Introduction
In today’s business environment, many people feel the need to become an entrepreneur versus following the status quo. But this decision does not work for everyone as there are people who start a business; however, the business fails for any number of reasons. According to Carmody (2015), 96 percent of businesses fail within 10 years. An entrepreneur is a special individual who must possess special knowledge and traits in order to ensure the success of the business. One successful entrepreneur is Richard Branson; who is considered one of Britain’s highest profiled billionaires. Mr. Branson created a conglomerate of businesses that carry the Virgin brand. According to Forbes (2016) Mr. Branson’s net worth as of September 2016 was $5.1B. This report will discuss key elements of Mr. Branson’s leadership style, the unique aspects of Mr. Branson’s leadership style and how that style works successfully within the organization; two ways in which Mr. Branson uses his leadership style to motivate employees and how that approach is successfully working within the organization; and the effectiveness of his ability to articulate and communicate the vision successfully to the employees and stakeholders. The section titled “What If” will discuss what would happen if the writer were offered a management position with the Virgin Group with a determination of how the writer would evaluate whether Mr. Branson’s leadership style is a good fit while working under him and a prediction of Mr. Branson’s success as a leader over the next five years. This report will end with a conclusion that summates all information. So now let us examine what makes a successful entrepreneur.
What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur?
Warren (2012) received information from two Microsoft employees on five essential qualities that are found among successful entrepreneurial leaders to include the following:
Vision
This process involves seeing what can be instead of what is thereby having the ability to create a vision that will change the present. Vision involves leading change with a clear vision for how things should be as well as an idea of what needs to be done in order to bring about this change. An example of this type of vision is Bill Gates and the idea of software. Mr. Gates envisioned a world with a computer in every home using the software he created. While this is easy to envision now because the process has happened, this was not the case 20 years ago. This entrepreneur seized opportunities and created software that has changed the world (Warren, 2012). The vision was real to Mr. Gates before becoming a reality.
Knowing and Taking Advantage of Unfair Advantages
This means having the ability to use what is at hand even though more may be needed. This is called effectuation which means to accomplish something. Many people fall short in this area because of not be willing to take the risk. A good leader knows how to make use of what is in hand while pursuing everything else that is needed. This is strategic planning that can be successful if implemented properly.
Ability to Attract People
A good entrepreneur/leader is always looking for people who are willing to learn as well as individuals who have what it takes within them to become good leaders. One of the most efficient ways to become a successful entrepreneur is to duplicate yourself. Attracting the right people enables a leader to create a team of individuals that will enable success for the organization, company, or business.
Ability to Motivate People
A successful entrepreneur/leader knows how to motivate people. This is a process that involves the leader understanding how to inspire the followers. Leadership must possess an (1) understanding of the follower’s culture as well as what the followers believe while ensuring that he/she works with the followers in a team spirit thereby showing allegiance to the followers as well as the organization; (2) being kind as workplace interaction is more than a transactional exchange. This is the place where the leader must take into account being respectful of the followers while also being genuinely concerned about them personally. An employee must know that he/she is valued as an individual as well as an employee (Seppala, 2016).
Flexibility to Adapt, Openness to Feedback, and the Ability to Learn
This is the process whereby the leader and the followers work together. No one person has all of the answers to anything. Leaders must be willing to listen to what the employees/followers have to say and be open to the suggestions as well as feedback. This is the process whereby the followers and the leader can learn from each other. When the leader is willing to listen the followers will do the same enabling a growing process that will be beneficial to everyone creating a learning environment.
Persistence and Execution
Entrepreneurs and leaders must have the ability to have long term vision as this is beneficial to the organization. This is the transformational leadership style which enables change within followers as well as social systems. The transformational leader motivates and also enables the increase of morale and performance of the followers. This leader can also inspire followers to move forward by assisting them in taking ownership for their work while also discovering their strengths and weaknesses. This is a process that will help employees/followers to optimize their performance and take pride in what they do ("Transformational leadership", 2016).
Effectiveness of Richard Branson’s Ability to Articulate and Communicate Vision
He protects the downside which means that he limits his risk as much as possible. This is a process that he has practiced throughout his career and is a simple business strategy that allows for success. Failure has been experienced; however, failures have taught this leader how to remain agile as an entrepreneur. If something is not working, Mr. Branson has no problem shutting the business down because it is failing (Feloni, 2015).
