Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, Ltd. Case Study
1. Describe Branson’s leadership style in terms of the leadership models addressed in Chapters 10 and 11 and evaluate the likely effectiveness of that style in the U.S. today.
I believe that the type of leadership that best describes the way that Branson leads his various companies and interacts with his employees is ‘Authentic Leadership’.
According to Helriegel / Slocum, authentic leaderships refers to individuals who know and understand themselves, know what they believe and value and act on their values and beliefs through open and honest communication with subordinate and others.
Branson shows that he understands himself and has clear values when he says ‘you have to treat people like human beings’. This shows that he genuinely cares about his subordinates and wants them to have a good rapport with him. He considers that employees come first and customers come second.
He also shows open an honest communication since he takes the time to talk to employees and customers when he is on the road to visit Virgin businesses.
Sir Richard likes to listen to all employees that want to talk to him, makes an effort read all emails from them, and ‘addressed them by answering personally’. This is one of the core components of a transformational leader, since he shows ‘Individualized consideration’.
Branson also shows that in his style of leadership he is trying to integrate the environmental awareness since he believes that ‘we must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment’. He puts much emphasis in trying to help this cause by donating company profits as an investment for a cleaner environment through developing cleaner sources of energy.
Sir Richard Branson definitely exhibits a ‘Transformational Leadership’ style which involves anticipating future trends, inspiring followers to understand and embrace a new vision of possibilities, developing others to be leaders or better leaders, and building the organization into a
I believe that the type of leadership that best describes the way that Branson leads his various companies and interacts with his employees is ‘Authentic Leadership’.
According to Helriegel / Slocum, authentic leaderships refers to individuals who know and understand themselves, know what they believe and value and act on their values and beliefs through open and honest communication with subordinate and others.
Branson shows that he understands himself and has clear values when he says ‘you have to treat people like human beings’. This shows that he genuinely cares about his subordinates and wants them to have a good rapport with him. He considers that employees come first and customers come second.
He also shows open an honest communication since he takes the time to talk to employees and customers when he is on the road to visit Virgin businesses.
Sir Richard likes to listen to all employees that want to talk to him, makes an effort read all emails from them, and ‘addressed them by answering personally’. This is one of the core components of a transformational leader, since he shows ‘Individualized consideration’.
Branson also shows that in his style of leadership he is trying to integrate the environmental awareness since he believes that ‘we must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment’. He puts much emphasis in trying to help this cause by donating company profits as an investment for a cleaner environment through developing cleaner sources of energy.
Sir Richard Branson definitely exhibits a ‘Transformational Leadership’ style which involves anticipating future trends, inspiring followers to understand and embrace a new vision of possibilities, developing others to be leaders or better leaders, and building the organization into a
References: Hellriegel, D, Slocum, J.W. (2011). Organizational Behavior, Mason, OH, Branson, R. (2010). Autobiography, http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/autobiography/ Brennan, J. (2011). Who we Are, http://www.thespaceshipcompany.com David, L, (2005). Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Form Spacecraft Building Company, www.space.com