Leadership Analysis: Richard Branson and the Virgin Group Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Richard Branson's leadership style within the Virgin Group. It delves into his transformational and charismatic leadership approaches, examining how he fosters innovation, motivates employees, and achieves sustainable competitive advantag...Read More

LEADERSHIP ASSIGNMENT 1
Leadership
Title: Richard Branson Leadership Styles: Virgin Group
Write a Report on Evaluating the Leadership of the 21st Century of a (government,
business or not-for-profit) Organization
Word Count: Words 2290

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Executive Summary
The report will help in understanding the leadership traits and the theories of the most
successful leader across the globe in order to understand the new trends of leadership
in the 21st Century. Further, how the leader leads the organization to achieve the
sustainable competitive advantage and maximizes the profitability. Furthermore, the
report will help in understanding that how Richard Branson leads his organization i.e.
Virgin Group towards success by applying his innovative and create traits and the styles
of leadership. The report will contain the analysis of Richard as a great leader and treats
his employees as the assets of the organization and further encourages the employees
in order to achieve the organizational, group and the individual goals and the objectives.
Moreover, the report will clearly demonstrate the leadership styles and the traits of
Richard Branson which he applies in order to accomplish the vision and mission of the
organization. Then, being an individual, my opinion will be given with different
perspective that how I would have to lead the organization distinctively as compared to
Richard Branson. Therefore, the overall report will help in understanding that how the
organization can be lead towards success by the qualities of a leader and how the
leader possess his leadership styles and the traits in such a positive way which helps
the organization to grow by satisfying the employees and the customers to a great
extent.

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................4
The Wide Analysis of Richard Branson as a Leader...........................................................................4
Leadership Styles and Traits...................................................................................................................8
 Transformational and Charismatic Leadership...................................................................8
 Openness......................................................................................................................................9
 Agreeableness...........................................................................................................................10
 Extraversion...............................................................................................................................10
A distinct opinion and the perspective of how I can lead distinctively.............................................11
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
Richard Branson leads the world’s successful company i.e. Virgin Group and he is one
of the top leaders across the Nation. Since the inception of the company, Branson has
demonstrated and used his unique and innovative form of leadership in order to shape
and redeem the success and place the company where it is present.
Richard has a genuine and a strong respect for the leadership as a significant aspect of
shaping, developing, growing, maintaining and improving the organization. Further,
Richard is the great entrepreneur and rephrase it into the desire to explore the
opportunity for the business which solicitation to his as a great winner. Furthermore, the
final result is distant but connected group of various companies that contains
organization which is being sought after the choice of the employer, who has the
greatest respect for the services to customer and their level of satisfaction which leads
to the profitable results for the company, satisfaction of the employee and the loyal base
for the customer.
Moreover, Richard did not always receive success in his ventures, but he never led
down his spirit, and he always learnt from his failure in order to achieve success. He
always accepted the consequences and took them as the great experiences
(Businessinsider.in, 2016).
The Wide Analysis of Richard Branson as a Leader
The mission of the Virgin Group is to be the choice of the customers by offering brand
values like high quality, value for the money, appropriate services to customer and

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pioneering; to offer high quality services by encouraging employees and to help and
analyze the feedback of the customers for the continuous enhancement for experience
of the customers through improvisation to the products creation that makes the life of
the customers enjoyable (Businessinsider.in, 2016). Further, the mission statement
clearly demonstrates the tendency in order to hound the entrepreneurship in offering
value to the company’s stakeholder.
The vision statement of the company can be defined and transformed by the words of
Branson. Mainly, “we are initiating a global presence on entertainment, travel, mobile
communication, music and retailing. Further, it has been believed that the company has
the great opportunity to be in the list of global brands”. Richard demonstrated a great
entrepreneurial sense, authenticity and courage through the focus in order lead the
organization to great heights.
Further, Branson demonstrates and uses the great traits and the skills of leadership,
which he offers and supports by transitional leadership’s application, encouraged by the
recognized approach of charismatic to motivate the employees and achieve the desired
goals for the organization.
Richard believes that the employees are the company’s foundation and looking after
their needs and further motivating them in order to take the ownership of the difficulties
and the challenges they face for the success of the company. The compassion of the
company towards its employees contains secure and vigorous environment for work,
reasonable and the understandable terms for the services, equal opportunities for the
prospective and the current employees and also encouraging them to know their