The leader is customer focused which means that he pays great attention to detail. It is definitely impossible for Mr. Branson to have the hands-on approach with every business; however, he knows how to ensure that what needs to be done within a company is being done by making anonymous customer complaints and asking to speak with the owner just to see if company policy is being followed.
Lastly Mr. Branson has no problem delegating as he realizes that he cannot do everything that needs to be done alone. He has surrounded himself with people who are creative and who know how to perform the job in excellence. This is a process that enables him to have free time while also giving others the ability to learn by doing. These are practices that have enabled the success of the organization while also allowing the owner to lead what he calls a fascinating life.
What If?
If I were to receive a job offer to be a manager within the Virgin Group, the first thing to do would be to evaluate Mr. Branson’s leadership style which is transformational. I would begin the job by (Larssen, 2012): (1) gaining knowledge about the company and seeking out the management, tools, resources, and classes that the company offers. In this way I would demonstrate the ability to learn and to listen; (2) find a mentor as there are managers within the organization that know the ends and outs of the business who could assist me in learning how to deal with situations that would be new to me; (3) change focus from myself to the people who I would be managing. Building a respect for the people being managed will involve learning about them as individuals to include their culture and beliefs as well as leaning about how to engage them with the organization and the department. This task can be successfully accomplished by leading by example; (4) listening and learning which would begin by setting up individual meetings with the employees to gain an understanding of their roles. Asking questions will give me the opportunity to learn more about the department and the organization; and (5) being a manager who practices good behavior which simply means not asking employees to act one way with the manager acting another. Meeting deadlines, honoring my word, and keeping personal opinions to myself would allow me to be the best manager possible. These are traits that would beneficial in the position of leadership with Virgin Group as these traits would match Mr. Branson’s leadership style.
Richard Branson is a Global Leader
Richard Branson is a global leader as he knows how to (Benna, 2015): (1) effectively manage complexity by assessing any situation that occurs and choosing the appropriate course of action; (2) effectively manage global businesses as Mr. Branson has dealt with many businesses in many locations understanding the customer, competitor, the economy, and any other factors that would affect the global market; (3) acts strategically as every business decision is weighed before being implemented. As a leader Mr. Branson understands the importance of short term and long term planning with strategies that allow the opportunity to capture other opportunities that may occur; and (4) inspire engagement of the employees as any successful organization must have the engagement of the employees in order to remain successful.
Richard Branson in the Next Five Years
Conclusion
This report has discussed Richard Branson, a self-made billionaire, who earned that status through effective leadership and hard work. While he is an entrepreneur, he has learned how to create successful businesses in many areas. His leadership style is transformational with the ability to lead, manage, motivate, and encourage those with whom he manages. He sees work as fun and encourages people by example. With this winning attitude, he will always have the ability to envision something new relative to business and turn that vision into reality.
References
Benna, S. (2015). Businessinsider.com. Retrieved 3 September 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/8-leadership-traits-for-success-2015-8
Carmody, B. (2015). Why 96 Percent of Businesses Fail Within 10 Years. Inc.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016, from http://www.inc.com/bill-carmody/why-96-of-businesses-fail-within-10-years.html
Feloni, R. (2015). Businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/how-richard-branson-maintains-the-virgin-group-2015-2
Forbes Welcome. (2016). Forbes.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-branson/
Larssen, A. (2012). You’re the Boss—Now What? 7 To-Dos as a First-Time Manager. Themuse.com. Retrieved 3 September 2016, from https://www.themuse.com/advice/youre-the-bossnow-what-7-todos-as-a-firsttime-manager
Seppala, E. (2016). To Motivate Employees, Do 3 Things Well. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 2 September 2016, from https://hbr.org/2016/01/to-motivate-employees-do-3-things-well
Transformational leadership. (2016). Retrieved 2 September 2016, from http://www.langston.edu/sites/default/files/basic-content-files/TransformationalLeadership.pdf
Warren, T. (2012). Forbes Welcome. Forbes.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/startupviews/2012/06/08/5-essential-qualities-for-entrepreneurial-leadership/#24974df95fd8
