Manager Interview: Richard Branson - Essay Example

Manager interview Introduction I interviewed Richard Branson, the founder and Chairman of Virgin Group that comprises more than 400 companies across the world (Hellriegel and Slocum 35). Richard Branson was born in 1950, in Surrey, England. Richard performed poorly in school due to dyslexia and had to drop out of school to establish student,a youth-culture magazine. Virgin Group business interests cover sectors like financial services, travel, music, transportation, retailing and vacation. Virgin Group employs more than 50,000 people across the world, and has attained high brand awareness due to excellent customer service, superior quality and motivated staff. Richard Branson has expanded his entrepreneurial efforts and diversified his companies to more than 30 countries that include Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Europe and South Africa. Some of the companies under Virgin Group include Virgin Atlantic airlines, Virgin Media, Virgin Trains, Virgin Music, Virgin Radio, Virgin mobile USA, Virgin Cola, and Virgin Brides (Hellriegel and Slocum 35). Branson engages in several sporting activities as evidenced by crossing of the Atlantic in Virgin Atlantic Challenger II in 1986, hot air balloon crossing in 1987 and sponsorship of various sporting events and teams across the world. Richard Branson is in the top management of Virgin Group and has both human skills and conceptual skills. He has diversified the operations of the companies through various strategies in order to attain high global market share. He has effectively managed organizational behavior through influencing the efforts of employees, transformational leadership, commitment to the organizational objective, motivating the staff and ensuring effective communication in the organization. Accordingly, Richard Branson is good at decision-making and management of stress in the organization (Hellriegel and Slocum 36). Interview questions Personality a) How do you describe yourself? Answer: Richard Branson described himself as simple, self-confident, charismatic, fun loving and determined. He went further to clarify that he prefers simple casual clothing, interacting with friends in the workplace and attending sporting activities. b) Do you sometimes lose your temper? Answer: Richard Branson claimed that he is capable of controlling negative feelings and emotions. He claimed that he was open to challenges, new experiences and perceives failures as learning opportunities. Richard Branson went further to assert that emotional intelligence entails self-awareness, respect for others and emotional stability in order to regulate both one’s emotions and those of colleagues in the organization. . c) What are the critical values that are central to your success as a business leader? Answer: He outlined that commitment, self-confidence, tolerance, persuasiveness and positive attitude are some of the values that have enabled him grow successful enterprises and enter competitive niche markets across several industries. He claimed that his commitment to success is evident in his record-breaking crossing of Virgin Atlantic and numerous innovative products that Virgin Group has offered to its clients. d) How do you deal and handle criticism? Answer: He claimed that he perceives criticism as productive and essential to innovativeness and creativity. He is positive about constructive criticism and is open to challenges and new ideas that aim at ensuring organizational learning and implementation of innovative solutions to various societal problems. e) What is your approach to management of conflicts in your organization? Answer: Richard Branson started by outlining that conflicts in the organization are inevitable due to task conflicts, differences in personality, cultural differences and differing opinions. He claimed that he is capable of making conflicts constructive through enabling conflicting parties understand the sources of conflicts, encouraging cooperation and collaboration in solving the conflicts and gaining the commitment of other parties to the conflicts. However, he asserted that compromising conflicts could be counterproductive since it may lower staff motivation and ultimately lower job productivity in the organization. Motivation a) How do you empower employees? Answer: Branson clearly outlined that he empowers employees through enabling them feel part of the organization, respecting their needs and helping them to take accountability for the success of the organization. He ensures that staff feel valued and appreciated by the organization through creating an equitable work environment that listens to the needs of the employees. b) How do you align the employee goals with organizational goals? Answer: Richard Branson asserted that he has been capable of aligning employee goals with those of the organization through clearly articulating the strategic intention of the organization in all communications with staff and enabling employees to attain their individual goals at the workplace. For instance, he claimed that staff should be allowed personal development opportunities. c) Are there obstacles that prevent employees from performing at their best? Answer: Branson acknowledged that there are various reasons that hinder employees form exploiting their full potential in the organization. He mentioned ineffective management practices, poor organizational culture, lack of training, poor designed jobs, stress, poor working environment and lack of motivation. d) Are there changes in the organizations that may affect employee motivation? Answer: Branson outlined that employees naturally resist changes in organization due to fear of job losses, new working relationships and unfamiliarity with the objectives of the change. He claimed that all changes such as new technologies and restructuring of the organizational structure would lower employee productivity if poorly managed. e) Are financial rewards the primary source of motivators for employees? Answer: Richard Branson disagreed with the notion that financial rewards are the primary motivaters and clarified that job satisfaction is the primary source of motivation. He went further to claim that work environment, promotions, training and development, appreciation of excellent performance and respecting employees will ensure high job satisfaction and ultimately higher motivation. He clarified the salaries, bonuses and other allowances acts as maintainers since staff must pay bills and live a decent lifestyle outside the work environment. Stress a) Can you work under pressure? Answer: Branson outlined that he is capable of managing competing tasks and managing job pressures. He does this by commitment to strict deadlines and remaining focused on the objectives of the organization. b) What do you prefer doing while not at work? Answer: Branson outlined that he prefers sporting events, talking to friends and participating in charitable work. c) How do you ensure a work-life balance as a manager in your organization? Answer: Branson outlined that organizations must provide the necessary