Introduction
Richard Branson is an English investor, entrepreneur, businessman, author and philanthropist who founded the Virgin Group, which includes more than 400 companies that operate in various economic sectors (Branson, 2014).
He started his entrepreneurial journey in high school after founding a student magazine. This venture was followed by a mail-order record business that gave birth to Virgin Records. His business acuity and excellent leadership are the main factors that contribute to his success. On the other hand, his leadership style has ensured that Virgin Group expands to different economic sectors and countries around the world. One of the most notable aspects of his leadership is his passion for environmental conservation. Virgin Group is committed aligns its businesses in a manner that promotes environmental conservation. Some of Virgin Group’s constituent ventures that are highly successful include Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Mobile, and Virgin Media (Branson, 2014). His democratic style of leadership is characterized by traits such as charisma, perseverance, purpose, self-awareness, and open-mindedness (Dearlove, 2007).
Elements of Branson’s leadership style
According to Dearlove (2007), leadership is the ability of an individual to persuade, influence, motivate, empower, and influence a group of people in order to achieve certain results using specific strategies. Elements that characterize Branson’s leadership include his ability to motivate employees, purpose, vision, perseverance, risk-taking, and readiness to delegate (Branson, 2014). One of his most important leadership traits is vision. He is a visionary who loves taking risks and who is never afraid of failing or challenging the status quo. This is evident from his decision to venture into businesses that operate in different economic sectors. His charisma is vital in uniting employees to work towards the achievements of the visions and missions that different companies pursue. The ability to motivate employees is another aspect of Branson’s success. He offers employees incentives such as training, high remuneration, a strong organizational culture, and vacations (Dearlove, 2007).
These incentives encourage team work and as such increase productivity, performance, and employee retention rates. Branson is a risk taker and a lover of challenges. Therefore, innovation and creativity are part of his leadership. Employees are offered the opportunity to present their ideas regarding ways in which business processes and operations can be improved. Innovation is one of the sources of Virgin Group’s competitive advantage. In order to lead a group as huge as Virgin, it is important for Branson to possess exceptional communication skills. He has mastered the art of communication. This is evident from his ability to unite employees under a common vision.
Moreover, he is able to communicate the visions of different companies, find and connect with suitable individuals to run businesses, and make decisions that foster growth and development. His ability to inspire, motivate, and serve are based on his excellent communication skills (Dearlove, 2007). Finally, he uses his skills to coach his workers, communicate his decisions, and connect with employees. This enables him to collect feedback and opinions from employees. An example of Branson’s visionary leadership is Virgin Galactic that was started to explore the untapped field of space tourism. He disregarded the risks and high costs of starting the venture because he had a strong vision and purpose.
Role of leadership in Virgin Group’s growth
Branson’s leadership traits mesh well with the running of his multifaceted organization. The abovementioned leadership elements have been monumental in promoting the growth of Virgin Group. They have facilitated this growth in various ways. Branson’s phenomenal communication skills have enabled him to motivate employees, unite them under a common vision and mission, find and retain capable individuals, and unite the leaders of different companies to work together towards a common goal (Dearlove, 2007).
Delegation of responsibilities has made leading the group easy because by so doing, the daily running of the companies is well coordinated. His ability to motivate and inspire employees has contributed significantly towards creating teams that are the foundation of the group’s growth. Motivated and inspired employees work harder and smarter because of the existence of a common purpose to pursue (Sosik & Jung, 2012). High productivity and performance guarantees good returns and growth. Working in teams ensures that employees attain goals and organizational objectives faster and more efficiently. The Virgin Group gains competitive advantage through innovation and application of creativity in implementing business processes (Branson, 2014).
Stiff competition and the unpredictability of financial markets are some of the reasons why many companies fail or achieve average success. Branson has been able to overcome these challenges by embracing innovation and change. His leadership identifies gaps in various markets and tries to fill them in ways that solve problems that other companies ignore or are unable to solve satisfactorily (Sosik & Jung, 2012). Finally, his visionary nature has been a key component of the group’s expansion. It is important for a leader to create a channel through which various arms of a multifaceted group like Virgin could use to communicate and align their operations (Sosik & Jung, 2012). Branson created Virgin Management Limited to facilitate communication among the various companies that he heads (Dearlove, 2007). His visionary leadership led to formation of an intermediary company that links all companies.
