Richard Branson Leadership

Business Leadership Analysis: Richard Branson
Introduction
Richard Branson rose up from obscurity in England to become one of the most revered business leaders in the world. From a small record shop in London to an independent record label that signed revolutionary bands like The Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones, Branson’s company Virgin became a brand dedicated to doing things differently. The inspiration for Branson, whether it was selling music or selling tickets on Virgin Airlines, was always to fulfill a need that the public had. The style of leadership that Branson thus personified was the servant leadership style: his aim from the beginning was to serve consumers by getting them what they wanted at a price and quality that they could not get anywhere else. The motivation for this essay is to see what lessons can be learned from Branson’s story that can be related to concepts in organizational behavior. This paper will discuss early leadership experiences of Branson, his personality, the values he has embodied and instilled in his company, the organizational culture of Virgin, decision making behaviors that he is famous for, the effectiveness of his style of leadership on his organization, how his ethics are reflected in his organization and decision making process, and the effects of his leadership on Virgin’s overall performance. In the conclusion, a discussion of what I have learned from Branson as a leader will be provided along with a discussion of whether I would have done anything differently had I been in his shoes.
Early Experiences
Early experiences taught Branson a lot. He dropped out of school to pursue a non-academic life—and his headmaster told him that he would either end up in jail or a millionaire (De Vries, 1998). Branson actually did both. His early record shop did well but Branson himself had not mastered the fine arts of income tax reporting—and he had to spend a night in prison after being charged with tax evasion (De Vries, 1998). Branson learned from the experience and upped his awareness of business law so that he would not repeat the same mistake. However, as far as ingenuity, he was just getting started. His headmaster had aptly perceived in Branson a fire burning that would drive Branson all the way to the top of the business world. That fire consisted of Branson’s own personal charisma and the willingness to do just about anything in order to promote himself and his brand (De Vries, 1998).
Branson would go on to establish the Virgin brand (the name came from his awareness of being a “virgin” when it came to running a business), which would become a major record label and an airline among many other businesses. Branson’s early lessons, both in business as a small record shop owner and as a student dropping out of school, taught him that in life all one needs is a little vision and a little motivation—and big things can happen. At the same time, it pays to know the rules and to observe all laws so as to not run afoul of The Law.
Personality
Branson’s force of personality was really what drove him to succeed in the business world. He also had a keen sense of what people wanted. His initial record shop was a response to the demand among young people for more affordable records. His Virgin record label was a response to young, alternative bands not getting signed by the major record labels because they were too outside the mainstream. Branson recognized talent when he saw it. His intuition and people skills were extraordinarily high—and that allowed him to sign some of the biggest names in rock music, including the Rolling Stones and The Sex Pistols (Entrepreneur, 2008). In terms of using his personality to grow his business and expand the Virgin brand name to a number of other businesses and industries, Branson knew that technical skills were not enough for a leader of an organization to be successful. Branson needed and possessed great interpersonal skills, which Robbins and Judge (2017) acknowledge are essential for optimal management of organizational behavior.
Branson understood intuitively that a leader must be able to develop strong relationships with followers in order to achieve organizational goals. Branson’s personality was such that he attracted the awe, respect, enthusiasm and admiration of those with whom he came into contact. His dynamic smile and willingness to let himself hang out there no matter how odd or preposterous he looked or sounded—this fire of personality he possessed enabled him to be exceptional at developing relationships with others, communicating his vision, and serving his workers so that they in turn would serve the vision and achieve the goals that he set out for himself and for his variety of teams.
He also understood the power of making an impression. As Ladkin (2008) points out, Branson engaged in impression management: the process of taking very specific steps to convey a very specific impression to others. For example, when Branson was trying to establish Virgin as a brand, he would perform little tricks to give important clients the impression that he was the “real deal,” so to speak: one trick he frequently used was to call important clients from a pay phone. He would call the operator and have the operator connect the call for him so that the client would get a call and hear, “I have Mr. Branson for you,” from the operator. The client would think that Branson had his own service and thus was a very successful label (Ladkin, 2008). Another trick he employed was to have someone in his office shout across the room when Branson was on the phone with a client—the team member would shout the name of an important person in the British government and that he was on the other line (Ladkin, 2008). Small tricks like this were part of Branson’s personality and his penchant for self-promotion. It was this penchant for tricks that his headmaster at school realized would either land the young man in jail or lead him on to be rich and famous.
