Sir Richard Branson is one of the world’s most recognisable faces when it comes to entrepreneurship. He’s the powerhouse behind the international venture capital conglomerate Virgin Group, smasher of several world records, and he’s even graced the small screen in productions like Friends and Only Fools and Horses.
He’s also a big advocate for the neurodiverse community in business and often speaks out about his experiences growing up with dyslexia, from early days trying to set up a business by himself to expanding Virgin operations across the globe.
This week, he’s been chatting to Holly Jean Brooker from the NZ Herald all about the ways that neurodiverse people are built for the business world. Even though their reading skills might be less strong or developed than those of their peers, Branson reckons that neurodiverse talent could give business a successful edge in an ever-competitive marketplace, and represents a great career option for young people with dyslexia.
“Think big, but keep messages simple.”
Branson himself is a big advocate of dyslexia’s creative side. Many people believe that along with literacy differences, dyslexia often fosters a more in-depth relationship with problem-solving and the imagination, and he credits it with his ability to focus on what’s important. “It helped me think big but keep our messages simple. The business world often gets caught up in facts and figures; and while the data and the details are important, the ability to dream, conceptualise and innovate is what sets the successful and the unsuccessful apart.”
“Have big dreams and keep looking forward.”
He also talks about the amazing contributions to the world that individuals with dyslexia have made, especially in the fields of technology and innovation, and how one of dyslexia’s ‘superpowers’ is the ability to create and think outside the box. “One of the strengths that people with dyslexia often have is a strong imagination. It’s always helped me to have big dreams and keep looking forward. Throughout history, dyslexics have imagined and achieved many things that have shaped out world. Thomas Edison illuminated our lives, Henry Ford made cars accessible to all, Steve Jobs gave us pocket computers.”
“My dyslexia has been a massive advantage.”
Although he’s not got many fond memories of school, Branson also reflects on how dyslexia has changed the course of his life for the better. It’s not a story with a happy beginning, starting off in the 1960s education system: he admits that “I dropped out of school when I was 16, but it wasn’t until later on in life that I learned I had dyslexia. At school, my teachers thought I was lazy, and couldn’t keep up or fit in, so it’s no surprise that school didn’t really work out for me.” It’s a story that’s likely familiar to anybody who grew up with dyslexia before relatively recently. Fortunately, we now live in an era where better recognition in schools has fostered wider societal awareness and the emergence of solid educational and workplace support systems, but there’s still a way to go. Many people with dyslexia the world over struggle to get diagnosed, and it’s often missed by parents and educators alike due to the assumption that pupils are simply struggling, lazy or both.
It’s been rather a different story for Branson out in the real world, however, as leaving what was then a restrictive and uninformed education system when it came to dyslexia has allowed him to open his mind to new and exciting possibilities. “Once I was freed from old-fashioned schooling practices and preconceptions about how things should be done, my mind opened up. Out in the real world, I feel my dyslexia has been a massive advantage: it has helped me to think creatively, to see the big picture where others don’t and to view challenges as opportunities.”
You can make a brew and catch up with the whole interview at NZ Herald, as well as check out some of the ways that SPELD NZ are identifying and assisting people with dyslexia in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.