SIR RICHARD BRANSON

Leadership Style of Sir Richard Branson

Leadership Style of Sir Richard Branson

Question Number 1

Sir Richard has got a very high degree of consideration and participation in what he does, but at the same time he is very involved in the structure setting at the start of a new business. He is definitively a relationship-oriented leader who is good at aligning people and giving them emotional support and encouragement (Howell, 1988). He seems to fall into the segment of being a participative and consultative leader. His very strong charisma seems to make anyone listen and follow him.

Richard Branson has got the style of a transformational and charismatic leader, which most employees only dream of working for or with. “You can't be a good leader if you don't genuinely like people” is sir Richard Branson's own words on how he defines good leadership and management style. He is coming forward as a very humble, friendly and down-to-earth human being, judging from several of television(10) and newspaper interviews given. He has constantly acted in a way that has kept him out of the “bad” limelight(13). Sir Richard's leadership style and characteristics are based on some very simple and down-to-earth rules:

Smile, everything gets much easier if you show a friendly face

Have fun at work

Believe in your ideas, employees and colleagues

Branson's main efforts during his day are put into effective time management. He divides his days equally between trouble shooting, new projects and promoting his businesses(12). Another developed skill is the possibility of delegating work to his colleagues and management staff and taking a step back. He spends a lot of time in the early days of a new business, drawing the big picture and helping the management setting the business plan and the way forward (Gasper, 1992). Expert power can be defined as the value attributed to a leader in the special knowledge, intuition and skills within the scope of the conduct in question. Sir Richard is a combination of expert power and referent power.

He is known for bringing in good managers and getting them to stay. If they don't perform at an existing assignment he brings them into another venture where the person is more likely to perform according to his capabilities. ”Look for the best and you'll get the best”, is his words. Firing people is seldom an option to sir Richard.

Question Number 2

Leadership is not about rank or stars on the uniform, but of responsibility and mission accomplishment. Who you are determines how it works and interacts with others. Some people are happy and smiling all the time, while others remain almost always serious. Some leaders are present and impress the masses, while others feel uncomfortable in public. Most of us are somewhere in between. Although Army leadership doctrine describes in detail how leaders should interact with their subordinates, also recognizes that a person should always be herself and any deviation will be false and insincere. Effective leaders are flexible enough to adjust his leadership style and skills to ...