Review: The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership

The Virgin Way reads like a rule book or guide book for a conglomeration of companies that would claim to eschew from the stuffy rule books of more uptight corporations. That is to say, if you work at a Virgin company I would bet that you were nudged to read this book and maybe put the chapter titles to heart. It feels like it would be a good onboarding tool.

The contents of the book can be split into two parts: (1) rote business advice and (2)interesting glimpses into Branson's mind. The former is fairly standard leadership advice. "Listen" and "delegate" and "be authentic" are the basic points that a first level manager can probably pull out of their asses for you. There are also numerous examples of well-known companies like Google or Apple that he uses to illustrate points. I could've used them as examples!

The real interesting tidbits come when Richard turns to himself, or when he describes the struggles that he has had to deal with. These include how his battle with dyslexia forced him to pursue tactics that made him a better leader or how he draws (or erases) the line between the Virgin brand and his personal brand.

This is an ok book to read if you want to know more about how Branson himself thinks, (or if you've recently been hired to a Virgin company!) but if you're looking to supplement your MBA maybe go elsewhere.