Leadership of Richard Branson - Assignment Example

Leadership of Richard Branson Insert Insert s Introduction Leadership has been described as the collaborative as wellas collective process which is focused on building relationships as well as networks, a crucial element in the achievement of a firm’s aims and objectives (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). In the past, leadership has been divided into autocratic, democratic, as well as laisser-faire styles as argued by Kurt Lewin. However, in the recent past Fitzsimons et al (2011) argued that there are a range of leadership styles and theoretical frameworks which are much wider and holistic and do not fit the categorisation by Lewin. To be specific, additional frameworks which include bureaucratic leadership, charismatic leadership, servant leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, task oriented leadership and people-oriented leadership (Grout & Fisher, 2011). It is worth noting that there is no worn or right leadership style and has the effect and success of a leadership style is affected by such elements as the nature of business, team dynamics as well as personality of management and employees among others. The following is an analysis of the leadership style of Richard Branson, the founder of one of the most successful businesses over the last few years, Virgin Atlantic. Terms which have been used to describe Branson includes fun, creative, anti- bureaucratic, opportunist, risk taker, warm, competitive, friendly, workaholic as well as fast to name a few. These qualities have been argued by trait theories of leadership to be the characteristic of successful leadership. Richard Branson is known as a people oriented; leader who treats his employees with respect and like his own families (Virgin, 2014). For instance, he is known to invite his junior members for home parties making the employees feel wanted and valued. Further, he is known to welcome and appreciate the employee’s feedback as well as ideas on busi9ness. Employees at Virgin Group are given the freedom to be creative with minimum established procedures on how things should be done. The organisation has a non hierarchical structure with the employees given the freedom to work independently with minimum supervision and non interference. His portrays a participative as well as democratic form of leadership. A major leadership style which can be given to Richard Branson is that of a transformational leader. This form of leadership style requires the ability to be flexible and to adapt quickly to change. This has been illustrated by Branson from his flexibility and successful adaptation to different and changing organisational cultures as he acquires new companies and move into various parts of the world. It has been argued that transformational leadership reflects social values and are illustrated in terms of distress and change while transactional leadership is successful in well ordered as well as steady environment. Virgin Group is focused on growth and experiences constant change and as such the transformational leadership of Richard Branson is extremely suitable for the company (Grout & Fisher, 2011). The values and objectives of Richard Branson are the driving force of the company. As such, the transformational as well as charismatic leadership style of Branson enables the employees to align their goals with those of their leader Branson. The effective exercise of the transformational style of leadership by Richard Branson enables the company to continue growing and providing a competitive edge to the Group. It can thus be concluded that the transformational approach of leadership is the best top describe the leadership style by Richard Branson. The Virgin Group has been argued and reported to be one of the fast-growing entrepreneurial company with the group having many facets. The unique aspects of Richard Branson leadership style align suitably with the multifaceted organisation like Virgin. As stated, Branson practices a transformational leadership style in his organisation. This leadership style enables leadership in flexible and changing situations helping the employees to adapt quickly to the changes (Fitzsimons, et al., 2011). This enables Branson to transform and motivate his employees to meets the needs of the different companies he has and the different regions and countries he has branches in securing his success. His friendly and charismatic nature enables him to interact freely with his employees and customers and as such is able to motivate and interact with employees and customers from different parts of the world successfully (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). Motivation for employees can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic categories. Intrinsic motivation refers to the motivation which doe not include such elements as pay, promotion and co-workers while extrinsic motivation refers to one which follows compensation elements such as reward, career opportunities among others. