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I Was Trouble - And Always In Trouble. Aged Eight I Still Couldn't Read. In Fact, I Was Dyslexic And Short-sighted. Despite Sitting At The Front Of The Class, I Couldn't Read The Blackboard. Only After A Couple Of Terms Did Anyone Think To Have My Eyes Tested. Even When I Could See, The Letters And Numbers Made No Sense At All.

-Richard Branson

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I Was Trouble -

Richard Branson

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I Was Trouble - And Always In Trouble. Aged Eight I Still Couldn't Read. In Fact, I Was Dyslexic And Short-sighted. Despite Sitting At The Front Of The Class, I Couldn't Read The Blackboard. Only After A Couple Of Terms Did Anyone Think To Have My Eyes Tested. Even When I Could See, The Letters And Numbers Made No Sense At All.

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Irreverence Ran On Both Sides Of Our Family...my Parents Brought Me Up To Think We Could All Change The World.

Everybody Has A Camera On Their Phone These Days, Everybody Wants A Selfie Or A Picture, And The Moment One Person Starts Taking A Picture Everybody Congregates Around So I've Become Quite A Fast Walker. I Don't Like Saying, "no," To People But By Walking Fast One Might Be Able To Avoid The First Photo.

"i Think The Most Important Thing Is That In The Last Seven Days We've Just Had The Greatest Adventure Of Our Lifetimes." "i'm Inquisitive ... And I Love A New Challenge... And If I Feel That We Can Do It Better Than It's Been Done By Other People, We'll Have A Go."

Remain Focused On Fulfilling Your Business Mission. Never Allow Adversity Divert Your Attention And Efforts.

My Mother Always Taught Me Never To Look Back In Regret But To Move On To The Next Thing. The Amount Of Time People Waste Dwelling On Failures Rather Than Putting That Energy Into Another Project, Always Amazes Me. I Have Fun Running All The Virgin Businesses-so A Setback Is Never A Bad Experience, Just A Learning Curve.

The Best Lessons Are Usually Learned From Failure. You Musn't Beat Yourself Up If You Fail - Just Pick Yourself Up, Learn As Much As You Can From The Experience And Get On With The Next Challenge...the Brave May Not Live Forever, But The Cautious Never Live At All.

Listen More Than You Talk. Nobody Learned Anything By Hearing Themselves Speak.

The Companies That Look After Their People Are The Companies That Do Really Well. I'm Sure We'd Like A Few Other Attributes, But That Would Be The Most Important One.

We Have A Business That Some People Feel Pollutes, And I Happen To Agree With Them. ... And So On The Basis Of Trying To Do Good And, You Know, Hopefully Turn A Profit, What We Did Was We Pledged That We'd Put All The Profits From Our Airline Business Into Trying To Develop Clean Fuels.

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My Philosophy In Life Is That You Only Live Once. Live Life To Its Fullest.

You Only Live Once

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One Night, I Was Chatting With A Group Of 16-year-old Girls Over A Few Drinks About A Name For The Record Store ... A Bunch Of Ideas Were Bounced Around, Then, As We Were All New To Business, Someone Suggested Virgin. It Smacked Of New And Fresh And At The Time The Word Was Still Slightly Risqué, So, Thinking It Would Be An Attention-grabber, We Went With It.

I Am Impressed With Just The Enthusiasm For Life And The Fact That Some Of These People Are In Their 80's, Even 90's, And They're Absolutely Determined To Get Out There And Make A Difference.

We [virgin Group] Have Been Successful Not By Wasting Time Scrutinising Our Competitors But By Looking At Ourselves From The Point Of View Of Our Customers Do And Seeking Feedback Through Listening.

No Matter How Big You Are, Details Count!

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I've Taken Many Knocks Over The Years But It Has Only Made Me Stronger And More Determined To Succeed.

Determined To Succeed

Values Cannot Be Speedily Forgotten If It Is Inconvenient Or Commercially Expedient. Values Have To Have Meaning And Longevity; Otherwise They Are Valueless. You Cannot Embrace Innovation Up To A Point Or Only Sometimes. Branding Demands Commitment; Commitment To Continual Re-invention; Striking Cords With People To Stir Their Emotions; And Commitment To Imagination. It Is Easy To Be Cynical About Such Things, Much Harder To Be Successful.

It Took Me Years To Work Out The Difference Between Net And Gross. In Meetings I Just Used To Say, 'tell Me If It's Good Or Bad News.

