Branson’s Charismatic Leadership and Required Changes in Foxconn Leadership

Running head: CASE STUDY: ASSIGNMENT 2
CASE STUDY: ASSIGNMENT 2
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CASE STUDY: ASSIGNMENT 2
Question 4: Branson’s leadership
Branson’s leadership can definitely be called charismatic leadership to a great extent. He
has gone beyond the conventional styles of leadership, in order to achieve significant business
goals along with enhancing the prospects of employee motivation. Charismatic leaders are
transformational leaders that focus towards inspiring the people they lead. This can be very well
understood through the leadership aspects of Richard Branson. The behavior of Branson depicts
great regard for the employees of his organization. This is an important trait of charismatic
leadership where leaders tend to be enthusiastic and excited in nature (Davidson, Wood and
Griffin 2009). The leaders also clearly communicate their vision across the organization and
ensure that their subordinates get the idea that they want to focus on. The leadership trait that is
depicted by Richard Branson greatly demonstrates ethical leadership aspects. The owner of
virgin is one of the most sought after leader in the corporate world. As it is very clearly
mentioned in the case study, he effectively maintains his vision and sets examples in front of his
subordinates to follow.
Branson is an adventurous charismatic leader who sometimes even portrays some of the
traits of situational leadership. This can be well evaluated through the various risks Branson has
taken in his life. Many of these risks have spurred the development of his organization making
him rise in the level of charismatic leadership each time. The situational theory stresses on the
situational effectiveness of leadership rather than the ideal traits of leadership. Many times the
right qualities are not sufficient to make a person a better leader. Situational leadership model
take into consideration the situational contexts within which leadership takes place. Hence, a
manager needs to be judged on the basis of the qualities, the effective roles one perform and
definitely the situational contexts in which the leadership takes place (Bolman and Deal 2017).
Richard Branson depicts these characteristics very effectively. Branson’s leadership techniques
have been greatly situational. This can be seen through his association with lesser known music
artists in 1972 and 1976. In both cases the albums and the artists became great hits and revenue
earners. In 1972 it was Tubular Bells and in 1976 were the hugely popular punk band Sex
Pistols. As a leader he is passionate about the things he does and the people that form essential
part of his organization. He had said that if he takes care of his employees, they will take care of
the customers. Branson allows employees to open up about their experiences. This is a very good