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potential and improve their skills (culcmores3, 2016). Also, the company motivates the
employees in order to share the responsibility of the company towards the society.
Richard has achieved great success, and he should be considered as the effective and
the exceptional leaders of the business. Also, his estimated wealth is worth USD 7
billion. Further, in order to be a great leader, Branson demonstrates great qualities of
leadership that lead, expand and retain the company in order to make it one of the
successful company across the globe. Furthermore, the attributes which are used for
Richard are fun, opportunist, creative, risk taker, workaholic, friendly, adventurer and
the negotiator. The qualities in conformance with the leadership theories of trait includes
the attributes of the influential, positive and the successful leader.
Richard possesses great relations of leader-member and further treats the employees
with empowerment and the respect. He encourages and positively receives the
feedback, innovations and new ideas of the employees of the company (the Guardian,
2016). The task framework which is being operated in Virgin Group is relatively low, and
Richard allows the employees great freedom and the action to propagate and
encourage the culture.
There are no rigid procedures of establishment within the organization, avoiding,
bureaucracy, formality and the rigidity across the various things which are acceptable
whether the value is being added or not. The company of Richard operates on the non-
hierarchical and the flat structure, enabling the flexibility in order to work without any
interference or independently. Further, such things show the leadership form of Branson
as he is participative and democratic in nature. Also, it has been proved that Richard is
a dominant and the positive thinker as he places his initiatives and the ideals to the

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great impact in the organization. He always discusses with his employees before
implementing any action so it can be said that he is also a leader of a consultation.
Richard possesses great skills of the leadership of situational and the contingency. He
is always open in order to explore the new opportunities for the creation of the viable
and the new company that can achieve the sustainable competitive advantage for the
longer period of time and maximizes the profitability. Moreover, he is capable enough in
order to control the situations, and he is a great taker of risk. This shows the dominant
respect of contemporary practices and the theories of leadership mainly the theory of
situational leadership. He uses distinct styles and theories of leadership as per the
context of the situation.
Richard also demonstrated the capability in order to implement the relative changes
quickly. For example, Virgin Cola in the US changed the strategy, location and the
management of the business of drinks by emphasizing on the motive i.e. beverages of
the new age like energy drinks, juices, when there was the signs of war among the
Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola in the business of Cola (Virgin, 2016).
Moreover, it is considered as one of the greatest failures of Richard as he didn't
consider the advice of his executives because they advised him not venture in the war
of Cola. But, Richard positively took the failure and changed the business direction in
order to suit the new opportunities of the market. Further, Richard demonstrated the
transformational style of leadership by moving to a new direction and also encouraging
his employees while moving on a new journey.

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Leadership Styles and Traits
 Transformational and Charismatic Leadership
The transformational leaders are the ones who quickly adapt the changes. Richard,
shown a great talent towards flexibility in getting success by adopting the transforming
cultures of the organization as he shifted to various sectors and also acquired various
organizations. This type of leadership shows the social values and occurs during the
time of pressure or change when the adaptability and the flexibility are required the
most. Richard carries out his own and unique style of change and the pressure by
enhancing and driving a culture of exploring new opportunities for the operations of the
business (Havaspr.com, 2016). He is very flexible in order to capitalize and create the
new opportunities and further focuses on his employees and cooperate with them to
achieve the great and the desired success.
Richard articulates the opportunity and receives the suggestion from the employees and
the executives and then make efforts in order to make the vision and mission happen.
Further, the vision of Richard is connected to the values of the followers and the leader,
demonstrating a common goal that is compatible with the established system of values.
It has been observed that the transformational leadership is a great exercise which
upgrades the standards of effort and the conduct of humans. Being an effective leader
of transformational, Richard is proficient in order to reframe the issues and finding ways
to resolve the issues and explore the opportunities and fulfils the vision of the leader for
the great future. Furthermore, the leaders like Richard helps the followers in order to
become the great leader and from the case of Branson various people got benefit from

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the policy of encouraging among the created ranks, leaning towards the existing talent
by the pipeline of leadership and the management (Sites at Penn State – Word Press,
2016). Richard eludes resistance to the potential change by staffing and shaping the
organization at the level of transformational leadership.
Form the perception of the charismatic leadership, Richard wins the minds and the
hearts of the various followers by exhilarating great feeling of belongingness. Also,
eliciting the great affection among the followers towards the leaders by having similar
kind of beliefs. Further, there is the decisive conformance among the relationship
between the follower and the leader with the common ideals and the goals being a
central focus of the company (Ft.com, 2016). The employees of the Virgin Group are
motivated by the great level of emotions which results to maximized performance and
the effort level. Moreover, Richard is very particular for the charismatic trait as he tends
to consolidate the opinions of the employees through respect or criticism for the unusual
and the unique practices of the business.
Richard demonstrates numerous of traits that are displayed in leadership mainly
openness, agreeableness and an extraversion. The traits are discussed below:
 Openness
The qualities of Richard are defined as broad-minded, imaginative, strategic and the
great thinker who forages experience by sports, travel, reading and visiting various new
restaurants in order to learn the new cultures (Forbes.com, 2016). Richard enjoys most
of the traits but not all the traits like travelling for example who owns his airline.