Any Successful Entrepreneur Knows That Time Is More Valuable Than Money Itself.

People Who Think And Say We More Often Than I Are A Lot More Likely To Succeed.

As People's Access To The Internet Grows We're Seeing The Sharing Economy Boom - I Think Our Obsession With Ownership Is At A Tipping Point And The Sharing Economy Is Part Of The Antidote For That.

We, We - As I Say, We Go In And Shake Up Other Industries And I Think, You Know, We Do It Differently And I Think That Industries Are Not Quite The Same As A Result Of Virgin Attacking The Market.

I Was Interested In Creating Things That I Could Be Proud Of And So, You Know, I Was Interested In Being An Editor Of A Magazine, Things That I Could Be Proud Of, And So, You Know, I Was Interested In Being An Editor Of A Magazine, But In Order To Be An Editor Of A Magazine I Had To Become A Publisher As Well. I Had To Pay The Bills. I Had To Worry About The Printing And The Paper Manufacturing And The Distribution Of That Magazine.

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Whether You Are Launching A Start-up Or Leading An Established Company, You Should Start Establishing Your Social Media Presence If You Haven’t Already.

When People Are Placed In Positions Slightly Above What They Expect, They Are Apt To Excel.

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I Am A Believer In Trying To Treat People Properly And Trying To Respond And Making Sure That I Find The Time To Be Courteous.

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There Is No Point In Starting Your Own Business Unless You Do It Out Of A Sense Of Frustration.

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Being Dyslexic Can Actually Help In The Outside World. I See Some Things Clearer Than Other People Do Because I Have To Simplify Things To Help Me And That Has Helped Others.

Set Impossible Challenges. Then Catch Up With Them.

If You Get Into Business Solely To Make Money, You Won’t. If You Try To Make A Real Difference, You’ll Find Success.

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Business Leaders Take Things Far Too Seriously, And Forget That Most Of The Time People Spend In Their Lives Is At Work, And It Should Be Fun.

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Unless You Dream, Nothing Will Happen. If You Dream, You Might Be Able To Make Your Dreams Come True.

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I Rely Far More On Gut Instinct Than Researching Huge Amounts Of Statistics.

A Company Is People … Employees Want To Know… Am I Being Listened To Or Am I A Cog In The Wheel? People Really Need To Feel Wanted.

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Too Many Companies Want Their Brands To Reflect Some Idealised, Perfected Image Of Themselves. As A Consequence, Their Brands Acquire No Texture, No Character And No Public Trust.

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And Ever Since Then [i] Have Set Up Businesses Basically Out Of Frustration. I Mean, I Set Up Virgin Atlantic With One Second-hand 747 Because I Hated The Experience Of Flying On Other People's Airlines. And I Thought, You Know, I Could Try To Create The Kind Of Airline That I'd Like To Fly On. And People Liked It.

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Innovation Happens When People Are Given The Freedom To Ask Questions And The Resources And Power To Find The Answers.

And If After All This You Eventually Fail; Don't Take It Personal. Don't Be Ashamed To Start All Over Again.

I Think In Life The Key Thing Is Just To Fight Really Hard To Make Sure Something Survives. If It Looks Like You've Done Everything You Can To Avoid Failure, Just Move Forward, Move On And Learn From It.

I Drink About 30 Cups Of Tea A Day. I'm A Complete Tea Addict.

It's Obviously Incredibly Important To Keep The Body Fit In Order To Keep The Mind Fit, And Be Able To Find Time For Friends.

I Believe In Benevolent Dictatorship Provided I Am The Dictator.

You See, It's Essential That One Of Us Stays Awake During The Flight [ballon]. So, Rather Than Using The Comfortable Virgin Seats Which We Used To Cross The Atlantic, We've Asked British Airways For Two Of Theirs.

There's No Other Way To Find Out Whether Or Not You'll Be Successful Other Than Just Doing It

Being Successful

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The Quality Of Business Communications Has Become Poorer In Recent Years As People Avoid Phone Calls And Face-to-face Meetings, I Can Only Assume, In Some Misguided Quest For Efficiency.

I Had No Plans To Be An Entrepreneur. I Just Wanted To Be A Journalist And Write For A Magazine. At 15, I Just Decided To Leave School And Launch A National Student Magazine.

It's Never Easy To Set Up Any Business, But It Comes Back To Determination And Drive And The Love Of What You Do!

Customers Shouldn't Just Think Of Your Business As A Place To Buy A Product Or Use A Service - It Should Be A Fun Place To Be.

I Was Trouble - And Always In Trouble. Aged Eight I Still Couldn't Read. In Fact, I Was Dyslexic And Short-sighted. Despite Sitting At The Front Of The Class, I Couldn't Read The Blackboard. Only After A Couple Of Terms Did Anyone Think To Have My Eyes Tested. Even When I Could See, The Letters And Numbers Made No Sense At All.

Happiness Doesn't Come From Making A Fortune And Owning Lots Of Possessions. 'stuff' Doesn't Bring Happiness. Family, Friends, Good Health And The Satisfaction That Comes From Making A Positive Difference Are What Really Matter.

Allowing My People To Have A Good Work-life Balance By Working Flexibly Is Very Important To Me.

Most Skills Can Be Learned, But It Is Difficult To Train People On Their Personality.

The Time To Go Into A New Business Is When It’s Badly Run By Others.

There Is No Point In Going Into A Business Unless You Can Make A Radical Difference In Other People’s Lives.

Brave People Don't Live Forever, But Cautious People Don't Live At All.

I Think That You're Going To Get So Much More Out Of Life If You Just Say Yes At Every Opportunity.

Of Course An Individual Can Make A Huge Difference But It Is When Those Individuals Come Together With Like-minded Souls That They Can Change The World For Ever And Importantly For The Better.

Have Fun, Work Hard And Money Will Come. Don't Waste Time - Grab Your Chances. Have A Positive Outlook On Life. When It's Not Fun, Move On.

To Be A Real Entrepreneur You Always Have To Be Looking Forward. The Moment You Rest On Your Laurels Is The Moment Your Competition Overtakes You.

It's Clear That It Is In The Best Interest Of Business To Be Part Of The Conservation, Along With Governments And Civil Society.

Throwing Yourself Into A Job You Enjoy Is One Of The Life's Greatest Pleasures!

We Have The Enormous Opportunity In Our Hands To Make A Positive Difference For Business, People, And The Planet.

Please Don’t Get Hung Up On This Question Of Whether You Need To Have Experience In An Industry Before You Launch Your Startup.

I've Used The Phoenix Centrifuge To Replicate What The Body's Going To Go Through On The Flight Up. I've Also Done Some Gravity Tests With Zero-g [a Charter-flight Service In Arlington, Va., That Uses Modified Boeing 727s To Simulate Weightlessness], Which Went Great.

To Succeed In Business You Need To Be Original, But You Also Need To Understand What Your Customers Want.

Communication: The Thing Humans Forgot When We Invented Words.

All Of Us Have Just Got To Find That Time To Look After Our Bodies. That Helps Us Make Sure That Our Mind Is Sharp. I Know That When I'm Feeling Great And Really Fit, I Can Get In Three Or Four Hours More Of Really Productive Work.

Productive Work

Every Success Story Is A Tale Of Constant Adaption, Revision And Change.

Taking Bold Climate Action Now Has The Potential To Unleash The Full Power Of Business And At The Same Time Lift Millions Of People Out Of Poverty. We're The First Generation To Recognize This And The Last Generation That Will Have This Opportunity.

I Do Believe The Harder You Work, The Luckier You Get.

We Need Government And Business To Work Together For The Benefit Of Everyone. It Should No Longer Be Just About Typical "corporate Social Responsibility" Where The "responsibility" Bit Is Usually The Realm Of A Small Team Buried In A Basement Office - Now It Should Be About Every Single Person In A Business Taking Responsibility To Make A Difference In Everything They Do, At Work And In Their Personal Lives.

Well, I'm Somebody Who Is Just Living ...living Life, And If I Get Frustrated By Something, Then I Like To Try To Put It Right.

The Important Thing Is That You've Got A Strong Foundation Before You Start To Try To Save The World Or Help Other People.

When I Started Virgin From A Basement In West London, There Was No Great Plan Or Strategy. I Didn't Set Out To Build A Business Empire ... For Me, Building A Business Is All About Doing Something To Be Proud Of, Bringing Talented People Together And Creating Something That's Going To Make A Real Difference To Other People's Lives.

What Matters Is Working With A Few Close Friends, People You Respect, Knowing That If Times Did Turn Bad These People Would Hold Together.

However Tight Things Are, You Still Need To Have The Big Picture At The Forefront Of Your Mind.

