Strategic Leadership: An Analysis of the Leadership Style of Richard Branson

Running head: STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LEADERSHIP STYLE OF
RICHARD BRANSON
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1STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
As stated by Martins, Martins and Pereira (2017), the effectiveness or the efficiency of
the different corporations substantially depends on the leadership approach which is being used
by the leaders related to the concerned corporation. Hunt and Fitzgerald (2018) are of the
viewpoint that the leadership style which is being used by the corporations or the leaders related
to them is an important determinant of the overall organizational performance or the productivity
of the concerned corporation. More importantly, the leaders are required to ensure the fact that
they utilize the power as well as the influence that they have within the corporation in an ethical
as well as fair manner so as to facilitate the long-term growth of the corporation and also help it
to attain competitive advantage or sustainability as well. The purpose of this essay is to
undertake an analysis of the manner in which Richard Branson had contributed towards the
enhancement of the performance of Virgin Group and also its growth as well.
Howard and Ulferts (2017) are of the viewpoint that the primary objective of the plethora
of job roles that the business leaders are performing within the spectrum of the different
contemporary corporations is to enhance the overall organizational productivity, help it to
achieve its organizational goals or objectives and thereby to help it to attain competitive
advantage or sustainability. Adding to this, Sethibe and Steyn (2017) have noted that it is for the
effective fulfillment of these objectives that the different job roles like mentoring, coaching,
motivation, strategy formulation and others are being undertaken by the leaders. Furthermore,
the leaders also make a positive contribution towards the inculcation of the kind of
organizational culture which while reflecting the corporate values of the corporation would also
motivate the workers to perform as per the expectations or for that matter performance standard
of the corporation (Sethibe 2018). More importantly, it had been that these job roles undertaken
by the business leaders while helping the workers to overcome the issues or the challenges that

2STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
they face helping them to perform as per their maximum potential and thereby make a positive
contribution towards the overall organizational productivity (Grobler and Du Plessis 2016).
These aspects of the job roles which are being performed by the contemporary business leaders
for the enhancement of the overall organizational performance become apparent when the
contribution made by Richard Branson towards the conglomerate Virgin Group is being taken
into consideration.
According to Schawbel (2020), the effective usage of the participative leadership style
along with the attribute of emotional intelligence had helped Branson to transform the start-up
venture which was established by him in the year 1979 in collaboration with Nik Powell to the
contemporary conglomerate Virgin Group. Adding to this, Meyer and Meijers (2017) have noted
that an important difference between Branson and other contemporary leaders is the fact that
through the adequate usage of the participative style of leadership he had been able to include the
workers of the corporation within the decision-making process used by the same for the
formulation of the important decisions related to the corporation. The same holds true for the
strategic formulation process which is being undertaken by Branson. For instance, once the
strategies or the visions are formulated by Branson he takes the feedback or the suggestions of
the workers and if feasibility modifications are being made to the same on the basis of the
suggestions or the feedback offered by the workers (Williams 2017). The resultant effect of this
is that this had substantially enhanced the engagement of the workers and also they feel
accountability for the achievement of the goals or the objectives of the corporation since they
have been formulated taking into account their feedback and opinion (Mishra 2016). More
importantly, Branson himself offers the various kinds of mentoring, motivation, coaching and
other related services to the workers of the corporation so as to help them to overcome the issues