The common misperception regarding entrepreneurship is that it involves only creating ventures or start-ups. And in fact, there is a hidden implication in the definition that is the “individual.” An important aspect is almost always missed, and that is the people element. Of course, you need a vision first but without people your vision may never make it to the real world.
In NPR’s How I Build This Podcast, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Records shares great tips for entrepreneurs. Actually the things he shares are not tips because you know them already. I say, we all know them, but the reality is that we forget their significance, especially in the world of the entrepreneur. One of the things he repeatedly shared was the importance of having great people around you and letting them run things. One of the keys to success is not to know everything but to get the best people in their field so that you can entrust your vision, your world-changing ideas to partners who bring a resume of excellence to the task.
We can see Sir Richard Branson as a maestro because he surrounded himself with great people and let him run his businesses. An orchestra conductor sets the tone, drives the musical journey by controlling the pace, the rhythm of the orchestra. He does not play the instruments himself, and if he tried, he would not play as well as the masters of those instruments. No, the conductor ensures that all those expert musicians stay together, complementing each other. This is what Sir Richard Branson does. He started his entrepreneurial life at the age of 15 by publishing a magazine called “Student Magazine” and he hasn’t stopped since. Virgin Records came afterwards, and years later he has Virgin Galactic working towards going to space.
He is a high school drop-out but he is a visionary. He has vision and passion. Having these two can set you up for a good start. But it doesn’t end there. You need people to help turn your idea into reality. You need people with experience and sometimes you need people without experience but with fresh and different ideas. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to surround yourself with great people and manage (conduct) their performance until you have the masterpiece you saw all those weeks, months or years ago.
I relate to what Sir Richard Branson says about surrounding yourself with great people. I’m trying to bring an initiative to the university where I’m a student. The idea of this initiative is to create social impact through design thinking and I know that I need good team members to bring this initiative to life. The nature of this initiative requires interdisciplinary work which means that I need to be able to organize and make things happen between different departments. That’s why I’m being selective about the people that I want in the team. I need people with the passion and commitment that I have for this initiative. I learned how teamwork happens the hard way. You can’t build a team if there’s no common ground. Have people around who share the same purpose, same passion. They don’t have to think the same way you do. Too much unity of thought can kill the best project. But selecting people who have experience, are great in their fields and/or who have the same passion, will carry you forward.