your circle is going well. Is your work-life balance in sync? Are you staying healthy? Once you are confident in yourself, widen the circle to include your loved ones. Once they are thriving, start thinking about the bigger picture and do all you can to help others. As you grow, draw a bigger circle around your city. Next, try to have a positive impact across your country, the world, maybe even the universe. I use the ‘circles’ theory for every new business or project I work on. A good example is what Virgin Limited Edition do. At each property, they employ local teams and really look after them. Then they create or support grassroots community initiatives like Pride & Purpose in South Africa and the Eve Branson Foundation in Morocco. Then they look at the bigger picture through their sustainability efforts, design choices, and suppliers.

8. Prioritise your health. You can’t have a healthy business if you don’t look after your own health

I focus on my health everyday by staying active, eating well and keeping my brain fit too. I like to kite-surf, play tennis, take an ice bath, squeeze in a workout, play chess, dance on tables, and spend quality time with my family every day. It’s like they say on an airline safety demonstration – you’ve got to fit your own mask before helping others. It’s the same with your business.

Katie Doo

9. When something scares you, say: ‘screw it, let’s do it’

I say ‘screw it, let’s do it’ as much as I can. It makes life so much more exciting and it leads to wonderful opportunities. Almost every Virgin company was built from a ‘screw it, let’s do it’ moment. One of my favourite examples is the launch of Virgin Active South Africa. Nelson Mandela called me and asked me to save 4,000 jobs in South Africa by taking over a struggling health club chain. Although it was a big risk (we only had three Virgin Active clubs in the UK at the time), I trusted Madiba and I had a good feeling the investment would pay off. Today, Virgin Active runs more than 130 clubs in South Africa. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I hope these fundamentals prove useful to you in the year ahead. And if you have a big idea that you would like to pitch to me and Simon Squibb – head down to Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch and step inside the Elevator of Dreams! Who knows where it might lead…