Richard Branson Leadership

Herschey and Blanchard, in their Situational Leadership theory, recommend that a leader adapts their leadership style on the basis of the maturity of the group or individual in dealing with specific situations. If an individual is new to the organisation and have a low level of expertise but a high level of motivation then a directing leadership style is likely to be most suitable, whereas an employee that has a higher level of skills but variable commitment may respond to a supportive style in order to build confidence.

There are many different types of leadership styles that are tailored to a firm's goals and resources and the leader must be able to determine which is best. Leadership can make or break an operation as is sets the operational structure and the amount of power each individual has. No matter what a manager must be able to effectively lead a team. They need to be able to motivate individuals and keep them on task so they may reach their goal within a timely manner. Without leadership an operation can fall to pieces if employees lack direction, are unaware of the goal, or lack the passion to execute their task properly.

A successful leader will be contagious within the organization. When you, the manager, are faced with change, whether it is changing a process or it is the higher management wants to lower their human capital, you are going to have to be the engine that drives your employees even if you are not involved in the decision making. Leaders must display strength and

This concept of being a manager who leads is a continuous blend. In clarification she goes on to say that a manager deals with present day issues and concerns. This is a very important aspect of managing and quite a lot can be accomplished with this focus in mind. In order to be a leader you must look beyond today and focus on the future. A leader must be a true visionary. Being able to handle everyday issues and problems while planning for the future are qualities that all leaders must master if they are to truly be successful. For this reason it is vital to have insight, practice forward thinking, and demonstrate the ability to make strategic decisions further improving what is already established. In addition a leader must develop, initiate, and promote their ideas and values. A leader must possess the ability to unite a group of otherwise separate individuals into one humongous group. Most importantly they must focus them to work under a common philosophy with valued goals in mind. Leaders must be proactive in collaborating with others around them. The collaboration must take place with individuals that are equal in position as well as those above and below them. In other words a leader must listen and acknowledge all suggestions, while taking an active part in coaching or developing them further if appropriate. Lastly but equally as important, as a leader you must have authority. This power if you will should not be exerted routinely as it should be reserved

A manager should also be flexible and open to learning new skills for future promotions and job opportunities. Jobs should also be flexible enough to accommodate managers according to their skills and experience.

Sir Richard Branson's model is a personification model of Virginia brand and explains it using his life when he was young. He uses both his life and Virginia brand to elaborate his leadership skills which is not based on any professional skills. Over the years, he is seen to recruit the best managers. Leadership is one of the strategies and strategic management. It includes planning for informal, formal and strategic planning systems by the leader. It has planning for emergent strategies, which include; responsiveness to arising threats and opportunities, increasing of changes to predetermined intended strategies, and adaptive learning and responsiveness to intended strategies. The Branson's model includes visionary leadership, which is planning, for the future. Competitiveness and competitive advantage for business services and products are dependent on strategic plans.

If managers cannot adapt a leadership style when required then staff will become unengaged and have low morale. Not recognising their own role in the organisation or the vision of organisation and where it wants to be.

(2006, 05). Leadership Styles: Richard Branson. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 05, 2006, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Leadership-Styles-Richard-Branson-88459.htmlBlustein, A. (2013). What kind of leader are you?. Inc, 35(8), 58-59.

Richard is not afraid to take risks and believes that his people are the foundation to his company’s success. `My philosophy is, put your employees first, your customers second and your investors third and in the end everyone will be happy’ (Inc, 2013). From researching his leadership style I would say that Richard is a transformational democratic leader, he likes to get other peoples input and develop on their ideas. Richard believes that praise goes much further than criticism in achieving results so he likes to lead his team using positive reinforcement. Richard seems to be a very caring and involved leader who listens to everyone and is very professional in his leadership style, he is definitively a relationship-oriented leader who is good at aligning people and giving them emotional support and encouragement. He seems to fall into the segment of being a participative and consultative leader whilst his strong charisma seems to make anyone listen and follow him.

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born July 18th, 1950, in Surrey, England. He struggled in school and eventually dropped out at the age of 16. He started his first business after dropping out from school. In 1972, he founded Virgin as a mail order record retailer, and shortly afterwards he opened a record shop in London. This kick-started his Virgin brand globally, With more than 400 companies in over 30 countries, with different business ventures from alcoholic beverages to financial services, including airlines Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America, as well as wireless company Virgin Mobile. In addition, it includes international health club Virgin Active.

Leadership and management serve distinct purposes with certain overlaps. The transformational style manager is focused on maintaining the vision, reducing the resistance to change, and implementation of

One major issue that Pitney Bowes had is the total separation between their two essential roles, product engineering and future-scanning, in innovation process. For Amita’s innovation process, all concept development and commercial feasibility are being done in AC&T without engaging product engineering team. If product engineering team has been involved

Established an internal design division reducing “time to market” for new products; cross-functional integration required for successful development of new products [Grant p 135].

According to Adamson, et al (2004), managers must display skills of strong business knowledge, must have an awareness and sensitivity to cultural differences and standards, and must show courage, commitment and integrity (p. 54). Anyone can be a ‘good leader’ but if you are a leader with a great sense of work ethic, personal and professional integrity and determination for success, then managing a large diverse group of people wouldn’t poise such a challenge.

The product design department states ‘once a product is developed it is thrown over the wall to manufacturing. Lack of communication between departments can cause problems with product quality, increase costs and lower productivity. One way to resolve this is to create a quality and safety position. This position would be responsible for gathering suggestions from the manufacturing and product design managers regarding new product challenges and/or reservations. After analyzing this information it would be shared with the designers to improve the product prior to it going to market.