Richard Branson has been touted as being a visionary, business genius, and undeniably the coolest boss on the planet. He is all of those things. Plus, he’s pretty inspirational. After recently digging into (but not yet finishing) his book, here are 5 things I learned from Richard Branson.

1. Listening Is Important

Listening should be a top priority for dozens of reasons. Honestly, I could write an entire blog post about why listening rocks (and I probably will). But, for the sake of your attention span and my sanity, we’ll boil it down to a few simple reasons.

• When your employees, clients, or customers come to the realization that you listen to them, they’ll ultimately respect you more.

• Genuine listening skills never go unnoticed.

• You often absorb more by truly listening to understand, versus listening to respond.

Bottom line? LISTEN.

2. Run Your Business from the Outside In

Now, “from the outside looking in” has always had a bit of a negative connotation. However, what I mean by “run your business from the outside in” is that as an entrepreneur, you should always take into account the things that you may not be able to see as an insider in the organization.

Approach things from an unbiased, customer point of view and build your strategies from an outside perspective rather than a dollar amount perspective.

3. Simplicity Is Key

This is true for just about everything. In this day and age, simplicity and transparency are paramount. You remember the old acronym, K.I.S.S.? Yea, well….you should still keep it simple, stupid.

Keeping things simple and understandable for everyone that has contact with your organization helps foster a healthy relationship and results in less trouble and more brand advocates.

4. The Customer is Always Relevant

You’ve probably heard that the “customer is always right,” which is almost never true anymore. However, the customer is always, and will always be RELEVANT.

This means that their wants, needs, and perspective should be taken into account and should be treated with care. They should always be at the top of your to-do list because they’re the ones that will make or break your business.
Don’t let your customer fall by the wayside, and treat them as a relevant and important facet of your organization.

5. One Size Does Not Fit All

Honestly, this should be a no-brainer. You are not your mentor, your friend, or your boss. You are 100% unique in every way, and therefore, should never approach a situation the same way that someone else does.

In the same vein, what works for another business may not work for yours. So, take your time in approaching and assessing situations before acting on them. Don’t do it because it works for someone else, do it because it works for you.

Well, there you go. Some pretty legit insights from Cool Boss Mastermind, Richard Branson. I’m looking forward to finishing his book, The Virgin Way: If It’s Not Fun, It’s Not Worth Doing and when I do you can expect a full Book Report!