Essay on Richard Branson

Essay on Richard Branson

Introduction

Born on 18th July, 1950, Sir Richard Branson struggled with dyslexia in school and was dropped out at the age of sixteen and started a youth culture magazine called Student. Launched in 1966, this for and run by students publication sold $8,000 worth of advertising in its very first edition. In 1969, Branson decided to start a mail order record company, “Virgin” for funding his magazine. Soon, Branson was able to develop his business venture by opening a record shop in London. And with the success of this record shop, the school dropout was capable enough to establish a recording studio in Oxfordshire, England in 1972.

And now, for the past twenty years, Richard Branson has been considered a well respected name in the world of business. He is the proud originator of the Virgin Group, famous for record labels, airlines, cellular phones and several other business ventures. He is the owner of a $5 billion empire comprising of 350 different companies all over the world. (Conjer, 2004). Branson is well known for his exceptional leadership styles, a person who I never afraid to take risks and firmly believes that his subordinates are the foundation of his organization's success. He is also known for his adventurous nature and sporting accomplishments like crossing oceans through a hot air balloon.

Discussion

Richard Branson is a true democratic leader. He believes that getting others input and paying attention to people's recommendations are significant to him. He believes in finding the perfect people and building an environment in which they can thrive and flourish and create a very profitable business. His leadership skills can be easily witnessed by looking into his life full of unique experiences. He has a passion to achieve his objectives and goals and with time he has certainly improved his productivity with the amazing set of skills he acquires. Richard Branson's leadership style is followed worldwide by new entrepreneurs who want to prove themselves victoriously in their fields. (Antonakis & House, 2002)

Richard Branson's Leadership Models

In addition to this Branson has also got the following attributes of leadership:

Transformational

Richard Branson is a known to be a kind of leader who continually motivates his teams and influence his subordinates to progress. Hence, several business gurus attribute an enormous deal of Virgin's victory to the ingenious leadership skills of its chairman, Richard Branson who has exhibited an outstanding ability to enthuse his people to grow and innovate.

Service Oriented

Richard Branson is one of those leaders who always put the needs of their employees ahead of their own. He tends to believe strongly on their ideals and values and also involve his teams in decision making.

Charismatic

Richard Branson as a charismatic leader entrust on personal charm to inspire and vanguard. His charismatic presence has a direct connection with the corporate success of his organization. He also infuses his charisma within the organization by introducing policies attached to his personal values. (House & Javidan, 2005)

The leadership style of Richard Branson is followed world ...