Glenn Rifkin
(Page 3 of 6)

Mr. Branson, who favors the airline perhaps more than any other part of his empire, flies frequently and usually spends the entire flight chatting with passengers, serving drinks, leading games over the public address system and helping the flight crew with even the most menial tasks. In the early days, when there were far fewer than the current 22 aircraft in Virgin's fleet, Mr. Branson regularly appeared at Heathrow Airport to apologize personally to disembarking passengers if a flight was late. Though he cannot physically be on every flight, Mr. Branson's presence is felt through the enthusiasm evident in his employees, most of whom seem to be simply having a better time at their jobs than their counterparts on other airlines.

And all Mr. Branson has done is insist on treating his customers as he himself wished to be treated. This was nothing short of revolutionary in the airline industry. In short order, Virgin Atlantic has become an industry favorite, winning countless travel awards and becoming the second largest long-haul carrier on the London-to-New York route. Growth has been measured, steady and slow as Virgin Atlantic has expanded into eight United States cities as well as Asia and South Africa. Mr. Branson now has his sights set on building a domestic United States carrier if he can tear down the barriers blocking foreign-owned airlines from offering routes within the United States. 

THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS

Like other great entrepreneurs, Mr. Branson is unafraid of failure. But unlike many other successful business leaders, he refuses to stay within the confines of a single core business. Rather than "sticking with what you know," Mr. Branson's credo is "if you know one business, you know any business." He adds: "If you can run a record company, you can run an airline. If you can run an airline, you can run a bank. If you can run a bank, you can run a soft drink company." And on and on. 

He acknowledges that his philosophy is centered on finding the best people to run these businesses, but he insists that he is not so much concerned about industry-specific expertise as strong people skills that mesh with the Virgin culture. "What makes somebody good is how good they are at dealing with people," Mr. Branson states. "If you can find people who are good at motivating others and getting the best out of people, they are the ones you want. There are plenty of so-called experts, but not as many great motivators of people." 

Virgin tends to promote from within, and the winning profile, not surprisingly, is Branson-like: someone who gets charged up when told that something cannot be done; someone who is undaunted by industry barriers and will not take no for an answer. 

And Mr. Branson tends to focus far less on profits and far more on industry impact. Because Virgin is privately held, Mr. Branson declines to talk about specific numbers. He says, "It's important to pay the bills." But once Virgin reached solid financial ground in the early 1990's -- mainly from the $1 billion sale of the Virgin Records label to Thorn-EMI -- and survival was no longer an issue, Mr. Branson's attentions were focused on higher ground. 

He says his measure of success is creating a business whose practices are completely different from the way others do things, whose staff can be proud and whose product or service makes a positive impact on consumers. "There's no point in going into a business unless you shake up the whole industry," Mr. Branson says. "Then, you are not just making a difference for yourself. You find the whole industry has to react to your being there and change the way it does business." 

Tired of giving 5 percent of his money on the day he signed up with a financial services company, for example, Mr. Branson started Virgin Direct, which eliminated the fine print and the hidden fees and quickly started winning customers from competitors. In just two years, Virgin Direct, a firm somewhat like Fidelity or Vanguard in the United States, has brought in more than 400,000 customers and has $3.5 billion under management. Every other financial services company in Britain has had to reduce its rates to compete, which is just the kind of reaction Mr. Branson relishes. He says he has his sights set next on the British telecommunications industry.