Values
Branson’s values were best articulated when he stated that “customer service is everything in the end” (Gallo, 2013). Though he would engage in small tricks and self-promotion, he knew that the product and the service had to ultimately close the sale in the end. Unless the service was special, no consumer would stick around for long. For that reason, Branson focused on providing great customer service through his Virgin brand and industries.
He also knew that to please customers, a leader first had to please his own workers and employees. That is why he stated, “If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of your customers and your customers will take care of your shareholders” (Entrepreneur, 2008). Serving others was the ultimate value in Branson’s eyes. One could employee little tricks to get their attention, but that was just a stunt—a marketing ploy. There had to be real substance behind what one was doing or else one would, as the headmaster rightly predicted, end up in jail. Branson avoided any substantial jail time because he did offer service—and he backed up his publicity stunts with real quality.
Branson was, in the end, a servant leader. Branson was able to achieve great things as a leader because he used the tools of servant leadership to engage others. He employed emotional and social intelligence to understand what consumers wanted and how he could support his teams and organizations to help get consumers what they desired. He knew the importance of making an impression and that clients wanted to work with others who were focused on being successful themselves. He knew that the company one keeps ends up dictating the company one makes. The essence of this kind of intelligence was in his ability to read people and environments. He saw the power that music was having on his generation and he found a way to get great music to consumers when business leaders showed no interest. When it came to starting an airline, he did so simply because he felt the airlines in existence already were not doing a good enough job getting flyers where they wanted to go on time (Zeveloff, 2011).
Branson had no interest in trying to exploit people are make a dollar in the same manner as myriad other faceless corporations that are all piggy-backing over one another, chasing after the same goal. Branson looked at the businesses caught up in the rat race and gets frustrated with the way they do business. They put profits before people. Branson’s goal was to put people before profits—and in doing that he has been able to achieve immense profits. But the goal was never to make a fortune. The goal, rather, was to serve others by doing for them what no one else would or could (Gallo, 2013).
Organizational Culture
Richard Branson has stated, “There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated” (Virgin, 2018). That means Branson invoked the Golden Rule when developing the organizational culture of Virgin. This rule underscores the servant leadership approach. It was the message the Christ gave to His followers, and it is a message that has been communicated universally throughout the course of human history. That Branson should embrace it as the basic essence of his company’s core indicates that deep down he has been paying attention: no one wants to be treated pettily or taken advantage of. If one can be a decent human being and treat others fairly and with respect and do so by setting the example for others to follow, one will have a good organizational culture.
Diversity, emotions, attitudes, motivation, communication—all of the issues of the modern workplace that so many organizations have problems with are simple at Virgin. Virgin respects and appreciates diversity because the company has fostered a culture of respect for all people. It provides emotional support because its leader has emotional intelligence. It stimulates the right kind of attitudes among its workers because it knows how to motivate them both intrinsically and extrinsically, using praise, appreciation, bonuses, benefits, and promotions to do so. As Gerhart and Fang (2015) have shown, organizations succeed when their leaders understand the great importance of mastering the art of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation—and Branson has mastered that art.
Decision Making Behaviors, Ethics and Effectiveness
As Ladkin (2008) notes, aesthetic development is one of the key characteristics of leaders who “lead beautifully” (p. 13). Branson certainly embodies the beautiful leader who managers to make leadership look like an art. But Ladkin (2008) posits that leading beautifully is rooted in the art of leading ethically. Ethical leadership is the foundation of good decision making behavior—and, after all, a leader demonstrates leadership best when making tough decisions that have to be made. From the beginning, Branson showed himself willing to make those decisions—and he also learned why being a moral leader is so important. His early run-in with the law when he was charged with tax evasion taught him a valuable lesson that he took to heart—the importance of being ethical and of leading ethically. Branson was embarrassed by his early encounter with the law in the UK, and it was not something he wanted to repeat (De Vries, 1998). For that reason, he made sure that every business decision he made from that point on was fully in compliance with the law.
