Image Credit: Taylor Hill / Getty Images
Richard Branson, billionaire founder of the multinational Virgin Group conglomerate, has spoken of how he believes laws should be put in place to ensure that women are better represented in business, saying that “companies that have an equal share of women in senior position seem to do a lot better”.
Speaking on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, Branson was asked by guest editor Miriam Gonzalez Durantez whether he believed he would have been afforded the opportunity to become an entrepreneur if he had been a woman. While Branson referenced late Body Shop founder Anita Roddick as a woman who experienced a similar level of success to him around the time he began making strides with Virgin, he conceded that he felt women should have a more prominent role in business.
Branson said: “When I started out, entrepreneurism was just a word that most people hadn’t heard of. There were two of us, there was Richard Branson and then there was a woman called Anita Roddick. Anita very sadly died very young, but she built a formidable company with Body Shop. So I think she’s an example of somebody that was just as successful as I was in those days, and I think could have carried on to do great things.
“But I think the point you make is a very valid one. It is tougher for women, and we’ve debated issues like should the Norwegian system, where 40-50% of every public board has to be women by law, do we need some proactive systems like that to try to push the pace for women? Or can it be left to us men, who are generally running most of the companies in the world, to do it through the merits of women… I’m not actually sure that we can be trusted, and I do think we need some proactive laws to speed up the process, because companies that have an equal share of women in senior positions seem to do a lot better, and obviously it’s better for the individual as well.”
Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop. (Image Credit: David Levenson / Getty Images)
Durantez also asked Branson about whether or not his work with Virgin had caused him to sacrifice spending quality time with his children, with Branson replying: “Strangely, I’ve always spent more time with my children than any other father I know. I’ve always worked from home, never from an office… the kids would be crawling around the floor while I was in meetings, and I’d often be changing nappies while I was on the phone to somebody.”
Durantez finally asked Branson whether he believes his success with Virgin can be solely attributed to his own personal efforts, or whether good fortune had also come into play. Branson replied: “Hard work and persistence is incredibly important, but there are lots of people who work incredibly hard and who are extremely persistent, who are not necessarily successful. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve surrounded myself with wonderful people, and I’ve been a good delegator, I’ve given people freedom to make mistakes and make good things, and we’ve all been on this sort of incredible ride together.”
He concluded by offering some advice for would-be entrepreneurs and bosses, saying: “If you’re a really good motivator of people, and you’re good at bringing out the best in people and praising people, then flowers flourish when they’re watered and people flourish when they’re praised.”
