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WebEx forum with Richard Branson

I'm feeling pretty inspired from Richard Branson's live chat on WebEx yesterday.  And after narrowly missing having my question asked, I'm still incredibly satisfied, and I walked away with a few things too.

Recapping some of the things I learned...

• "It's important for a chairman to let his hair down"  Spend time with all the people involved.  Take ideas from others seriously and take a pad of paper out and write them down.
• There is definitely a recurring theme of being a good listener and encouraging new ideas.  It's interesting to hear as I'm reading Orbiting The Giant Hairball again. There is a very common theme in the book and some of the things Richard Branson mentioned.  Ideas should not be squashed.  One of the biggest things all employees are seeking is that their ideas be heard. And the @WebEx Twitter profile says "Ideas get better when they are shared".  Can't disagree with that.
• Look for the little things when hiring a manager.  Hiring the right people is essential.  Watch for things such as your manager saying hi to the employees, saying hi to the cleaning lady, taking the time to get to know the employees and making sure they care.
• "I don't have a desk, I have a hammock in the Virgin Islands" - @RichardBranson  Nice!
• "We spend most of our lives at work and life should be fun."
• "Screw it, let's do it," is a favorite quip of Branon's.  He stresses that in general a life will be greater enjoyed if you spend more time saying 'yes' rather than 'no'.  This is how you get things done, and life is about doing.  And around the office he's known as Dr. Yes.
• Creating a business is about making a real difference in other peoples lives.  If you can do this, then making money will be a biproduct of your efforts.  Doing it the other way around won't make you any money.
• Work from home one day of the week.  This will help to free things up and allow you to think about the bigger picture.  "Companies could be braver in terms of letting their employees work from home more often."
• It seems that he thrives on competition.  The word came up a lot, whether it's anticipating new competition, creating new competition, or taking on an existing conglomerate like Coca-Cola.  Having the goal to overtake Coca-Cola is pretty ambitious, that's why I admire the man.  He admits that it was a little too ambitious, but many people have thought "What if we could overtake Coca-Cola?"  Well not many have actually tried.