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Social Enterprise
by Miche on November 22, 2007
A man after my own heart, Sir Richard Branson, spoke at a leadership conference in Istanbul this past Saturday on his very high hopes and socially responsible plans for Virgin in Turkey. He has had his hands in anything and everything ever since his teens, with no signs of slowing at the wizened age of 55.
In fact, slowing down couldn't be further from his mind. Ever a big forward thinker, Sir Branson told of plans including (but by no means limited to) creating much needed jobs in Turkey by launching a mobile phone company there, Virgin Galactic for space travel, and a clean fuel for its airline, among other things.
I just can't help but admire someone who realizes if the government won't invest, the private sector should take up the slack. "The group has vowed to prove that clean fuels with zero gashouse emissions can work with airplanes, but the trick he said will be to find a fuel that doesn't freeze at 30,000 feet."
A Straight but Broad Path
That same kind of determined ambition is what won Sir Branson a mention in Inc's 26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs. Don't think for a second he's kidding about getting into financial services, health clubs, space travel, clean fueled jet airliners, and colas on top of his music stores and cellular networks.
"Branson shrugs. "Yeah, I know," he says. "The conventional wisdom is you should specialize in what you know and never stray from that, but no other brand has become a way-of-life brand the way Virgin has. And it wasn't us setting out to become a way-of-life brand, it was me continually being interested in learning new things. We've got people all over the world who are coming up with great new ideas, and trying them doesn't actually cost us a lot relative to the overall size of the group." So they try. In the process Virgin has developed a business method that Branson calls "branded venture capital," whereby he starts and manages all manner of new companies under the Virgin name while partners provide most of the investment." - Inc.
And you can rest assured that all his ambition and hard work will be spent on socially responsible endeavors. If the endeavor itself is not socially responsible, then whatever the business does will be wholly ethical. Sir Branson has been nothing short of 100% consistent in that regard from a very young age.
"The entrepreneur said that social responsibility and doing good through business was second nature to him, as he was a child of the 1960s. "I started thinking of social responsibility when quite young in the 1960s... and I set up a center [for youth] when I was 17 years old," he said." - Turkish Daily News
Always Thinking of the Future
If you think Sir Branson is the epitome of what every entrepreneur should be, you would be dead on. The best thing he could do is leave a legacy - people who will carry on his work. And I'm not talking about his two children, although that is a good start. No. He has something more immediate in mind.
"Of all the business ventures Branson is involved in, he said the thing he is most excited about these days - apart from space travel - is a group organized by South African leader Nelson Mandela, called "The Elders." This is a group of the 12 most respected people on the planet with great moral authority, chosen by Mandela himself. These elders will look at the planet in the way African village elders do. "Those elders will look at problems that exist in the world, the potential conflicts and those that have started and use their moral authority and influence to try to resolve issues and avoid the wars of the future. That's the one with the most potential to make a difference," said Branson." - Turkish Daily News
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Vote for Virgin Founder With Eyes on the Sky: Social Spotlight:
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Rating: 10.00 out of 2 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
London show
(11/30/07 1:02am)
That would be a day to remember, when Turks fly into space ...
Response from:
London
(11/30/07 4:41am)
London, I actually think there was an astronaut of Turkish origins already on the MIR.
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