Richard Branson as an Effective Leader - Essay Example

? Human Resource Development Affiliation] Richard Branson as an Effective Leader Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group is one of the best leaders of all times. The Virgin Group Ltd. is a British Multinational branded venture capital Conglomerate Company with main business areas in entertainment, travel, and lifestyle; it consists of over 400 companies internationally. As a result, it is among the most significant global investments as well as one of the world’s most known and valued brand. The Virgin Group has expanded under the strong leadership of Sir Richard Branson. Established as a mail order record retailer, the company has expanded to other sectors, which range from travel, financial services, mobile telephony, music, holidays, leisure, and health and wellness (Virgin Group, 2012). The company employs about 50,000 personnel, in 34 countries and worldwide branded returns in 2011 were approximately ?13bn ($21bn). All the success of Virgin Group can be attributed to Richard Branson effective leadership. Branson dropped out of school at the age of 16 and yet he has managed to build a business empire through his ability to influence his employees towards achievement of his vision and the set goals. Some of the quality leadership traits of Richard Branson are extravert; he is charismatic, loves being around people and fun. Secondly, he respects people and as a result provides great value to the people who work under him. Thirdly, time management; he has managed to build many companies in a short-duration of time- there are always new projects undergoing in the company (Zacharo, 2001). Fourthly, delegation- Branson portrays willingness to step back and allow others to take on key positions in the company. Branson argues, “For as much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you must also understand the art of delegation. I have to be willing to step back now," he admits. "I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses – it can’t just be me that sets the culture when we recruit people” (Crush, 2010, par. 4). Branson also encourages people to generate ideas and then he backs them up. He connects with employees across all levels and verticals. He has also build trust among the top management as he gives stakes and does not interfere. Branson is also a leader who always has a vision; he has more than 400 companies yet he is still looking out for more: he sees opportunities for growth everywhere. In spite of his prosperity, he has not let go his profit-making objectives and sometimes he appears to initiate new undertakings on a nearly daily basis (Dearlove, 2007). Lastly, Branson is a friendly and outgoing person, as portrayed in the book “Business the Richard Branson Way” by Des Dearlove (2007). He captivates the employees and public through the unexpected prospect of making the grey world sparkle with fun as well as excitement. He creates an exciting work culture in order to motivate and retain good people (Dearlove, 2007). Richard Branson is a great leader and his unique leadership style has been quite effective; he has shown that any person can get very far in life in spite of the type of background they have and the kind of history they have. He has many leadership abilities and an electric personality, which makes him one of the most influential and effective business leaders in the world. Training and Development for Increasing Branson Attributes Development of the right people- The Virgin Group has developed rapidly because of a clear focus on the development of the right people, using the right systems, the right organizational structure and motivating the groups’ new projects. Leaders should have a clear leadership strategy like Sir Richard Bryson in which the key to build business shrewdness is developing a work environment that enables the employees to use their ideas as well as let go of their pent-up frustration which can build when people have ideas but experience difficulties realizing them within their present work environment. Companies should develop management teams who want to encourage experience in how to implement key ideas is perceived to be a critical success factor in the Virgin Group. The people have to be encouraged to take calculated risks, which are well researched; however, the individuals should be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their success. Financial protection should be afforded for every employee in a new venture started by the company. The other aspect of training and development, which can promote Branson Leadership style, is emphasis on delegation. Leaders should strongly emphasize and support delegation within their workplaces. The role of the individual company within the Virgin Group is to take risks so as to move the company forward towards success. Leaders should focus on the positive attributes of every person as it makes a difference within new ventures as it stimulates the sort of activities, which support enterprises and effectiveness throughout the new business endeavors. The willingness to take risks within a company should be accepted. Virgin group has experienced business mistake and financial losses in the past; however, Bryson ability to take failure as a learning experience encourages a strong focus on the business development reality. The mistakes help a company to re-examine its experience and needs and use the change in an effective manner. Effective leaders also have the capacity to identify effective people to lead new venture. Virgin Group has a policy of choosing the right people to head new ventures and it offers them with a stake in the new venture success. This ability assists the leadership of a new company to focus on satisfying customers’ needs and exploiting business and market opportunities. The most important attribute required to develop new projects or companies is the choice of people as well as establishing correct systems for motivating them. This feature and the capacity to identify gaps in the market and learn how to exploit them with initiative and skill are very critical. Training and development should thus focus on building this capacity. The programs should also emphasize on the need to invest on people in a company. The focus on people in a company is crucial and it is widely believed that investment in the Virgin Group employees has helped the Group managed to attain its objectives faster and hence they manage to beat competition. Recognition of the need to invest in the people in a company leads to a company, which has a clear focus on the gains of new undertakings and the need to cultivate trust all the way through the corporation. It also leads to an emphasis on innovation, a clear emphasis on customer friendliness as well as development of the capacity to deliver high levels of service quality repeatedly. The key to success of the Virgin group lies in their capacity to build business shrewdness, to make and put into practice bold and effective decisions. Leaders should thus be trained to be adept at building business shrewdness, making, and implementing bold and effective decisions. Secondly, training and development should focus on advising the leaders to enjoy what they are doing. One of the leadership qualities of Richard Bryson is creation of an exciting work culture in order to motivate and retain good people. Leaders should be trained to build a business that they are proud of, they should learn be bring talented together and create something which makes a real difference to the lives of other people. Businesses constantly evolve as business is never finished and hence a leader should set out to make a real difference to the lives of other people and realize that. Leaders also have to be trained to create things, which stand out. For products, services or brand businesses thrive and survive in the contemporary world, their leaders have to be creative and engage in things, which are radically different to make a mark. The