facilities and enough time for employees to engage in relaxation activities such as visiting the gym and taking care of their families. His companies have gone further to provide family assistance loans, transport, cafeteria services and clinics in order to ensure employees live a stress-free life and are healthy. d) What are your thoughts on time management in your organization? Answer: Richard Branson believes that time management is critical in management since planning, organizing and control requires time management skills. Branson advices business managers and employees to prepare lists of tasks, make priorities and stick to deadlines in order to ensure coordination of work in the organization. Decision-making a) Which are the qualities that you think are essential in effective decision-making in organizations? Answer: He outlined that effective decision-making requires creativity, analytical and problem-solving skills in order to consider multiple perspectives of the problem. b) Describe the process that you follow in making critical decisions in your organization? Answer: Richard Branson asserted that the first step in making critical decisions is to establish a supportive business environment and collect relevant information that is useful in making the decision. The next step is to generate several creative and potential solutions to the problem and define criteria for evaluating the viability of each alternative. The next step will include making the decision and finally implementing the decision in the organization. Richard went further to clarify that critical decisions entail high risk and uncertainty or high financial outlay and managers must undertake feasibility studies on new investment projects, mergers or diversifications in order to determine the expected returns to the shareholders. However, Richard Branson claimed that entrepreneurs must be willing to undertake the risks in order to ensure high returns to the shareholders. c) Is creativity important in decision-making? Answer: He outlined that creativity enhances innovation that leads to new ideas, new products and new solutions to problems. He went further to ensure creativity leads to informed decisions that enhance organizational success. d) Have you ever failed to make a decision? What were the consequences to the business and customers? Answer: He asserted that he has made mistakes in the past for not making a decision at the appropriate time. He recalled that the consequences of not diversifying some companies in certain markets led to decline in market share, low customer loyalty and product dissatisfaction. e) Do you seek the help of others in making decisions? Which situations do you require the help of others in decision-making. Answer: He outlined that some decisions require the inputs of a team especially project development decisions that require expertise advice. Leadership a) What do you consider as the primary role of leaders in organizations? Answer: He asserted the primary role of a leader is to steer the entire organization towards success through inspiring the efforts of subordinates and articulating a shared organizational vision. b) Where do great ideas originate from in your organization? Answer: Richard Branson replied that ideas originate almost from everywhere in the organization including suggestions of staff, business experts advice, trade magazines, problems in the market, conferences, and market intelligence reports. c) Do you believe anyone can become a good leader? Are there people with special traits that make them fit for leadership? Answer: Richard Branson asserted that anybody could become a good leader irrespective of the educational background or traits of the individual. He claimed that leaders are not born, but made. He went further to assert that leadership development is a process that involves changing attitudes towards others, having the willingness to attain goals and appreciating the efforts of others. Accordingly, he outlined that leaders should focus on desirable traits such as self-confidence, generosity and calmness in order to suppress the unhealthy traits like aggression or anger in times of difficult situations. d) How do you relate with your followers and especially subordinate staff in your organization? Answer: Branson replied that he viewed his subordinates as colleagues in the organization, and usually interacts with them informally through online chats, face discussions and other informal channels. He claimed that his employees are the most valued asset in the business. e) What do you believe are the greatest challenges that face leaders in the 21st century? Answer: Branson replied that changes in business environment such as economic changes, pressures to adhere with regulatory environment and multi-cultural staff are leading challenges for business managers f) What advice would you provide to junior leaders and especially those who are entering in to leadership positions for the first time? Answer: His advice to junior managers was that they should remain focused, initiate creative ideas, take risks and value the input of stakeholders. Communication a) Do you use informal communications in the organization? Answer: Branson replied that he often prefers informal communication due to its ability to facilitate feedback, its efficiency and wide audience. His favorite informal channels are twitter, face book and chat rooms. b) What skills do you consider as essential in organizational communications? Answer: Branson identified some skills such as adherence to clarity, listening skills, ability to provide feedback, persuading skills, empathy and ability to use facial and other body impressions. c) How can organizations communicate the mission, vision and core values of the organization? Answer: He replied that mission, vision and core values define the reasons for organizational existence and should be incorporated in all management communications to stakeholders such as letter heads, company logo, and artifacts in the organization. d) How can leaders effectively communicate crisis in their organizations? Answer: Branson replied by asserting that communicating crisis entails understanding values of other and being sensitive to their emotions. In this case, managers must use persuasive skills and show empathy while relying the information. e) How do leaders manage to put ideas across especially while persuading others to listen and accept their opinions in meetings? Answer: He said that managers must practice active listening and persuasion skills such as outlining different scenarios or perspectives of the problems. Conclusion I successfully interviewed Richard Branson on various organizational behavior aspects such as personality, motivation, decision-making, leadership, communication and stress in his organization. His responses were amazing and inspiring, and I believe the interview was a success. He looked jovial and confident during the interview, and more open to questions. Work cited: Hellriegel, Don and Slocum, John. Organizational behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. 2009. Read More