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the most basic as well a most popular theory on motivation. It argues that the human needs can be categorised into layers and levels with the most immediate level of need satisfied before one goes to the upper one and this is sued as motivation (Grout & Fisher, 2011). The Virgin Group utilises the hierarchy of needs effectively in motivating is employees at all levels with regards to their immediate needs. For instance the motivational tools used for the junior level employees mainly involve financial rewards while the medium level managers are given personal and professional growth for motivation. It has been reported that financial incentives remain one of the most effective tools for motivation and this is appreciated and acknowledged by Virgin Atlantic. The two factor theory by Hertzberg is an alternate theory on motivation. The theory argues that there are two factors which influence the motivation of workers; motivation factors and hygiene factors. According to this theory, motivation factors includes such elements as responsibility, recognition as well as achieve and it argues are the primary elements of employee motivation. Hygiene factors on the other hand includes working conditions, company policies and remuneration among others are not necessarily to motivate employees however if inadequate act as dissatisfaction and a de-motivation for the employees (Fitzsimons, et al., 2011). Richard Branson acknowledges these facts and hygiene factors as well as motivation factors are addressed by the management in order to secure the satisfaction as well as motivation of the employees. Richard Branson thus takes into account the Hierarchy of needs by Maslow as well as the two factor motivation theory by Hertzberg in securing the motivation of his employees. These two theory are likely to work in a different organisation setting for instance in the banking industry. This is because all employees with no regards to where they work have similar needs and preferences. As such the two theoretical frameworks can be used successfully to motivate employees in a different setting (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). Branson has been argued to be very effective in articulating and communicating his vision for Virgin Group to his employees as well as other stakeholders. This can be argued to be the result of his leadership style as well as his personality. He practices a charismatic as well as a transformational leadership style and this enables him to successfully transform and inspire his employees as well as other stakeholders of his vision and goals. Further, his personality of being friendly, open as well as charismatic enables him to effectively communicate and interact with other people. This makes his ability to articulate and communicate his vision for his employees very effective. In order to determine whether it would be a good fit for the job offer to be manager at Virgin Group, there is a need to first understand myself as well as understand the Virgin Group to determine whether I would be a good fit. First, I would investigate the organisation culture of the Virgin group. The organisation culture of the Virgin Group is highly determined by the Group’s founder Richard Branson. Branson encourages feedback from employees at all levels and the company adopts an innovative approach. As such, it is very important to first understand my personality as well as work style further, my leadership style. The assessment of my personality as well as leadership style through a number of assessments would ensure that determining the kind of leader I am and whether this aligns with Richard Branson’s leadership style. Richard Branson is a global leader. This is due to his approach to inspire and motivate people from different walks of lives into taking innovative ways of doing business. He respects diversity as well as feedback from employees at all levels thus illustrating his respect of people from different backgrounds and levels of management. Richard Branson is a global leader as he has also opened and invested in different parts of the world. He freely interact wand collaborate with other world leaders in a move to better the world in a number of ways. Richard Branson success over the next five years can be predicted to continue being successful (Virgin, 2014). This is due to his transformational style of leadership as well as his personality which allows him to take advantage of the opportunities given to him as well as his ability to adopt to various situations. He is not afraid of taking risks and faces challenges innovatively thus securing his success. His ability to influence and inspire others also enables him to communicate his vision and thus securing support from his employees and other stakeholders. Conclusion Sir Richard Branson is the founder and main driving force for the Virgin Group. He is highly considerate and participates in all the projects of the company similar to his involvement with the structural setting of his business. He is a relationship as well as people oriented type of leader who focuses on talking to people and understanding their needs while offering his employees emotional support and motivation. This enables the employees of the company to have goals which are aligned to those of the organisation thus securing the company’s cusses. It can thus be concluded that Richard Branson is a transformational as well as charismatic leader who ensures that his employees are motivate to work. It is important to note that leadership is very important in a company and can lead to its failure or its success. It is thus important for leadership in firms to understand their companies and ensure that their leadership style is aligned to the corporate culture of their firm like in the case of Virgin Atlantic. References Fitzsimons, D, James, K.T. & Denyer, D. (2011) “Alternative Approaches for Studying Shared and Distributed Leadership”, International Journal of Management Studies, Academy of Management Perspectives (13), pp. 313-328. Griffin, R.W. & Moorhead, G. (2011) “Organisational Behaviour: Managing People and Organisations” Cengage Learning. Grout, J. & Fisher, L. (2011) “What You Need to Know about Leadership” John Wiley & Sons Virgin (2014) Available at: http://www.virgin.com/ Accessed December 4, 2014 Read More