most successful companies in the last two centuries, such as Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft shook up their respective sectors through investing in things that were never done and continued to improve. Currently, they are dominant forces in the entire world. They create things that the people who work for them and the public are proud. Branson recognizes that his businesses consist of people /employees and they are his biggest assets in his expansion plan and profit making initiatives. As a result, leaders have to learn to appreciate the employees and recognize them for all endeavors that make the company develop. The other attribute of a good leader is being a good listener. As a leader in Virgin Group, Branson is a good listener. Leaders should be trained not to impose their views on other people without first debating; there is no single person with a monopoly on good advice or ideas. The leader should get out there, listen to them, draw them, and learn from them; he or she should also be very good at praising the employees. The employees normally flourish when they are praised. Like Branson, good leaders should be visible; they should be trained not to get stuck behind the desk in an office. They should be active, meet people, and always note people concerns, questions, and good ideas. The training and development should also focus on training leaders to lead the way. Branson has always been an innovator; he has succeeded in endeavors that people have predicted that he would fail. From the railroad and airline industries to peace efforts to alternative sources of energy, he has led the way. Leaders should thus learn to lead the way; they should not follow the rule or shut out very early because of criticisms. The other success habit that leaders should learn is working hard but making sure that they have some fun. One of Sir Branson’s motto is “When it is not fun, move on”. Leaders should follow this example by always incorporating some fun while at work. The leaders should also make every minute count. They should set challenges instead of goals; challenges are important to business success and they are more motivating than goals (Minzberg, 2004). Leaders should also learn to build great teams. Most successful leaders surround themselves with great teams in order for them to put in their strengths. According to Mills, Mills, Bratton & Forshaw (2007), Richard Branson is an apparently effective organizational leader who has the charisma and ability to inspire the workers towards a vision of an international high-performing company. Human Resource Development Program The aim of this HRD program is to prepare new and aspiring employees for promotion to leadership positions. Program Objectives To identify the required training to assist the employees to align their performance with the strategic direction of the company To identify the required training to close some of the existent competency gaps Present strategy for assisting the new and aspiring to be promoted to leadership positions. Organizational Initiatives, which require training support HRD shall prioritize the setting up of learning interventions required to support the following initiatives: 1. Training employees to become influencers and increasing their capacity to form a common purpose among the followers. They should be able to adapt to different leadership style depending on the people they are dealing with and the situation they are in. It is therefore important to create a training and development plan which ensures demonstration of desired behaviors by the employees. 2. Training employees to delegate tasks. The employees should be able to emphasize and support delegation in the workplace. 3. The company recognizes that its success depends on the employees’ capacity to demonstrate commitment, creativeness, and collaboration and to focus on results. In order to make this happen, the company needs to: a. Get the employees to achieve more than they would by themselves b. Equip every person with tools for creatively solving problems or improving performance c. Promoting creativity among employees so that they engage in things, which are radically different to make a mark d. Creation of an exciting work culture in order to motivate and retain good people e. Developing the right people 4. Establishing competency-based appraisal for managing the performance of the employees. The company is aware that in order to increase its capacity to deliver results, it has to support the demonstration of proficiencies that result in high performance through various means of coaching and training 5. Encouraging intellectual stimulation, whereby employees are encouraged to question assumptions and approach old resolutions using new approaches. Training and Development Program Training Issue Objectives Basic Leadership and Management Shift the employee mindset from employees to leaders Development of the right people Identifying the right people To develop a work environment that enables the employees to use their ideas as well as let go of their pent-up frustration To ensure success of new and existence ventures Emphasis on delegation To enable employees take risks so as to move the company forward towards success Focus on people Development of the capacity to deliver high levels of service quality again and again Focus on creation of an exciting work culture This helps to motivate and retain good people Creating products and services which stand out To survive and thrive in the contemporary competitive market Encouraging employees to be good listeners Praising employees To benefit from the wide array of ideas and advice from the employees and the public To enable the employees to flourish Creation of visible leaders who interact with people and the public To benefit from the wide array of ideas and advice from the employees and the public Training employees to lead the way To enable them to become innovators Incorporating fun in the workplaces Making every minute count in the workplace and promoting a workplace without boredom Setting challenges instead of goals Challenges are good motivators Building great teams Strong teams bring in great ideas which promote the growth and development of businesses Management Team building To encourage leaders portray cohesiveness as leaders in an organization Organizational-wide team building Identifying commitment ,results, accountability and conflict management as the main ingredients to teamwork Knowing the other employees in a larger sense so as to learn how well to work with them Describing essential behaviors for creative collaboration Creation of forward program which will assist the employees keep track of their performance as individuals and as a team Managing Performance Designing policy and implementing mechanisms Establishing goal setting when it comes to performance such as setting competencies and Key Performance Indicators Establishing performance monitoring methods Evaluating employee performance Recognizing and rewarding performance Developing the capacity of the employees to perform through coaching and training References Crush, P. (2010). Exclusive: Sir Richard Branson talks to HR Magazine about Leadership. HR Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/features/1018119/exclusive-sir-richard-branson-talks- hr-magazine-leadership Dearlove, D. (2007). Business the Richard Branson way: 10 Secrets of the World’s Greatest Brand Builder. United Kingdom: Capstone Publishing Ltd. Mills, A., Mills, H., Bratton, J., & Forshaw, C. (2007). Organizational behavior in a Global Context. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Mintzberg, H. (2004). Ideas about management. Engaging leadership, Decision, Issue 5, 2004. Northouse, P. (2004). Leadership theory and practice. London: Sage Publications, Inc. Virgin Group (2012). About us. Retrieved fromhttp://www.virgin.com/about-us Zaccaro, S. (2001). The nature of executive leadership. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Read More