Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School

No matter what business you are starting or how many employees you have you should take even a few ideas from this book. It made me more exciting to grow and diversify my current business and want to start more!

Who says a business book can't be entertaining? Whether you are an entrepreneur trying to get your business off the ground, an executive in a business that needs a boost or a worker bee looking to make work more fun, this book is for you.Richard Branson is the Leonardo da Vinci of business. His unquenchable curiosity combined with contagious extroversion is the alchemy behind the 400+ successful businesses he has created. This book, consisting of 76 short essays and articles, documents the lessons he has learned. Numerous examples, most drawn from real-life experiences with people at his Virgin Group companies, are a roadmap for others in business to turbocharge their own success.Branson's "Like a Virgin" reveals just what a huge gap exists in modern business school curriculum. Do they teach these things like this? - A CEO needs "a certain generosity of spirit." - "You have to protect your people." - "You must be fearless." - "Business favors people who, when they see a problem or injustice, try to do something about it." - "Leaders have empathy ... for people who are affected by the business's operations." - Show generous praise for employees caught doing something right: amp it up! - Think big. Build small. - "The sky is no longer the limit." - Be very tolerant of mistakes. Move on. Give employees second chances (he did so even with a thief!)Business should be fun. Employees are co-entrepreneurs and enthusiastic brand ambassadors. Challenge. Celebrate. Keep splitting the company into smaller businesses as it grows to avoid bureaucracy and empower employees.There is no identifiable progression of thought to the sequence of these articles. Although each is excellent in its own right, it is difficult to identify the article's subject from the table of contents. The articles are not numbered making it a bit troublesome to reference any particlar one or to build a concordance (cross-reference) to include in, say, an Amazon review. If it were possible to deduct a half-star from the rating, this would be the reason to do so.Some articles are thoughtful essays and others are extended responses to questions he has received from people via email and social media. Topics include how to plan a startup to maximize chances for success; how to write a compelling business plan; perfecting your pitch; raising money; dealing with customer complaints; motivating employees; dealing with partners; failure; the art of delegation; when to step aside; environmental stewardship; the war on drugs; earning customer trust; and marketing, sales and advertising.Branson's writing style is conversational, succinct, personal and tempered by real world situations involving employees, partners, vendors and customers. His charisma seeps out of the page. His advice is very practical and for the most part consists of ideas that anyone can immediately put into practice with some modification for circumstances.Imagine, a business book that is a "page turner." Enjoy! Five stars!PS. Read the Foreword to the book to better understand the title of this review :)

The media could not be loaded.  “ we were looking for the name of the book.. we were sitting with a bunch of 16 year olds around the table and everyone threw out names and I was just having so much fun.. that I named my book “like a virgin” and that was it”He’s funny! Great book! Shows off his personality!Oh Richard!Loveee xoxo - nat

I like Richard Branson’s style when it comes to business and the way he has written this book.One of his principles is keep it simple and this is reflected how he has put this book together.The extensive series of short chapters are succinctly written in plain easy to understand language without flowery waffle and unnecessary embellishment. The chapters are bite sized and you have read and digested his points long before you mind has the chance to drift off onto something else.His emphasis on how the Virgin business's have been and continue to be successful and the reasons why many have not been successful is enlightening. The vast majority of business could learn more than a lesson or two on how to manage, engage with and empower their staff to create a culture where people want be part of a thriving business and will put in that discretionary effort which delivers such fabulous results. This is one of the key messages for me.This is essential reading for anyone who wants to pick up the basic principles. Or indeed for so called experienced competent managers who want or need to reflect on their own performance and either improve or at the very least polish their act - there is something in this book for everyone.

I loved Reading the book. It gives you an inside about the life of Richard Branson and how he started his business as a Young lat.The book tells you that you can do everything you want and only the sky is the limit. But you have to fight for your dream. It is not something you can do easy and it shows that in life and in business are lots of obstacles.Every obstacle and every failure is only something you can learn from it to do it better in your next step. It gives lots of ideas what you can do as an entrepreneur as long as you focus on your goal.I enjoyed the book very much and I liked the writing style of Richard Branson. It gives you an idea what he went through when starting his business. I highly recommend the book when starting your own business as an entrepreneur.These insides that give you Richard Branson you won’t get at any business school because this is something you have to experience on your own. You might get some basic ideas in school but the real life is very much different from theory.

Is very unusual to me stop a book (literally, stop reading and star another). But this book I didnt see much to continue reading...

Es mi primer libro de negocios y la verdad es que me di cuenta y reforcé mis ganas por el emprendimiento y creo que es un libro que motiva! Sir Richard es todo un profesional y experto

Una grande racconta di Sir Richard Branson

A really good book

Excellent. Je ne l'ai pas trouvé en français donc j'ai acheté la version anglaise. Un condensé de bon sens, d'humanité et au passage de belles leçons de management. Très inspirant