Reference no: EM132860503

Richard Branson: CEO of Virgin Group

Sir Richard Branson is a self-made billionaire with more than 200 companies, who does not fit the mould of a CEO in a dark suit with conventional behaviour and appearance. He is as likely to be seen kite surfing the English Channel, absailing down a tall building in India for the launch of Virgin Mobile, dressed as Che Guevara when turning up at a press conference, or wearing butterfly wings whilst running the London marathon as he is in a board room.

His business and life vision has been broad and adventurous, and under his guidance has developed a diverse empire of Virgin companies including airlines, telecommunications, a record label, credit card lending and a hotel chain. Branson's more recent Virgin Galactric venture has had some setbacks, but he maintains his vision and sets the example to his employees that we all can dare to dream and make these dreams happen.

Branson is often studied in the business world for the keys to his success, part of which appear to be his management style and decisions he makes. He is known to take risks, but calculated risks. For example, a little-known fact is that his first company, Virgin Records, was founded in 1972 as a very small boutique label, with not a lot of money behind them. The first artist he signed was an unknown progressive rock musician, Mike Oldfield, who produced an album of a single piece of music with no lyrics. No 'single', zero 'hit' potential it seemed. It was a huge gamble. However, the album was Tubular Bells, and went on to be one of the highest selling albums of all time, selling 17 million copies. It was the foundation of the Virgin Empire and Branson's success. Likewise he took another huge risk in 1976 when he signed a totally new type of music act, the Sex Pistols, who re-wrote musical history and heralded in the start of the punk movement. These risks clearly both paid off.

He is definitely highly passionate about business ventures and believes in the importance of fun which he brings to the workplace. He was quoted as saying, "Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home; why shouldn't you have fun at work?"

Branson values removing barriers in the corporate hierarchy and sharing ideas and social events with his workers. Listening to others is important to Branson, particularly his employees, as is allowing them to keep motivated through applying their skills in areas and new projects he is not as good at.''

Branson argues that delegating to others helps workers develop, whilst creating the opportunity for him to have more leisure time with his family and to be freed up for more strategic business development. Branson encourages his employees to think and make their own decisions rather than telling them, justifying this approach by saying they are paid to think and self-lead, not to follow.

Branson is often involved personally in selecting staff to ensure the right fit for the Virgin culture, as workers need to operate in a rapidly changing environment, need to make decisions and need to be empowered to act. Branson acknowledges however that the leader's challenge is to know when to step back and to know when to intervene. Branson's philosophy is that being people focused is the key to business success, and that managers who have a people focus will achieve better outcomes.

Branson has a 'non-policy' on holidays for staff in that they can take holidays when they want them which, he believes, will ultimately increase productivity. Branson's approach also includes respect for employees by giving them support and sometimes stepping back and delegating. Branson operates from the premise that if employees leave it will be because they do not feel valued and because their work does not give them a feeling of satisfaction, not because they do not receive enough money.

A classic Branson quote that sums up his attitude is "Customers do not come first. employees come first. If you take care of the employees, they will take care of the customers".

Question 1

What leadership style do you feel is exhibited by Richard Branson? Define and discuss the characteristics of the style.

Question 2

Identify and discuss FOUR (4) leader behaviours in "path-goal leadership theory". Which one you believe is most evident in the leadership of Richard Branson? Justify.

Question 3

Discuss how you believe the leadership styles of Branson could impact on worker's motivation, from either a positive or negative perspective. Consider the theories of motivation we will cover to provide a justification for your answer.