What business leader do you admire most?

Ideo

Having had to fill this in for a survey it got me thinking and I would probably say Sean Quinn for being able to turn his hand at a variety of ventures. What about you? and why?

stepbar

I've been saying Sean Quinn for a long time. A local man who hit the big time, well deserved too. Along with Sean Quinn, Bill Cullen would be another person (in a business and personal capacity) I would admire.

PRman

Michael O'Leary - get sh*t done - top man. isn't afraid to stand up to Bertie and his builder mates. Also Denis O'Brien and Michael Smurfit

Ideo

i think O'Leary is a shareholders dream but not a stakeholders dream. he hasnt done a tap to counter the massive increase in carbon his company is emitting and id like to see him be a bit more proactive.

ive met Bill a couple of times, and think its great what he's acheived. really ahs gone from a nobody to a somebody

stepbar

I agree, if you read his book (penny apples), his transation from being poor to being rich is a worth while read. He didnt havent easy. **** O'Leary, Bill Cullen didn't have the opportunies O'Leary had.

PRman

Sounds like you might have forgot your valid ID at the airport B4 stepbar!! Yeah O'Leary went to a posh school but he still had too work extemely hard to get where he is. I've read penny apples and it's a good read. I have a lot of respect for Cullen. They're both great entrepreneurs

MrSquishSquash

I Like Richard Branson, tried his hand at a bit of everything!

dahamsta

Branson and O'Brien. Quinn and O'Leary are just plain greedy arseholes that belong to that nasty school of business that believes business and ethics are mutually exclusive.

adam

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

Warren Buffet, greatest investor ever and he makes it look easy. Seems like a decent man as well, gave nearly all his wealth to charity. Here's a class video where he gives his views on his wealth, http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=9sgCYOeYrnw

dahamsta

+1 Buffett

Tchocky

Bill Cullen does my head in. He reminds me of the Four Yorkshiremen.

stepbar

dahamsta wrote:

Branson and O'Brien. Quinn and O'Leary are just plain greedy arseholes that belong to that nasty school of business that believes business and ethics are mutually exclusive.

adam

Quinn a greedy arsehole :rolleyes: You are going to have to explain that one.

stepbar

PRman wrote:

Sounds like you might have forgot your valid ID at the airport B4 stepbar!! Yeah O'Leary went to a posh school but he still had too work extemely hard to get where he is.

But it helped being buddies with the Ryan boys. I have far more respect for Cullen than I ever would have for O'Leary. And even I fly Ryanair too

information

stepbar wrote:

And even I fly Ryanair too

Thats what I admire about O Leary he has power, he can be rude
to passangers, governments and other companies.

Yet everybody still uses his airline because they are the best
value, he dosn't have to answer to anybody not even his
shareholders

dahamsta

I don't call what O'Leary did value, I call it cost-cutting at a level that will eventually result in something very bad happening. Yes, he has flipped the market on it's head, and that's a good thing, but it could have been done without the rudeness, without treating many of his customers like cattle, and in many cases like animals; never mind his own employees. O'Leary is an ignorant prick, someday someone's going to punch him in the face very, very hard, and I'll applaud when it happens. The Irish ability to admire a chancer is an embarassment.

Price is not the only factor involved in a business transaction. There are these things called "principles".

adam

dahamsta

stepbar wrote:

Quinn a greedy arsehole :rolleyes: You are going to have to explain that one.

Quinn's insurance company is renowned for going to extraordinary, often frankly disgusting, lengths to avoid paying out on their policies. I call that greed.

adam

Chardee MacDennis

dahamsta wrote:

I don't call what O'Leary did value, I call it cost-cutting at a level that will eventually result in something very bad happening. Yes, he has flipped the market on it's head, and that's a good thing, but it could have been done without the rudeness, without treating many of his customers like cattle, and in many cases like animals; never mind his own employees. O'Leary is an ignorant prick, someday someone's going to punch him in the face very, very hard, and I'll applaud when it happens. The Irish ability to admire a chancer is an embarassment.

Price is not the only factor involved in a business transaction. There are these things called "principles".

adam

sure - you sound like the idiot here. i can guarantee that while there is major cost cutting at ryanair it isnt to the detrement of safety. he says what a lot of people are afraid to say. i have a lot of respect for him.

dahamsta

O'Leary's cost-cutting might not be to the detriment of safety now - and that remains to be seen - however there's a limit to how far you can go in cost-cutting at an airline. Ask someone in the airline safety industry what they think of low fares airlines. Ask them for long-term projections of accident rates.

Thanks for calling me an idiot by the way, it was very big of you.

adam

Chardee MacDennis

you called him an ignorant prick - i replied in kind thought it might make the point clearer!!

SouperComputer

Branson for me. Love his attitude, his outlook on life his adventurous lifestyle.

dahamsta

Call_me_al wrote:

you called him an ignorant prick - i replied in kind thought it might make the point clearer!!

Leo Hairy-Camel is well able to defend himself, he doesn't need nosey parker's like yourself speaking for him.

Chardee MacDennis

never intended to speak for him - but if someone is going to attack him coz they dont like him i can defend him coz i do like him as a business leader. dont get pedantic just coz you know you are wrong.

dahamsta

You didn't defend him, you attacked me. Get a clue.

stepbar

dahamsta wrote:

Quinn's insurance company is renowned for going to extraordinary, often frankly disgusting, lengths to avoid paying out on their policies. I call that greed.

adam

Really? Have you any evidence of that? Or is it just hearsay?

dahamsta

Read the Motors forum on this very site and you'll learn all about Quinn and the way he runs his business.

stepbar

O, I see. Make a statement and fail to back it up. Nice. Show me the info. You made the statement, back it up.

dahamsta

You're the one looking for evidence chum, I've just told you how to find it. I've got better things to do with my time than arse about with the crap search engine on Boards, you obviously don't.

stepbar

Ah really? So it's hearsay. Thanks for confirming that.

dahamsta

Yeah, because Boards.ie is a court of law. What are you, ten?

stepbar

Ah, so you can't back up your statement. Thanks for reconfirming that to me.

is_that_so

I know very little about Quinn aside from his success. Cullen would be up there for me and Fergal Quinn. Fergal Quinn was the first one to push good customer service. O'Leary has his own way of doing things. If you admire a bristling take on allcomers who courts publicity at every turn then he is a very good example. Would recommend the Siobhan Creaton book on Ryanair for those who haven't read it.

He is also never wrong even when he is. Much of that is for the business, which is fine. However a business is also made up of people and customers and Richard Branson is a far better advertisement for good business practice imo.