Richard Branson and his magical wand

Experts believe an innovator is someone who pushes the boundaries of comfort and does things differently. Succinctly put, it’s that someone who has a dream and the passion to translate ideas to execution.

An iconic example of this someone described above is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, popularly known as Richard Branson. Best known for his company, Virgin Group, this British industrialist launched his first venture at the age of 16 when he published a magazine in the name of Student. It’s interesting to note the reason how the business was started – Branson found the school rules and regulations too demanding and wanted to capitalize on the energy of student activism. While the idea itself was not revolutionary, Branson and his friends decided to give it an edge by tying up with lots of schools and selling advertising space to corporate.

This was just the beginning of a chain of businesses that were to follow – an audio record mail-order business in 1970 and then a chain of record stores (1972) in the name of Virgin Records that later were rebranded to Virgin Megastores. As many believe, Branson hit to fame in the 1980s when he was ramping up the Virgin brand and set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.

What stands out most about Richard Branson is his acumen to capitalize opportunities and achieve despite all odds – he’s known to suffer with dyslexia and had a poor academic performance as a student. Branson is also known to do things differently and a classic example of this how he operates Virgin Airlines – not taking the typical low-cost route, the group has acted innovate by selling value-added services onboard.

Many other reasons can be attributed to the mighty success achieved by Richard Branson. While he’s famous for his unusual corporate ways and adding ‘personal touch’ to all of the company’s employees, there are multiple instances that validate Branson’s tireless efforts to empower people and their ideas and steer them towards success. He truly works on the fundamental of empowering his employees to ultimately empower the Virgin brand.

To quantify his success, it’s apt to quote here the fact that Branson was adjudged as the 212th richest person in the world according to Forbes' 2009 (Updated 03.10.10) list of billionaires, with an estimated net worth of approximately £2.97 billion (US$4.0billion).

With multiple honours and accolades under his belt, Richard Branson is acclaimed for his relentless passion and laser-sharp focus on business and has often stated his dream to make things happen as the real driver of his success. In his own words:

"Sometimes I do wake up in the mornings and feel like I've just had the most incredible dream. I've just dreamt my life."

- Richard Branson

Do-Re-Mi

“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest,

heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.”

Just like a river must flow into the sea, my tryst with music was truly meant to be. This might sound primitive, but my stint with music dates back 15 years – yes, it was in 1995 that I hit the chord. It all started with a suggestion from Dad for me to learn the harmonium and there I was, all of 6, sitting in a music school and using my young pair of hands on instruments I had previously known little about.

Initially there to gain mastery of musical instruments, I found deep interest in classical singing thereby discovering a new talent in me. Funnily enough, the instruments appeared bigger than what I looked at that tender age and it surely had me uncomfortable to wonder if I was doing the right thing. To make things further twisted, I was the youngest of the lot there and hence the extra scare that I felt. But as they say, rest was history – as I began to recite the musical notes with my Guru, I underwent a transformation and soon gathered that I had found the right medium to express myself!

Just the way sugar mixes in a hot coffee, the same way I suffused into classical singing. It always used to relax my body and mind and helped me carve a soothing persona. Slowly but steadily, I also managed to effectively use few musical instruments such as the Harmonium, Tanpura and Tabla. While these instruments usually play in the background of any song and not many realize their essence, I grew with a special bond with them - I understood the beauty of music sans words.

While I feel blessed to have discovered music, the fact that it came at an early age also presented me with a peculiar challenge – balancing studies with a hobby I was (and still am) extremely passionate about taught me the art of time management and multi-tasking. Not only I continued to further explore my talent and also practice for stage performances, I continued to surprise myself with a consistent academic record.

It’s fascinating for me to look back into history and uncover instances of how music has helped - whenever I was bored of studying or felt low or burdened with the books, I would start humming the ragas and automatically my mind would be at peace. This not only helped me to de-stress and re-energize but also helped to imbibe a sense of confidence. As they say, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy!