Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a well-known British industrialist who is famous for his Virgin brand. He achieved his first success in business venture was when he published his magazine “Student” at the age of 16. Branson opened Virgin Records in 1972; it was a chain of record stores which was rebranded in 2007 when a management buyout took place and now merely exists as an online store (Burton, 1995). From his personal to how he acts in his professional life, the chairman of Virgin Group, Richard Branson is seen to be enjoying his life. He has expanded his empire to include hotel chains, bank and airlines companies under the name of Virgin. In his career of plus 40 years, he never ceased to try new ways which explains him being a self-made billionaire (Burton, 1995).
Richard Branson has a participative style of leadership that is one of the reasons for the success of his business (, 2016). Being the founder as well as the chairman of the Virgin group, Branson holds a power based on his authority and position which provides him an opportunity to influence how the employees behave in his companies. Due to the authority, he has a legitimate power to make and implement independent decisions that cannot be challenged by his workers. Consequently, the power gives him an advantage to either accept or fully ignore the suggestions given by top management. The power to ignore suggestions or recommendation by top management that could be harmful to the company’s health is one great advantage (Burnes, 2012).
The creation of a healthy work environment for both Branson to devise and implement his objective and operation at business and for the employees to work are based on certain factors. Those factors incorporate together to define the leadership style of Branson namely, humane, having fun, frequent visits, setting standards for the firm, communicating at all levels, and to listen more (Altman, 2009). Studies provide evidence that leaders who are open to suggestions and encourage their subordinates to give advice are more successful. Furthermore, Branson trusts his employees and colleagues and illustrates that by ignoring a valuable advice, the firm could lose huge sums of money. Self-awareness is yet another key element of his leadership style which helps him in plan execution and has been beneficial for the business.
Some peculiar aspects of the leadership style of Branson tend to be in a right fit with the attributes of a multifaceted organization like Virgin group. With his participative style, Branson ensures establishing an open environment at work by trusting his colleagues and employees (Sağnak, 2016). Due to his leadership style as well as his authority, Branson is the most suitable person to demonstrate to his employees that he trusts them. To do this, he encourages open communication, shares his own views with them and seek their advice based on their understanding. It has been identified by several researchers that employees/teams tend to perform better if their suggestions are acknowledged and even when they are given the freedom to speech at work (Burnes, 2012).
Further, the leadership style matches with that of the multifaceted firm based on the skill of hiring talented employees for the business. Organization’s growth is dependent on finding the suitable talent for the appropriate position at the right time and with the position that Virgin group holds in the market, Branson has the power to tap the global labor market in search for the most suitable talented people. The collaborative aspect of the leadership style has enabled Branson to ensure the creation of an innovative culture at work where everyone is encouraged to think outside the box (Altman, 2009). In association to this, adequate attention is given at all the stages when group decision are being made and embraced.
A successful leader is the one that has motivated subordinates or followers. Richard Branson encourages his employees to engage in the process of making decisions and also to take risks by working in new areas (Huang, 2012). Boosting the morale of the employees to undertake new tasks or venture new areas of work is crucial for workers so that they can easily work in new settings. One of the ways to do this is job rotation where an employee is encouraged to take a new position in the company to learn new skills and competence (Burnes, 2012). This helps in the development of new capabilities for employees and they feel encouraged to learn so that they can prove their potential to the employers. Employees work harder to perform to their potential so as to earn the confidence of their employers (Lam, Huang & Chan, 2014). But, in case where an organization does not have varying organizational settings, this approach is not applicable.
The second way of encouraging is by engaging them in decision making. Employee engagement helps in motivating the employees as they feel involved, recognized and appreciated (Huang, 2012). The employees feel the sense of belongingness to the company and consider themselves as being an important component in the success of the business (Lam, Huang & Chan, 2014). This method helps boost the morale and confidence of employees helping them to perform at their best potential so that they can make the organization successful (Burnes, 2012). On the other hand, employees perform poorly when they feel ignored and are isolated from the process of decision making.
