Richard Branson: Well Said Indeed

"So it's extremely important to respond to people, and to give them encouragement if you're a leader. And if you're actually turning people down, if you must say no, whether it's for a job or a promotion or an idea they're proposing to you, take the time to do it yourself.  I met two big San Francisco entrepreneurs recently, and they said they get e-mail like this too, but they just dump it all in the dustbin. They don't try to answer at all. I asked them why, and they said, 'The time we spend responding could be used to create something of value for our business.' That may well be pragmatically right, but I still think it's morally wrong, and I suspect that anything that is morally wrong is ultimately bad for business."

You can read more here which is part of an older Business 2.0 article on what makes people succeed. It was worth reading again.

[Hat tip to Leila Boujnane for the article reminder]

Comments

[blooflame]

I wonder what Mr. Branson thinks about some of the things his companies do which are "unresponsive" to customers?

My specific case in point - they disable (or actually have the manufacturer disable) the ability of my Kyocera-made Marbl Virgin Mobile pre-paid phone to be connected to from Kyocera Desktop software.

I therefore cannot download contacts from my PC to my phone, but have to enter them one-by-one.

Perhaps Mr. Branson has a secretary to manage his phone for him? I am certain he wouldn't accept using one of his own pre-paid phones for personal use, if he had to enter his own contacts.