Have you ever thought about who the people are that you admire? Flying home from Atlanta recently the older gentleman sitting next to me asked me who I admire that he might know. My answer was easy – Richard Branson. He’d been on my mind because of our common belief in the power of note-taking and his blog on The Power of Ideas.
It’s more than just his take on note-taking that makes me admire Branson, though. I identify with him because:
- He’s an entrepreneur. Richard Branson is one of the most well-known, innovative, and successful entrepreneurs on the planet. He started his first business – a magazine called Student – when he was only 16. In 1970, he opened his own mail-order record business, then turned that into Virgin Records and has since started more than 400 companies.
- Richard Branson is a boomer. Born in 1950, at 64 Branson is enjoying life and making a difference.
- He wants to take us to the moon. This is a man whose broad thinking and big heart takes us places and gives expanded meaning to putting ourselves out in the world.
- He’s a business rock star. “I think being a sort of rock star businessman is not something which is that common. I’ve ended up being that. It’s not what I planned to be, but through my ballooning and my boating adventures and outer space, I suppose that is what I have become.” – Richard Branson
- It’s about more than money. Branson is the seventh richest citizen of the United Kingdom, but it’s not his money that gains him admiration. It’s his down-to-earth, willing-to-connect, make-the-world-a-better-place approach to life. His brilliant smile doesn’t hurt, either.
Who do you admire?