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 Agreeableness
This is demonstrated as the prevailing and the dominant trait as Richard endeavour in
order to get along with the other people. Richard is diplomatic, charming, empathetic,
optimistic, approachable and charming (Dialogue CEO, 2016).
 Extraversion
It contains various traits like competitive, outgoing, outspoken, decisive, self-confident
and the opinionated. Further, extraversion is very familiar when the leader wants to
persuade others, and Richard depends on in regard to applying the charisma and leads
the employees towards the right direction.
Moreover, Richard is not at all dictatorial or the autocratic. Basically, he is the king of
the Virgin Group i.e. his Kingdom. The leadership theories of charismatic and the
transformational demonstrates the leaders who gain high goals of performance and the
outcomes by encouraging the followers in order to work to set an example. Further, the
followership has become the key element in encouraging the leadership style of
transformational (Businessinsider.in, 2016). While driving the style of transformational
effectively, Richard uses the leadership style of charismatic in order to influence and
capture the thoughts of the employees. Furthermore, with the genuine and the absolute
followership of the staff, Richard enables to deliver transformation effectively and
quickly as the employees are committed and focused to the similar goals and the
objectives.

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A distinct opinion and the perspective of how I can lead distinctively
If I was supposed to identify myself in the unique and the enviable position in order to
lead the organization of Richard, I would have limited my enthusiasm to be impulsive in
order to encourage the new ideas and explore the new opportunities. Further, this would
have contained the attempt to encourage the organization by not being open and quick
to the frequent changes.
Would be more tempered, calm and controlled with respect to the entrepreneurial style
of leadership that can only be applied by Branson. For example, not influencing the
action of entering the market of Cola against the advice of executives, in order to realize
the mistake later and also the failure of the device of MP3 against the I-pod of Apples
(Dave, 2016).
From the processed and the controlled perception, I would have also applied the
approach of conscientious and the leadership style, placing together the plans in depth
and offering some consistency by having adequate control and the processes in the
critical areas, mainly across the boundaries in order to take the chance of high risk.
Further, Branson is the leader of conscientious and in the regard he tends to be
creative, rule maker and the breaker, impulsive and the spontaneous. Furthermore, it
has been observed that Branson never sticks to the procedures and the pre-determined
boundaries and the rules.

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One different weakness which I would like to pin-point is that Richard has spread
himself thinly on various occasions. Further, in the sense of business he could have
increased the profitability, and he must have stayed focus on an individual area and
must have concentrated on that particular area, for example, his unsuccessful and the
ill-fated entry to the beverages sector of Cola and the poor effort of time in order to sell
the music of MP3 and further playing the device against the product of Apples i.e. I-Pod.
Conclusion
With stimulation, charisma, motivation and the consideration of individualism, the
leaders of the transformational have a potential in order to encourage the actions even
more than the expectations and further generate changes among the individuals and
the complete organization as a consequence. Furthermore, Richard applies the
transformational and the charismatic style of leadership in order to lead the organization
i.e. Virgin Group along with the application of particular traits like extraversion,
openness and the agreeableness.
It is evident that Richard does his work because he rejoices the exploration of the new
opportunities and the ideas for the customers, employees and for himself as well.
Richard uses what can be included as the traditional and the clearly classified styles of
the leadership along with the traits. Further, I cannot help, but I can only feel that these
get fit to the way of Branson as compared to Branson adapting them consciously on the
way.

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Therefore, I have tried to criticize the way of Branson and his leadership styles, but I
agree that it is very challenging in order to criticize the most successful person as the
leader of the business and a great person.

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REFERENCES
Businessinsider.in. (2016). Business Insider Australia. [online] Available at:
http://www.businessinsider.in/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Businessinsider.in. (2016). Business Insider UAE. [online] Available at:
http://www.businessinsider.in/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Businessinsider.in. (2016). Business Insider UK. [online] Available at:
http://www.businessinsider.in/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
culcmores3. (2016). culcmores3. [online] Available at:
https://culcmores3.wordpress.com [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Dave, S., (2016). Sandeep Dave. [online] Sandeepdaverocks.blogspot.in. Available at:
http://sandeepdaverocks.blogspot.in/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
DialogueCEO. (2016). DialogueCEO - talks, tips, and more. [online] Available at:
http://dialogueceo.com/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Forbes.com. (2016). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/
[Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Ft.com. (2016). Financial Times. [online] Available at: https://www.ft.com [Accessed 19
Dec. 2016].
Havaspr.com. (2016). Havas PR Global Collective. [online] Available at:
http://havaspr.com/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].

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Sites at Penn State – Word Press. (2016). Sites at Penn State – Word Press. [online]
Available at: http://sites.psu.edu/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
the Guardian. (2016). News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition | The
Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Virgin. (2016). Virgin. [online] Available at: https://www.virgin.com [Accessed 19 Dec.
2016].