Richard Branson explains the most important skill that made him successful
British entrepreneur and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has explained what he thinks is his most 'important' skill that made him successful.
While he may be way behind the much talked about Elon Musk and the newly-installed richest person in the world Bernard Arnault, Branson still has a lot of wealth to his name.
According to Forbes, the Virgin founder is the 765th richest person with a net worth of $3.7 billion (£3.1 million).
Branson has since been speaking about his successes with Steve Bartlett on The Diary of A CEO podcast.
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In that over hour conversation, Branson revealed the most important skill he thinks he has learnt.
He said: "I think I am good with people; I trust people, I can surround myself with really good people.
"I think I am able to delegate, not to second guess them all the time.
"If I create something, [I] make sure it is the best in its area so that the people who are working for Virgin are really proud of what they are doing.
"It is really important that if someone is in a pub and they work for Virgin, and somebody says 'what do they do', they are proud of the fact they work for Virgin and are happy to say it.
"I think my people skills is the most important skill and I think giving things a try - 'screw it let's do it' - a phrase I made years ago, and I've used that phrase many times."
Elsewhere in the podcast, Branson spoke on why he decided to delve into the airline business in 1984.
Bartlett said that there had been many rumours as to why he decided to enter the industry, so he allowed the Virgin founder to set the record straight.
He said: "It really was out of frustration of flying on other people's airlines and having bad experiences and feeling that we could do it better - it could be more fun.
"In those days if you flew on British Airways, it was a monopoly.
"You maybe got a lump of chicken on your lap, there was no entertainment, the cabin crew certainly didn't enjoy working for the company.
"I was flying all over the world to visit our record companies and I just felt we could do it better."
The businessman then spoke on originally leasing one Boeing 747, but as people 'loved flying on Virgin Atlantic' Branson purchased a second and a third plane.
Topics: Richard Branson, News
Callum Jones