Leadership Styles: Richard Branson Essay

Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group has been a household name in the United Kingdom for over twenty years. He is well respected in the business world. He is the founder of the Virgin Group, which is known for many different things such as cell phones, record labels, airlines and many more. “Branson is also known for his unique character and leadership styles, one who is not afraid to take risks, and believes that people are the foundation to his company's success. If I were to first characterize his leadership style I would say he is definitely a democratic leader. He truly feels that getting other peoples input and listening to what

Leadership Evaluation and Philosophy: An Appraisal of Angela Merkel’s Leadership during the Euro Crisis and My Leadership Philosophy

A dropout at the age of 16, Richard Branson pursued his goals which in turn, led to the introduction of Virgin Records. From there, he has expanded his company into different ventures like Virgin Galactic, a space-tourism company, and Virgin Atlantic, an airline company, but as time did pass, he was struggling to keep his businesses financially stable so he sold Virgin Records eventually to THORN EMI. It has crushed him but he was determined to follow his dreams and continued to set up different music ventures.

His entrepreneurial career seemed to take off from this point. Branson’s Virgin Group has over 200

Lifestyle Entrepreneur is another type of successful people, and Richard Branson represents another British entrepreneur who founded more than 400 companies. He started managing those companies from a small record shop. As time went, those companies grew tremendously into an international company including interests in entertainment, media, and transport. As a flamboyant character, Richard Branson has engaged himself in grueling adventure challenges since he always considers himself successful. For example, he has sailed to many parts of the world and taken part in round the world hot air balloon tours. The successful people like Richard Branson who really accomplished some achievements enjoy what they gained in their work area.

What are the key strengths and weaknesses of the supportive, directive, and participative styles of leadership? Substantiate your response.

A knight of British territory, Sir Richard Branson founder of virgin groups, is one of the 100 top most affluent business magnate. An extremist serial entrepreneur with more than 400 companies, with a very interesting and exciting leadership style, seemingly

`Our paper permits the reader to accomplish two goals: First, to understand the remarkable life and achievements of Richard Branson (Branson). Second, to impart to the reader several key traits and behaviors that permitted Branson’s entrepreneurial success. In short, through this case study, one learns about a great entrepreneur. More importantly, by learning about Richard Branson, we hope that the reader will engage in a process of further research – to include introspective considerations on what defines their own leadership style.

The success of a leader depends on the type of leadership style that he or she uses in a situation. We can use the metaphor of leaders as farmers. The type of equipment that the farmer uses take to farm the land and the way that he or she uses the equipment will determine how productive the effort will be. If the farmer takes an axe to plough the land instead of a plough, well, the result will be a disaster. That said, there is a time and place for all leadership styles (Rhea Blanken). In the following paragraphs, we will explain the eight common leadership styles, when to use them, the impact that each has on an individual, the management, and the organization.

This reports provides information on who is Richard Branson, what type of leadership style he uses in his organisation. This will require me to read journals, case studies to be able to retain information about Richard Branson. These sources will aid me to find out about his leadership style and I will be using theories to support my work, to analyze critically on his style of managing a successful company like Virgin.

Richard Branson entrepreneurial projects started in the music industry and expanded into other sectors making Branson a billionaire. His Virgin Group holds more than 200 companies, including the recent Virgin Galactic, a space-tourism company. Branson is also known for his adventurous spirit and sporting achievements, including crossing oceans in a hot air balloon. Branson’s goal is to turn Virgin into “the most respected brand in the world.”

Richard Branson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Virgin Group and founded in 1970 with an estimated net worth of over five billion dollars, Housing over 50,000 employees, operating in over 50 countries and revenue topping 25 billion dollars. With that, Virgin Group is a leading international investment group as well as a juggernaut global brand that is recognized and respected around the world for its brand. Therefore, Richard Branson vibe and leadership style has been both criticized and praised yet can’t be questioned of the effectiveness he has when it come to the production of Virgin Group. (Worrell, 2015).

Richard Branson demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities, which has reflected on his success in developing an investment business known as the Virgin Group. This company is an investment group that is greatly known throughout the globe. According to Branson, “a good leader never rushes in and jumps to rash conclusions before knowing all the facts — they delay judgment and first try to see the whole picture clearly (businessinsider).” An example of this quote is when Kozlowski invested in Wormald International, which displeased Fort because he wanted to concentrate on their shareholders and less about increasing the company’s strengths in the business industry (Tyco International). This means that Fort examines the possible outcomes that could happen if they make

Democratic leader involves followers in decisions and delegated much more responsibility to the group. This was said to lead to higher quality decisions, a much stronger team spirit, commitment to implementing decision and satisfaction among followers.

Warren Buffet is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Berkshire Hathaway (http://www.berkshirehathaway.com), a holding company for several businesses (Berkshire Hathaway, n.d.). Fortune Editors (2014) named Warren Buffett number four on The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders (2014) list for his leadership techniques with his 300,000 employees. Buffett is also a proponent for philanthropy and earmarks Berkshire Hathaway shares to distribute to several foundations annually (Berkshire Hathaway Inc., n.d.). In 2014, Buffett led his followers with a hands-off style empowering his managers to act as owners (Fortune Editors, 2014). However, Buffett did not begin his career with a hands-off style; his leadership techniques evolved as he became a seasoned CEO. Over time, Buffett shifts from a unilateral power to a mutual power (Kelly, 2013).