Employee motivation
Employee motivation is one of the most important aspects of achieving success in an organization because motivated employees are highly productive, satisfied with their jobs, and focused (Mills, Bratton& Forshaw, 2006). Employee training and delegation of responsibilities are examples of ways that Branson is likely to use to motivate employees. Career advancement is an important aspect in the professional lives of many employees. Therefore, it is necessary for organizations to offer employees opportunities to advance their careers. One of the advantages of training is that it confers additional knowledge and skills that are necessary for job promotion. Job promotion is one of the ways that employees use to get higher remuneration (Mills et. al, 2006).
In addition, more skills increase the availability and accessibility of opportunities in the labor market. Branson is likely to use this strategy to motivate employees and increase their value to his organization. Delegation of duties and responsibilities could be used to make employees feel more valued and important to the organization. Work-related challenges increase the skills of employees as well as their value to their organizations. Branson’s approach to employee motivation could work in a different organizational setting because all employees search for opportunities to advance their careers that are available through training programs and delegation of duties and responsibilities.
The effectiveness of Branson’s communication of company vision
As mentioned earlier, Virgin Group’s growth and success are partly attributed to Branson’s excellent communication skills because is able to communicate the mission and vision of the group to employees who rally behind him in order to achieve them (Dearlove, 2007). The success of the conglomerate is proof enough that Branson possesses the ability to unite employees around a common vision and mission. He is a good listener who listens to employees and takes their opinions into account when making important organizational decisions. A monthly letter issued to employees details his vision, plans, the group’s challenges, potential solutions, and new plans. This helps employees to align their goals with those of the group (Sosik & Jung, 2012). At Virgin, Branson has created a channel of open communication whose aim is to connect the management with employees and streamline business processes.
An assessment of Branson’s leadership style
I would adopt an open and analytic approach in determining whether Branson’s leadership is fit for me as a manager in the group. First, I would observe and analyze his style of communication, decision making, problem solving, readiness to focus on organizational goals, and treatment of employees. This would help me to determine his leadership style and priorities. I would look for certain traits that include honesty, creativity, humility, trust, ambition, and ability to embrace change as well as his willingness to listen attentively to people. After observing these traits, I would analyze them and draw conclusions. Their presence would tell me that he is a good leader that I would work under. On the other hand, their lack would lead to a conclusion that he is not a leader that I would like to work under.
Branson as a global leader
There are many aspects of Branson’s leadership that make him a global leader. First, his companies employ people from different cultures and ethnicities and his businesses operate in different countries around the world (Sosik & Jung, 2012). Apart from incorporating different international standards and cultures into his business operations, he contributes towards the growth of the global economy. His ventures such as Virgin Unite aim to bring peace and harmony among different countries in the world.
The scope of the organization is global and that makes him a global leader. Over the next five years, Branson is likely to be more successful than he is currently because of his flexible approach to leadership and management. He embraces change, creativity, and innovation thus enabling his companies to grow and dominate in various sectors. His open communication policy will ensure that employees express themselves and present their grievances that could be major sources of job dissatisfaction and poor performance. His risk taking and visionary nature will ensure that his companies explore sectors that other companies are afraid of exploring. Finally, delegating duties will give him more time to do other things that will make him a better leader.
Conclusion
Richard Branson is an English investor, businessman, entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist who founded the Virgin Group. The group has grown rapidly because of his exceptional leadership to include more than 400 companies that operate in different economic sectors. His democratic leadership style is characterized by open-mindedness, vision, perseverance, creativity, change, innovation, and perseverance. His exceptional communication skills enable him to communicate the mission and vision of the group to employees of different companies. He is a global leader because of his impact on the global economy and his efforts to bring peace in the world. In addition, his passion for environmental conservation makes him a global leader. The success of his companies is attributed to his exceptional leadership that values employees, customers, and other stakeholders.
References
Branson, R. (2014). The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership. New York: Penguin Publishing Group. Web.
Dearlove, D. (2007). Business the Richard Branson Way: 10 Secrets of the World’s Greatest Brand. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Web.
Mills, J., Bratton, J., & Forshaw, C. (2006). Organizational Behavior in a Global Context. London: University of Toronto. Web.
Sosik, J., & Jung, D. (2012). Full Range Leadership. New York: Taylor & Francis. Web.