Leadership Styles Comparison Report

This report analyzes the leadership styles of Richard Branson and Michael O'Leary, focusing on their management approaches, communication processes, and organizational cultures. It includes a personal skills audit, SWOT analysis, and SMART objectives aimed at enhancing personal and organizational effectiveness. The report concludes with recommendations for improving customer service at Hilton Hotel, emphasizing the importance of effective leadership and management development.

Developing manager

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Comparison of management styles of Richard Branson and Michael O' Leary......................3
b) Leadership characteristics exhibited by Richard Branson and Michael O' Leary...................4
c) Communication process likely to be at work within Virgin Media and Ryanair...................5
d) In terms of organisational culture and change.........................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
a) List the skills that are essential for successful career and personal skills audit......................7
b) Personal SWOT analysis through using the personal skills audit...........................................9
c) Series of the SMART objectives that aim to develop my own potential...............................10
TASK 3 .........................................................................................................................................11
a) SMART objectives to deal with the designated problems within period of six months.......11
b) Recommendations for improvement in the customer service at Hilton Hotel......................12
c) Explain and justify the use of appropriate theory of leading and motivating the employees13
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................13
a) Explaining how your analysis of your current management/personal skills will aid the to
support career development.......................................................................................................13
b) Producing a management development plan........................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Manager is the person who is involved in the activities of supervising and motivating
employees at workplace for the progress of company. Manager is also the person who is in
charge of the customer service and deals with customer’s disputes. Present report is based on
Hilton Hotel which is the largest global brand of full service hotels and resorts and it is also the
flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide. Company has its headquarters in McLean, Virgina. It is
operating the business operations in more than 84 countries and territories across six continents
(About us, 2016). The report explains principles and practices of management behavior in the
firm. Other than this, SWOT analysis has been used for doing personal skills audit. More than
this, SMART objectives have been developed that help to achieve the targets effectively. Other
than this, a career development plan has been made based on the current management skills.
Furthermore, management development plan has also been developed to support the needs and
ambitions.
TASK 1
a) Comparison of management styles of Richard Branson and Michael O' Leary
Different leadership styles are used by both Richard Branson and Michael O' Leary
according to their suitability. Sir Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Media which
comprises of more than 400 companies while Michael O' Leary is the Chief Executive Officer of
Irish airline Ryanair.
Branson leadership and management styles: Branson is the democratic manager who
involves all his employees in the relevant decisions (Proctor, 2014). Democratic leadership style
includes all employees in taking management decisions so that they will get the best solution. In
case of Richard Branson individual has adopted Contingency theory which provides base to the
managers of the business to make decisions on the basis of situation. Further, it is the moral
responsibility of manager to take appropriate actions based on aspects which is regarded to be
most relevant for the current condition. This theory encourages participation of all the workers
within the workplace and in turn leads to favourable results.
Positive and negative aspects of Richard Branson: Although Richard Branson is a great
leader and manager, he still has some major weaknesses in his style. The negative aspect of Sir

Richard Branson is that he is focused upon taking risk instead of smart work. For example, when
Virgin Media records shop continually experienced cash flow problems, at that time, Richard
Branson is arrested and jailed for a night for escaping the expose tax and sales within Britain
(Frost and Wallingford, 2013).
In case of Michael O Leary has employed system theory of management where manager
focuses on understanding how different systems affect worker and in turn how worker influences
the system around them. Generally a specific system is made up of variety of parts that work
together for the accomplishment of one common goal. With the help of this theory it becomes
easy for managers to examine pattern and events in the workplace.
On contrary to this, he also has some positive aspect in his management style as he cares
for his staff members and also understands their difficulties of life (The relationship between
managers' leadership styles and motivation 2014). Other than this, he also provides team
holidays to the employees so that they can enjoy their own life. More than this, he also has the
quality to involve staff members in taking relevant decisions of organization.
Positive and negative aspect of Michael O' Leary: Michael O' Leary is famous for rude
attitude to the people who are having disabilities (Li and Scullion, 2010). His entrepreneurial
model is developed by his own proud. There are some negative points such as he is a rude person
but his leadership model is a clever one. Michael O' Leary is the risk taker and can easily take
decisions on instant basis.
Major positive factors in him are that he is having strategic visions and also, he is able to
solve the problems effectively (Pohl, 2010). Other than this, he is very demanding for his staff
members.
Similarities and differences on both the theories:
Major similarities in both the leaders are that they both care for their staff members.
Other than this, they are also risk takers and have the ability of taking instant decisions of
problems. On contrary to this, major differences are that Richard Branson uses the Democratic
leadership style while Michael O' Leary does not involve the staff members in taking
organizational decisions (McDonnell and et. al., 2010).

