Leadership the Virgin Way

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Leadership - the Virgin Way

• Tony Collins
• Chief Executive
• Virgin Trains

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Introduction to Virgin Trains
Two networks West Coast London to
Glasgow CrossCountry Scotland to South-West
and South Coast43
million customers a year400 trains each
weekdayJointly owned by Virgin and Stagecoach
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Regulation, regulation, regulation
Education system and railways have huge amount
of regulation In railways, a whole dictionary
of acronyms for regulators. DfT, RSSB, ORR, HSE,
HMRI etc Sometimes the only people not consulted
are those being served Pupil/passenger
satisfaction are the key to whether leadership
works But leadership still has a key role to
play
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Turning leadership on its head

• The person at the top should feel most
  uncomfortable
• Those at the customer end can dictate change
• We are trying to change command and control
  mentality
• Attempting to create right to challenge culture
• But a long transition of uncertainty and change

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It can be lonely at the top
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Virgin ripped up textbook on leadership
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Do I have all the answers?

• I wish!
• It isnt my role to dictate the solutions - look
  to the experts
• Often customer service/teachers have the clearest
  view
• Leaders value is in balancing competing views

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But I can have ideas

• I look to those best able to test out ideas
• Leader can offer a wider perspective
• The ideas come from really listening to
  colleagues/customers

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Why lemmings dont run the world
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What must I DO today?

• The temptation for a leader is always to be doing
  something
• The skill is to sit back and think
• We dont take enough time to reflect
• 10 minutes of real thinking can save months of
  wasted effort

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Leadership is about creating a winning team

• We may lose good players - that is success for a
  leader
• Creating new opportunities for others to move
  upwards
• Succession planning is key to progression
• Spotting strengths - and playing to them - is a
  leaders role

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We can all be leaders
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Leadership - the Virgin Way

• Tony Collins
• Chief Executive
• Virgin Trains