维珍之王理查德·布兰森

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翻译：小淳

The Virgin King: Sir Richard Branson

Whatever he may be doing at any moment, Richard Branson is 1)cutting a figure.

You’ve seen it. There’s the 2)grin, the 3)leonine head of hair that even at age 56 gives him the appearance of always 4)plowing through the wind like a man on the 5)prow of some very sweet ship. He’s short, but people say you don’t notice it because he never stands in one place long enough for the necessary comparisons. He’s one of those fearless, 6)twinkling guys you hear about who’s always certain that the next thing ― the very next ― well, that will be something else, that’ll be the best. Everything about him seems7)propelled. That figure he cuts is anything but 8)irrelevant. The more you look, the more you realize it might be the most important of several important things about him.

Not that Branson’s body of work isn’t admirable. Beginning with a student newspaper at age 17 and a record label in his mid-20s, Branson has built the Virgin Group into an international 9)conglomerate of some 350 companies, many of them still tiny but all of them combining for more than $8 billion a year in sales. We know, of course, about Virgin’s music businesses and 10)transcontinental airline. Most of us have also glimpsed 11)newscasts about Virgin Galactic, Branson’s 12)bid to take paying customers into space.

But how many of us know about Virgin’s 13)limousine companies and wine business and trains, and its enterprises that rent bikes, make 14)cosmetics, operate 15)bridal shops, run health clubs, sell holidays, offer balloon flights, and market 16)lingerie?

“I want Virgin to be as well known around the world as Coca-Cola.”

This is a comment that too many observers have used to sum Branson up. And yet, Coca-Cola has never opened a business to fly passengers to the moon. Nor has it expanded into online auto sales. Or railroad operations. Or any of a hundred other things Branson’s 17)appetite has led him to undertake.

But back to that figure the man cuts, because in the end it’s not the 18)ambitious branding 19)ploy or even the ambitious appetite that attracts us to Branson and 20)braces us, and offers us 21)inspiration. It’s something about the figure itself, the way it is not just 22)sensible and 23)straightforward but 24)steadfastly 25)alert and delighted and fun.

When is Branson working? When is he not? It all appears so 26)seamless and so 27)authentically pleasing. Unlike many of our most 28)vaunted and imitated 29)entrepreneurs, Branson forever strikes one as not 30)compulsive or haunted or even, strangely enough, 31)driven ― though no one ever questions his drive. No, instead he just keeps looking like he’s on the prow of that sweet boat, grinning because he knows a secret, happy because he doesn’t know exactly what’s next but is absolutely sure that it won’t be dull and will quite possibly be a good deal better even than that.

无论理查德・布兰森在任何时候做任何事情，他都会相当引人注目。

你已经见过那个形象了。他咧着嘴笑，那狮子头的发型让年届56岁的他看起来就像一个在船头迎风破浪的汉子。他的个子不高，但人们都说你不会注意到这一点，因为他从不在一个地方久留到让你有机会加以比较。他是你听说过的那种无所畏惧又光采四射的人，这种人总是确知接下来―马上紧接下来要发生的事情―那将是不同的，那将是最好的。关于他的一切事情都能给人以动力。他的形象也不是毫无关系的。你看得越仔细，就越会明白到那或许就是他的若干重要事迹中最重要的一项。

这并不意味着布兰森的事业本身不值得敬佩。17岁时的布兰森靠一份学生报纸起家，二十五、六岁就创立了一个唱片品牌，如今他已经将维珍集团打造成为一家国际集团，旗下拥有约350家子公司，其中很多或许规模很小，但这些公司加起来创下了每年超过80亿美元的销售额。当然，我们都听说过维珍集团的音乐业和穿越大陆的定期航线。不少人也在新闻节目中了解到维珍银河公司，布兰森要把付了款的顾客带到太空去。

但我们当中又有多少人知道维珍集团的豪华轿车公司、酒业和火车业务，以及那些出租自行车、制造化妆品、开婚礼用品商店、办健身俱乐部、销售假日安排、提供气球旅行和出售女士内衣的公司？

“我希望维珍像可口可乐一样闻名于世。”

有太多的观察家用这句话来概括布兰森。然而，可口可乐公司从未开设过要将乘客送到月球的业务。它也没有将业务拓展到网上汽车销售，或者铁路营运，或者其它上百种布兰森兴致所至而开创的事业。

但还是让我们的注意力回到布兰森本人身上吧。因为吸引我们、让我们感到振奋并且给我们以鼓舞的，毕竟不是他狂热的创业故事或他的雄心壮志，而是他本人，不仅睿智率直，而且总是机敏过人、兴致勃勃又乐趣无穷。

布兰森什么时候在工作？什么时候不在工作？两者之间看起来是那么天衣无缝，并且确实同样令人愉快。不像很多非常喜欢自吹自擂又惺惺作态的企业家，布兰森给人的印象从不带有强制性、困扰性，甚至（很奇怪的）不带驱动性―尽管从未有人质疑过他的驱动力。不，相反地，他只是继续保持那副仿佛傲立舟首迎风破浪的样子；咧着嘴笑，因为他知道一个秘密；感到开心，因为他虽然不知道接下来会发生什么事情，但他可以肯定，那决不会枯燥无味，并且很可能会比枯燥无味要好得多。

布兰森语录

“I always have tried to make sure I work from an environment that’s pleasant and fun. If the chairman’s having fun, it’s easier for everyone else.”

“here is a very, very thin dividing line between survival and failure. You’re just got to fight and fight and fight and fight to survive.”

“Ideally, since 80％ of your life is spent working, you should start your business around something that is a passion of yours.