Being the Chief Executive Officer of Hilton Hotel, I will prefer to use leadership style of
Richard Branson as it will help to increase the employee’s participation in taking organizational
decisions.
b) Leadership characteristics exhibited by Richard Branson and Michael O' Leary
Both leaders are having different kinds of leadership styles to be followed in company.
This leadership styles has the major role for motivating people in the firm so that it can enhance
the working efforts of employees.
Leadership characteristic of Richard Branson: There is some leadership characteristic
that Richard Branson possesses like he avoids to be in comfort zone. It is one of the most
important characteristic of his leadership style. Other than this, he wants his employees to enjoy
their work so that they can get positive results from their efforts. He gives value to other people
of organization and treats them as assets of company (Higgins and Aspinall, 2011). He also
decides specific tasks for each and every task so that it will be easy to get the target easily. More
than this, he is very passionate about his work which helps him to motivate other people in
company. In case of Richard Branson individual has adopted democratic style of leadership
where active participation of staff members is must in the business affairs. Further, no decision is
taken by the leader without consent of workers and they are motivated to participate in the
business affairs. It directly leads to enhanced employee satisfaction and especially supports at the
time when any type of change takes place within the workplace.
Leadership characteristic of Michael O' Leary: Michael O' Leary is also having some
leadership characteristics which make him a good leader. Major leadership characteristic of him
is that he is enthusiastic and dedicated for his work which will help other people to do the work
effectively. As he is able to take the decisions instantly that means he believes in himself and he
is a confident person (Bloom and et. al., 2010). More than this, he is the person who has the
ability to manage problems of employees so that they can complete their work with high
dedication. Apart from this, he has the ability to spot opportunities for his business so that he can
manage the position of company in the market. Michael O Leary style of leadership is somewhat
linked with laissez faire where leader lack direct supervision of staff member and fails to provide
regular feedback to those who are under supervision. This type of leadership style generally

hinders production of the staff members who require supervision. Sometime adoption of this type
of style has negative impact in terms of rising cost, lack of control along with the poor
production.
As a Chief Executive Officer of Hilton hotel, I also have some leadership skills that are
similar to both Richard Branson and Micheal O' Leary. I have the ability to manage the work
effectually on time so that it will be easy to get the targets easily. Other than this, I am also a
passionate person which helps to achieve the goals efficiently. Apart from this, I also have the
characteristic of solving work based problems.
c) Communication process likely to be at work within Virgin Media and Ryanair
Different types of communication processes are used in both Virgin Media and Ryanair.
At Virgin Media, open communication is followed to make workforce comfortable to interact
with each other. Leadership style used at Virgin Media shows that they are having informal way
of communication at the workplace through which it is easy to make employees participate in the
working activities (Rousseau, 2012). At Virgin Media, initially, workforce is passed with
information from their immediate supervisors to remove the confusion. After that, people can
reply directly to the management of organisation. Other than this, it will also help employees to
feel comfortable at their workplace that will lead to healthy working environment. In Virgin
Media, people feel more involved in management decisions (Oliveira, 2011). Through informal
communication, employees will be able to build strong relationship with each other. People
working in Virgin Media share their ideas freely with each other which states that they are
having informal way of communication.
On the other hand, as per the leadership style of Michael O' Leary at Ryanair, firm is
following formal way of. In this, at the initial level, message is sent by the sender which will
pass to other employees, the receiver, through specific channels. With the help of proper
selection of communication channel, message is passed on to particular employees. After that,
receiver gets the message and sends the answer back to sender (Muniapan and Satpathy, 2010).
This way of communication proves to be the best for employees in Ryanair to keep the flow of
information smooth and systematic. The communication process which is used at Ryanair is
based on the leadership style of Michael O' Leary. On the other hand negative side of this

