Blog / Leadership
Brendon Leahy questions Sir Richard Branson
“It’s like watering a plant, do so and it will flourish, the same goes with people and staff, if you go through life criticising people they shrivel up"
An inspirational day for the Brendan Leahy Real Estate Team, attending “Sir Richard Branson in the Raw” presented by Shane Kempton. The morning kicked off with special guest speakers Pat Mesiti and Glenn Capelli who both had all listeners up on their feet with their inspiring words. The whole day was based around raising money for the “Strike a Chord for Cancer” Foundation which supports children who need inspiration and a distraction from their fight against cancer.
Strike a Chord offers the gift of music through donating instruments, professional tutoring and opportunities to perform in bands. Brendan was privileged to spend his time speaking with Sir Richard Branson on stage with a panel of interviewers. Brendan started by asking what Richard’s habits are when it comes to contributing to his success? Richard spoke about being brought up by parents who only saw the good in people, which in turn Richard has taken into his personal and work life. “It’s like watering a plant, do so and it will flourish, the same goes with people and staff, if you go through life criticising people they shrivel up” - inspiring words from a man who is so successful in business and knows how to treat his staff with respect and reward.
When asked by Brendan “When hiring management and staff, what is the most important quality you look for in a person?” Branson’s reply was focusing on the 2 types of Managers: Entrepreneurial Managers and Managers of People.
Very rarely do Managers come with both traits. He goes on to say “In Germany we have a great Manager for the record label who has an entrepreneurial flair, however we have a great team around him that keeps things on track”. Which proves that if you’re a good Manager, you will have a good team around you. “Being a great listener to your staff is one of the strongest management styles that I look for when hiring, which is a similar trait to myself”.
“You take an aeroplane, it’s a tube with wings, one plane is very similar to another, but it’s the people inside the plane that makes a difference, in giving them the permission to fix up any mistake or something that goes wrong.” It goes to show that Sir Richard Branson really does care about who he employs and takes a lot of pride and care in his staff. Brendan was invited back to a board lunch for a discussion, personal photograph and signing with the famous jet setter, where Branson was even able to read their HOMEBUYER Magazine! Branson enlightened his listeners with his witty and down to earth attitude and it was refreshing to see that the man you imagined he would be, he was.
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