--- title: Best Advice From Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Influencers description: "You have to be passionate about what you are creating" canonical: https://time.com/4153224/best-advice-bill-gates-richard-branson-linkedin/ author: Emily Straus article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-18T15:04:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:44.165Z article:section: Ideas og:title: This Year's Best Advice From Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Other Influencers og:description: "You have to be passionate about what you are creating" og:url: https://time.com/4153224/best-advice-bill-gates-richard-branson-linkedin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Year's Best Advice From Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Other Influencers twitter:description: "You have to be passionate about what you are creating" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Year's Best Advice From Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Other Influencers  by [Emily Straus](https://time.com/author/emily-straus/)  ## Emily Straus Dec 18, 2015 3:04 PM UTC  by [Emily Straus](https://time.com/author/emily-straus/)  ## Emily Straus Dec 18, 2015 3:04 PM UTC As 2015 winds down, now is the perfect time to prepare for your 2016 goals. Who better to get you inspired than successful professionals? LinkedIn has rounded up of a list of its top [influencers](https://lists.linkedin.com/2015/top-voices/influencers) who have published to the platform this year. The influencers were ranked based on their audiences’ overall engagement with the authors’ posts. Bill Gates and Richard Branson fill the top two spots. Find the top 10 influencers below, with inspiring advice to kick you into gear for the new year. ### Bill Gates  US billionaire Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and co-founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks during during the live show "Le grand journal " on French private television channel "Canal Plus" in Paris on June 25, 2015\. Gates is visiting France to take part in the annual Paris Solidays Festival, a three-day music festival held in solidarity with the fight against AIDS.AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY (Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images) LinkedIn —From his article, [Our Bet For 2030](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-bet-2030-bill-gates?trk=mp-reader-card) [_Bill Gates_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/251749025?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is a co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation_ ### Richard Branson  Richard Branson, chairman and founder of Virgin Group Ltd., listens during the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York, U.S., on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015\. The annual CGI meetings bring together heads of state, leading CEOs, philanthropists, and members of the media to facilitate discussion and forward-thinking initiatives that challenge the way we impact the future. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images LinkedIn —From his article, [Answering Your Questions on Work-Life Balance](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/answering-your-questions-work-life-balance-richard-branson) [_Richard Branson_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/204068115?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is the founder of Virgin Group_ ### Mohamed El-Erian  Mohamed El-Erian, former chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO), stands for a photograph after a Bloomberg Television interview in Irvine, California, U.S., on Wednesday, April 23, 2014\. El-Erian, chief economic adviser to Allianz SE, described Bill Gross as one of the worlds best investors in his first television interview since leaving the bond investment firm in March. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images LinkedIn —From his article, [We Are All Responsible for Countering Damaging Gender Biases](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-all-responsible-countering-damaging-gender-biases-mohamed-el-erian) [_Mohamed El-Erian_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/204274949?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is the Chief Economic Advisor of Allianz_ ### James Altucher  Mr. James Altucher in his hotel suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Thursday, Feb 21, 2013. Natan Dvir—Natan Dvir —From his article, [How to Increase Your Productivity 500%](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/productivity-hacks-how-increase-your-500-james-altucher) [_James Altucher_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/5858595?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is an entrepreneur_ ### Bernard Marr  LinkedIn —From his article, [Smart Ways Successful People Cope With Stress](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/smart-ways-successful-people-cope-stress-bernard-marr) [_Bernard Marr_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/64875646?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is a business and data expert_ ### Sallie Krawcheck  NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 10: Owner and Chair of Ellevate Network Sallie Krawcheck attends 'The Fast Company Innovation Festival' - Building A Business That Matters, Part II With Box, Ellevate And GE on November 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company) LinkedIn —From her article, [Personal Branding 101](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/personal-branding-101-sallie-krawcheck) [_Sallie Krawcheck_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/174077701?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is the CEO and co-founder of Ellevest_ ### Ian Bremmer  Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group Ltd., poses for a photograph after a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Manila, the Philippines, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015\. France is vulnerable to more terror attacks, said Bremmer. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images LinkedIn —From his article, [Why the Difference Between “Entrepreneur” and “Entrepreneurial” is a Big One](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/boss-why-difference-between-entrepreneur-big-one-ian-bremmer) [_Ian Bremmer_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/325365745?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is President of Eurasia Group_ ### Jill Schlesinger  LinkedIn —From her article, [Holiday Shopping 2015: Naughty or Nice?](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/holiday-shopping-2015-naughty-nice-jill-schlesinger?trk=mp-reader-card) [_Jill Schlesinger_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/176887622?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is a business analyst at CBS News_ ### Ryan Holmes  —From his article, [The One Way to Get Promoted—That No One Talks About](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-way-get-promotedthat-talks-ryan-holmes) [_Ryan Holmes_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/2967511?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is the CEO of Hootsuite_ ### Sramana Mitra  LinkedIn —From her article, [Leadership and Brilliance Are Not the Same](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-lead-leadership-brilliance-same-sramana-mitra) [_Sramana Mitra_](https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/6435?trk=ranking-profile-b-prof) _is the founder of One Million by One Million_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4153224/best-advice-bill-gates-richard-branson-linkedin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4153224/best-advice-bill-gates-richard-branson-linkedin/"},"headline":"This Year's Best Advice From Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Other Influencers","datePublished":"2015-12-18T15:04:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:44.165Z","description":"\"You have to be passionate about what you are creating\"","url":"https://time.com/4153224/best-advice-bill-gates-richard-branson-linkedin/","keywords":["Bill Gates","Business topic","advice","Richard Branson","Ian Bremmer"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Straus","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emily-straus/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4153224/best-advice-bill-gates-richard-branson-linkedin/","name":"This Year's Best Advice From Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Other Influencers"}}]}] ```