communication process is that it sometime becomes difficult for employee to understand the
message being shared due to presence of some symbols etc. Apart from this, it may be possible
that individual may not be interested in obtaining information due to which response is not
provided as expected.
d) In terms of organisational culture and change
1) Analyse the likely culture of two organisations:
Different types of organisation cultures are there at both Virgin Media and Ryanair
through which they maintain a positive working environment. Other than this, it will also help in
making employees comfortable at the workplace. It is related to the shared values, assumptions
and beliefs that govern the way in which people behave in company. In Virgin Media, culture of
the firm is Adhocracy oriented (Müller and Turner, 2010). In this type of culture, company is
focusing on dynamic and entrepreneurial culture under which priority is given to risk taking
behaviour and innovation. Through this, Virgin Media is improving the skills of employees so
that it will be possible to manage things effectually.
Other than this, on the basis of leadership and management styles, Ryanair is following
the hierarchy culture in which company focuses on efficiency, stability and on getting things in a
right manner through which it will be more easy to get the targets achieved (Kimball, 2011).
Apart from this, different type of culture being proposed by Charle’s handy is also
undertaken by Virgin media and Ryanair in some circumstances. Role culture is being employed
on continuous basis where every employee working in Ryanair and virgin media are assigned
different roles and responsibilities as per their personal specialization. This leads to rise in
productivity level of the business and in turn employee efficiency is increased up to extent. Apart
from this, person culture is also employed within the workplace where staff members feel that
they are more important than their company. This type of culture supports in representing
significance of staff member in the firm and contributes in the success of business in the market.
2) Analysis of change in the culture of two companies:
Every organization faces some issues due to changes in external environment and
accordingly, management needs to take corrective actions. To face the organisational challenges,

company would have to make proper arrangements through which it is required to deal. With the
help of this, company will be able to face the problems in which major one are related to work
and developing strategy for market through which they can get the goals easily (Herman, 2011).
Moreover, culture of both the firms is quite suitable for the organisational structure so
that it will be easier to face the competition. However, company should also work on making
their employees trained so that they will be able to accept the changes.
TASK 2
a) List the skills that are essential for successful career and personal skills audit
For making the career successful, it is essential to have major skills through which it is
easy to build the career development plan easily. Major skills include: Time management skills: As a manager, it is important to have time management skills
as it will help to complete the work in an efficient manner. Different types of time
management strategies can be used such as prioritizing work, organising and delegating it
effectually, etc. This will help to achieve the targets easily (Ganpat and Nagendra, 2011). Team work: Team work is related to make the team members dedicated towards work. It
is essential to develop team working skills through which it is easy to cooperate with
other members. Communication skill: Other than this, being the manager, I am also having good
communication skills that would help me to make effective conversation with other
people. It is important for the development of career in tourism industry (Poisson-de Haro
and Turgut, 2012). The communication skills will be helpful in creating good image of
mine in front of other team members. Accordingly I better be presentable for gaining
more business. It proves to be effective for increasing customer satisfaction resolving
their issues in an effectual manner. Planning skills: Planning skills are related to development of effective planning skills for
the growth of company. For tourism industry, to make effective planning for facing the
market competition is necessary (Schneider, Zollo and Manocha, 2010). This the most
important aspect because planning will be done by assessing uncertainties associated with

the business. So effective planning assist me to take right decision in resolving issues
which might be faced by corporation in near future. Customer service: It is also an essential thing to provide good customer services to the
people so that they will be able to gain higher satisfaction. Being at the position of
manager, it is my responsibility to provide good customer services to the people. For this
purpose I will focus upon taking feedback from buyers and accordingly resolving the
same with effective strategies. This proves to be effective to retain them for longer time
span.
 Financial skills: Financial skills are related to forecast the need of finance in an
organisation to operate (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Also, I have to learn about making
effective financial planning to balance the need of finance. Here, I must be able to plan
for credit collection period and other related policies through which financial
performance of my organization can be maintained effectively. In this manner I can also
be increase ratio of probability and competitive edge of the business
 Decision making: It is also one of the major skills which is being required for successful
career as in case when individual is able to take effective decisions then in such case it
reduces the efficiency to carry out the work assigned and produces favourable result for
the company.
Personal skills audit: I have different types of skills which help me to manage my work
at Hilton Hotel. Skills that I have are described as follows:
Personal skills Skills audit
Management skills I have good management skills which help me
to handle the work easily.
Practical skillsI am able to solve the practical problems effectively with having practical skills.
Other than this, I also have the ability to complete work by my own.
Communication skillsAlso, I am able to convey my views and thoughts easily to other people.
This will help me to make people understand my ideas effectually.

