preview

Analyzing Richard Branson Essay

Better Essays

For the purposes of our assignment I will attempt to put Richard Branson in a sort of box that he would surely object to and would certainly pop out of like a jack-in-the- box. The difficulty with attempting to analyze the leadership style of Branson is that everything that has been written about him prefaces his achievement with his larger than life personality. There's no denying that Branson is fun and passionate, but he's also very bright and very hardworking. I think that if Branson took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Profile he would discover that he is ENTP: an extroverted, intuitive, thinking, perceiving human being. From his autobiography, Losing My Virginity it's clear that Branson is action oriented, enthusiastic and …show more content…

and someone's passing on an idea in a drunken slur. Good ideas come from people everywhere, not [only] in the boardroom." One might also argue that his extroversion is also well documented from his hot air balloon rides to the very name he selected to represent his brand. A brand name like "Virgin" demands recognition just for the name itself and I'm sure in 1970's England it drew the attention. Virgin seems to have a knack for doing things in a sort of "fun" way no matter what the product. When you think of Virgin Mobile, you think about how easy they made it for anyone (everyone) to have cell service. Similarly, Virgin Atlantic seems to make travel for anyone easier and a possibility by offering lower fares to many destinations. You imagine a younger hip executive flying Virgin Atlantic, while a stodgier older executive would fly British Airways. Even ventures that failed, such as Virgin Vodka, still conjure up the idea of fun. It's become "a way of life brand". In Good to Great, Collins discusses how Philip Morris found success when it diversified away from tobaccos by staying close to "sinful" products such as coffee, chocolates and beer. In a similar way, Virgin has branded its easy, fun, energetic way about doing things. We even joked in class that a Virgin bank might be the fun bank to transact business. Branson is not only passionate about the business' that he at the helm of, but he also finds time

Get Access