When You Are Making A Decision About How Best To Serve Your Customers, Your Own Experience Is Often A Better Guide Than A More Sophisticated Analysis Of The Market.

I Never Went Into Business Just To Make Money - But I Found That If I Have Fun, The Money Will Come. I Often Ask Myself, Is My Work Fun And Does It Make Me Happy? I Believe That The Answer To That Is More Important Than Fame Or Fortune. If It Stops Being Fun, I Ask Why? If I Can't Fix It, I Stop Doing It.

Red Tape Will Often Get In Your Way. It's One Of The Reasons I Often Carry Scissors!

What Is A Business? It's Simply An Idea That Makes Someone Else's Life Better

Successful Entrepreneurs Don't Wait For The Perfect Moment - They Create It

I Am A Great Believer That You Need Passion And Energy To Create A Truly Successful Business.

I Read A Fair Amount [of Science Fiction], And You Know It Was Certainly Inspirational. I Have To Pinch Myself To Think That We Might Be Able To Make Some Of [what I've Read In Science Fiction Books] Come True.

If You Can Run One Business Well, You Can Run Any Business Well.

We Spend Most Of Our Lives Working. So Why Do So Few People Have A Good Time Doing It?

As A Leader Of People, You Have To Be A Great Listener, A Great Motivator, Be Very Good At Praising And Bringing Out The Best In People.

Look, If You Can Indulge In Your Passion, Life Will Be Far More Interesting Than If You're Just Working. You'll Work Harder At It, And You'll Know More About It. But First You Must Go Out And Educate Yourself On Whatever It Is That You've Decided To Do - Know More About Kite-surfing Than Anyone Else. That's Where The Work Comes In. But If You're Doing Things You're Passionate About, That Will Come Naturally.

We've All Got To Do Everything We Can To Avoid Conflicts.

One Thing Is Certain In Business: You Will Make Mistakes. When You Are Pushing The Boundaries, Mistakes Are Inevitable-how You React Is Important.

Having No Regrets Makes Way For The Best Piece Of Advice I Can Give - Don't Be Afraid Of Failure.

Life Is A Helluva Lot More Fun If You Say Yes Rather Than No

The Virgin Brand Is Not A Product Like Coca-cola Or Famous Grouse Whisky. It's An Attitude And A Way Of Life To Many. That Attitude Is About Giving Customers A Better Time And Better Value In A Fun Way That Embraces Life And Seeks To Give The Customers Something New.

To Be Successful, You Have To Be Out There, You Have To Hit The Ground Running

Being Successful

First And Foremost, Any Business Proposal I Like Must Sound Fun.

It Can Be A Challenge Not To Let Failure, Or Negativity From Others, Prevent You From Going After What You Believe In And What In Your Gut You Know Can Work. However It Is Important To Face These Challenges Head On And Give Them A Go And Importantly Don't Beat Yourself Up If You Fail - Just Pick Yourself Up, Learn As Much As You Can From The Experience And Get On With The Next Challenge.

We've Got An Engaging, Edgy, Vibrant, Fun Product, ... It May Or May Not Work, But We're Going To Give It Our Best Shot.

All Good Leaders Listen To Their People And Empower Them To Go Away And Turn Any Innovative Ideas They Have Into A Reality.

As Much As You Need A Strong Personality To Build A Business From Scratch, You Also Must Understand The Art Of Delegation.

I Believe That Today's Businesses - Regardless Of Their Size - Must Be Prepared To Do Good In Societies Around The Globe. I Am Cautiously Optimistic That We Can Make The World A Far Better, Safer And More Equitable Place - But Business And Enterprise Must Sit At The Heart Of This Process.

If You're Lucky Enough To Have A Few Hundred Thousand Dollars In The Bank Account, That Should Be Sufficient For Your Own Personal Needs, And Anything More Than That You've Got To Put To Good Use.

Conflicts Often Stem From A Couple Of Leaders On Both Sides That Are Badly Brought Up. They'd Rather Go To War Than Compromise. And In Business, You're Competing With Other Companies All The Time, But You Don't End Up Going To War With Each Other.

A Good Leader Leads From The Front. Don't Get Stuck In The Office. Get Out, Meet People And Listen To Their Stories.

Success Cannot Be Measured In Wealth, Fame Or Power, But By Whether You Have Made A Positive Difference For Others.