Planning skillsIt is very important for Hilton Hotel to do effective planning to face the market
competition and I am able to make proper plans for the business.
Team workBeing the manager at Hilton Hotel, I am also able to manage the work effectually.
Other than this, I am also able to develop cooperation among team members.
Leadership skills According to the given rating, it is found that I
am also having good leadership style. I have
ability to get the work done from other people.
b) Personal SWOT analysis through using personal skills audit
According to the personal skill audit, it is found that I have certain strengths and
weaknesses which have to be analysed and improved. With the help of above identified
objectives, major strengths and weaknesses are described as follows:
Strengths
Leadership skills: I have ability to get the work
done from other people to achieve the
organisational goals.
Team worker: I am able to contribute in a team
to for reaching at the ultimate goal.
Planning skills: I have the ability to organize
events like wedding and parties.
Problems solving skills: As I am able to solve
the problems easily, I am a self-motivated
person.
Weaknesses
I am not able to deal with the problematic
situation unless I seek a solution from people.
I sometimes show too much care about people
which leads me to neglect myself.
Due to my hectic work schedule, sometimes, I
work too much which affects my personal life
as I do not take care of myself while working.
Opportunities
Different training sessions are carried out in
the organization where I work and it will
support in my skill development
Overall industry is growing at faster pace
Threats
My peers within workplace are performing
better and their knowledge level is high
My personal traits are acting as hurdle in my
career development

which will provide me opportunity such as
promotion, job change etc
Technological upgradation is supporting me to
understand the new tools and techniques used
in the firm.
c) Series of SMART objectives that aim to develop my own potential
For making the targets achieved, it is quite essential for me being the manager of Hilton
Hotel to develop SMART objectives. This will help to make the business plan effectively.
SMART objectives are described as follows:
SMART objectives for the time period of two years:
For achieving the targets of company, it is quite essential to build SMART objectives.
For achieving targets on time, it is important for me to develop my own skills. As I need to
develop my own business in the future, for this, first thing I have to do is doing primary research
and knowing the area of hospitality business. This will help me to know about the major market
competitors and interests of people (Kennett-Hensel, Sneath and Hensel, 2010). Through
identifying this, I will be easily able to understand the market environment. Time period decided
for conducting the market research is 1 month as it is enough to find the market movements at
this time period.
Other than this, fund for business will be collected through taking bank loan. It is easier
to get the bank loan for both long and short term. Other than this, I didn't have sufficient resource
to start a business.
SMART objectives in the time period of five years:
It is my aim to make my business successful in the coming five years. After that, I will
appoint local and international staffs that will help me to develop my business. To increase the
customer base to 20% within five years is the major objective of firm. This mentioned objective
can be achieved by me if focus will be on doing personal and B2C marketing as it will help me
to increase sales turnover by attracting more buyers. Through this, I will be able to go door to
door of each customer so that it will be easier to introduce my products in the target market. It

will help me to achieve my target of increasing customer base in 3 months of period (Beck and
et. al., 2011).
SMART objectives in the time period of ten years:
After completion of ten years of business, I will have that amount of money through
which it will be possible for me to open other branches of my company. According to another
aim of increasing business in the international market, I will work on finding the market
condition of other countries. For this, I will focus on the laws and regulations of different
countries such as Canada, Ghana and Italy.
TASK 3
a) SMART objectives to deal with the designated problems within period of six months
Hilton Hotel is the largest holiday complex in Devon. Being the assistant manager of
hotel, it is my duty to solve the major problems of staff and customers. main problems which are
designated in the organisation are customer service, surly staff, confusion about locations and
opening hours of activities, lack of simple knowledge of available services on the part of staff,
confusing signage, lack of sensible as well as information systems (Beck and et. al.,2011). For
removing such kinds of barriers, I have to make objective so that it will be convenient for me to
resolve these problems.
For removing these barriers, I have to work on making a specific goal of leading people
so that it will be possible to make the staff members trained. To overcome such problems within
company, it is important to find the need of people so that situations can be handled easily
(Runde and Flanagan, 2010). Other than this, location of company is very important to contact
suppliers and buyers. This will help to take the reviews from other people.
Apart from this, I will have to continuously measure the progress of business so that it
will be easier for company to know about the situation of company in the market. As I have to
resolve the problem of organisation within 6 months, owing to this, I will ensure close
supervision on operational activities of my business.
All the listed objectives focus upon improving efficiency of business and resolving
problems of the same. As it is the objective of company to solve all issues within 6 months, so
according to this, to employ people who are having experience in the hospitality business is