Richard Branson is a person with complete ability to communicate and articulate the vision of his company to all his stakeholders including his employees in an effective manner. Branson envisions his company to focus on t mitigation of issues regarding global warming. The Virgin group considers it their responsibility towards the general society and the planet so they focus on providing the people a better place to live in (Burton, 1995). Branson ensures aligning the interests if the stakeholders with the interest of the organizations and the overall interest of the society. In order to clarify and communicate the vision of the company, sessions of talks and meetings are held where the employees are encouraged to openly discuss and interrogate any issues (Altman, 2009). Branson ensures that employees are included in all important decisions so that in case a problem occurs, the employees are able to handle the operations. Apart from the employees, other stakeholders are also communicated the articulated the vision through meetings, seminar and by the published reports. Branson has used Peter Cammock’s model of envisioning, engaging and exacting to develop and provide a clear guidance to all the stakeholders regarding company’s vision (Huang, 2012).
In order to evaluate whether the leadership style of Branson would fit me as a manager in my career, I would undergo certain steps. First of all, I would consider whether this style actually helps in the development of an aligned vision for the organization and its stakeholders or not because through vision, a leader promotes a healthy working environment. If the leadership style helps in the development of a working climate then it shall be considered effective. Furthermore, I would take into consideration whether the skills and traits of Branson’s leadership style help in promoting safety at work or not and also whether it encourages collaboration between the management and the employees.
The process of decision making and execution is not successful until and unless the management and the employees work in a cooperative environment. Hence, if I can determine that by using this style, an interactive environment is created where the employees and management work in collaboration with each other, then I would consider it a good fit for my career as a manager. I can conclude from his leadership style that culture and context must work together but be prepared to accommodate any kind of change.
In my point of view, Richard Branson is a global leader. A global leader refers to someone who has an influence over the outcomes not only within his own country but beyond the geographical boundaries too. In other words, a global leader is a person who does not only seek to make huge profits, rather he is up for some challenges so that bigger problems can be resolved. With the history of successful ventures, Richard Branson has built numerous successful organizations internationally. He believes in challenging the status quo and enjoying the work with excitement. Branson has shown and shared his philosophy with his subordinates detailing how they can become leaders (Lam, Huang & Chan, 2014).
He encourages employees to meet him directly for discussions rather than waiting for a formal meeting. In his organization, he has focused on building an atmosphere where a family culture is practiced. All the employees are hired based on their thirst of knowledge and creativity; he believes in taking risks and hires those who are willing to innovate and accept changes. The global market has experienced his positive attitude and its influence on his profitability. Branson has travelled across geographical boundaries to build a reputation in the foreign markets, further raising the profits. He has also addressed the issue of global warming and encourages others to think beyond numbers to help create a better society. With his focus on international issues and his global presence, Richard Branson is a true global leader.
Considering his style of leadership and all the other significant aspects, I perceive that Richard Branson would be a huge success in the next five years. Apart from his personal traits, Branson is also lucky enough to have been surrounded with highly passionate individuals as his management group. His managers and staff fully understand his vision and are capable enough to work in a way to achieve his strategic goals successfully (Burnes, 2012). Considering his vision and the passion of his team, it is easily predictable that Branson holds a strong future. His personal goals also show his determination and enthusiasm; it would definitely be fun considering his bold predictions about the future. Moreover, one of the many reasons that Branson shall be successful in the future is due to his goals being aligned with the emerging global issues like the climatic change. This means that he is thinking for the future of the people and so, his success can be predicted based on his relationship and concern with the people around him.
References
Altman, W. (2009). Branson: the global brand builder. Engineering & Technology, 4(2), 80-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1049/et.2009.0216
Burnes, B. (2012). Leadership and change: the case for greater ethical clarity. Strategic Direction, 28(10). http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/sd.2012.05628jaa.005
Burton, J. (1995). Virgin King: Inside Richard Branson's Business Empire. Journal of Air Transport Management, 2(3-4), 207-208. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0969-6997 (96)86943-2
Huang, X. (2012). Helplessness of empowerment: The joint effect of participative leadership and controllability attributional style on empowerment and performance. Human Relations, 65(3), 313-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0018726711429876
Lam, C., Huang, X., & Chan, S. (2014). The Threshold Effect of Participative Leadership and the Role of Leader Information Sharing. Academy Of Management Journal, 58(3), 836-855. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0427
Sagnak, M. (2016). Participative Leadership and Change-Oriented Organizational Citizenship: The Mediating Effect of Intrinsic Motivation. Eurasian Journal Of Educational Research, 16(62). http://dx.doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2016.62.11