Kitesurfing Is One Of The Greatest Sports In The World. I Highly Recommend This To Anyone Who Has Access To The Ocean. There Is Nothing More Freeing Than Being Out There And Kitesurfing. When My Schedule Permits, It's The First Thing I Do In The Morning, Before I Have Breakfast. Tennis Is Also Fun, Especially Against Someone Far Better At The Sport Than I Am.

And [we Hope To Sell] The Clean Fuels To Other Airlines. I Mean, The Exciting Thing About The Breakthrough With Clean Fuels For The Airline Industry Is There's Only 1,700 Pumps In The World That Fill Up The Airlines.

I Was A Risk-taker As A Young Man, And I Don't Regret It. I'm Not Adventurous In Quite The Same Way Now, But I Still Love The Challenge Of Testing Myself To The Limits, Flying Around The World, Or Seeing If I Can Be The First To Fly A Balloon Across The Atlantic, Or Trying To Take People Into Space At An Affordable Price In An Environmentally Friendly Way. I'll Be Going Into Space With Three Generations Of My Family!

I'm Hopeful That After Iraq, Those In Charge Will Think Twice About Taking Us Down That Route Again.

You've Got One Go In Life, So Make The Most Of It.

I Like Challenges In Life And Pushing Myself Out Of My Comfort Zone.

Never Take Your Eyes Off The Cash Flow Because It's The Life Blood Of Business.

When Employees Tell You About Their Good Ideas For The Business, Don't Limit Your Response To Asking Questions, Taking Notes And Following Up. If You Can, Ask Those People To Lead Their Projects And Take Responsibility For Them. From Those Experiences, They Will Then Have Built The Confidence To Take On More And You Can Take A Further Step Back.

Asking Questions

If People Aren't Calling You Crazy, You Aren't Thinking Big Enough.

The Music Industry Is A Strange Combination Of Having Real And Intangible Assets: Pop Bands Are Brand Names In Themselves, And At A Given Stage In Their Careers Their Name Alone Can Practically Gaurantee Hit Records.

One Thing Is Certain In Business, You And Everyone Around You Will Make Mistakes.

I Doubt That I Would Have Been Successful In My Career And Happy In My Personal Life If I Hadn't Prioritized Health And Fitness. Staying Active Ensures Mental Preparedness And The Courage To Try New Things. It Helped Me To Stay Focused On Work But Also To Have Fun And Try New Approaches And Explore New Places. That's The Spirit Behind Virgin Sport - We Wanted To Introduce Fitness Activities That Are Enjoyable, Accessible And Part Of Your Overall Lifestyle.

The Best Way Forward Is To Give More People Everywhere Greater Power To Build Their Own Destinies.

Whenever I See People Getting A Bad Deal I Want To Step In And Do Something About It. Of Course, This Is Not Pure Altruism - There's A Profit To Be Made Too.

Be Bold, Brave And Not Afraid To Fall On Your Face And Ultimately You Will Succeed

It's Incredible To Get People To Turn Out Right In The Middle Of No Where.

I Love Stirring The Pot. I Love Giving Big Companies A Run For Their Money - Especially If They're Offering Expensive, Poor-quality Products.

Believe In Yourself And Back Yourself To Come Out On Top. A Fulfilling Career Is Waiting For Those Brave Enough To Find It.

I'm Sure You Get The Best Out Of People If You Look For The Best In Them. People Don't Need To Be Told When They've Done Something Wrong - They Know It Without Having To Be Told.

I Decided There Must Be Room For Another Airline When I Spent Two Days Trying To Get Through To People Express.

I Will Work Day And Night To Avoid Failure, But If I Can't, I'll Pick Myself Up The Next Day. The Most Important Thing For Entrepreneurs Is Not To Be Put Off By Failure.

We Must Rapidly Wean Ourselves Off Our Dependence On Coal And Fossil Fuels.

I Set Up This Magazine Called Student When I Was 16, And I Didn't Do It To Make Money - I Did It Because I Wanted To Edit A Magazine. There Wasn't A National Magazine Run By Students, For Students. I Didn't Like The Way I Was Being Taught At School. I Didn't Like What Was Going On In The World, And I Wanted To Put It Right.

The Way You Treat Your Employees Is The Way They Will Treat Your Customers

Employee Appreciation

Fun Is One Of The Most Important - And Underrated - Ingredients In Any Successful Venture. If You're Not Having Fun, Then It's Probably Time To Call It Quits And Try Something Else.

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Sheryl Sandberg

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