By leading ethically and beautifully, as Ladkin (2008) puts it, Branson has emulated a kind of classical approach to leadership that connects success with the idea of the “good life”—i.e., the life worth living because it is moving towards something higher than oneself. In terms of Branson’s leadership style, that something higher would be the service of others. But there is also something even simpler about what Branson does when it comes to making decisions: he asks himself what purpose will it serve? Is this something that people need or want? For the leaders of Enron, who led by subterfuge and deception and ultimately reaped what they sowed, leadership was disconnected from morality, ethics, beauty and service unto others. The Enron leaders were serving only themselves. Branson never had the idea of serving himself in mind. Had he, he would not have made so many good decisions in his life. When it comes to leading Virgin, Branson has always made decisions by examining the function of the action: what is its purpose? Is there a point? Is this helpful? Is this needed? Whether it was getting records out the door into young hands who wanted access to affordable music, or whether it was signing Mick Jagger and the rest of the Stones to a contract, or whether it was introducing a new airline to the world, the question has always been—will this be beneficial? By asking that question, Branson has been able to be an effective decision-maker.
Branson’s Source of Power
When it comes to Branson’s source of power, the answer would have to be his own personal charisma. His willingness to engage in publicity stunts, parades, flamboyant spectacle, and personal charm is why he has been so successful in turning Virgin into a major brand label. He also looks to surround himself with other innovators. As De Vries (1998) states, Branson looks for talent when staffing his companies: “he looks for people with innovative ideas who will start new businesses, people who want to be the best at whatever they are doing” (p. 16). At the same time, he is unwilling to put profits before people because he knows that people will always come first, no matter who or what you are. People are what matter—and people are, in this sense, the real source of Branson’s power. Branson knows that “people like to be proud of something and feel that they have made a meaningful contribution to the world” (De Vries, 1998, p. 16). Likewise, Branson’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (he manufactured condoms to help address the AIDS crisis in Africa, and he placed a bid to buy the UK lottery with the intention of donating all proceeds to charity) has helped to drive him in his work as well. De Vries (1998) states that “a leader’s wish to engage in good works, to look beyond the bottom line, is a very effective way of motivating and challenging people to work” (p. 16). Branson enjoys pursuing good works because he believes it is the right thing to do. He wants to make a difference in the world—not just manufacture useless junk that no one needs but that they are convinced they should buy because it was marketed to them in an effective way.
Effects of Branson’s Leadership on Virgin’s Performance
Branson’s leadership has paid off. Virgin has launched hundreds of businesses around the world, many of them quite successful. Branson’s Virgin Group is routinely voted as one of the top 10 best companies to work for (Krapivin, 2018). Branson himself has a net worth of $5 billion—which is quite significant considering that he came from humble beginnings and never even finished school (Krapivin, 2018). Branson’s leadership has thus been quite effective for Virgin. As Preston (2017) notes, Branson’s leadership has been “all about taking the venture forward and finding viable new avenues where the business can evolve and prosper”—and that is the main reason he has succeeded time and time again. Branson has never sat still and accepted the status quo. On the contrary, he has viewed the status quo as something to be shaken up. A business organization that hates the thought of rocking the boat is a business organization destined to be rocked by the winds of change and sunk by the tsunami of advancement. Branson has always insisted on keeping his companies going forward and never becoming stagnant.
Branson’s secret is, of course, people—and he seeks positive people to place in leadership positions. He has stated, “If you choose somebody who genuinely loves people and looks for the best in people, that’s critical and if you bring someone in who isn't good with people then you can destroy the company very quickly” (Krapivin, 2018). For Branson, positive feedback is an important part of leading a company. People want to be motivated for giving their input. Even if the incentive is as simple as an expression of thanks or small praise, this is much better than negative feedback, which can turn people off and run them away. Branson has filled Virgin Group with positive workers who want to pass on positivity to one and all. That is what makes him similar to the founder of Southwest Airlines—they both know the value that a positive “people person” brings to an organization (Gallo, 2013).
Conclusion
What I learned from Richard Branson and his leadership at the helm of Virgin is that being a visionary is really only half the battle. To be an effective business leader and to promote effective organizational behavior, one has to truly love making a difference and doing positive things for people. Everyone in the world is in need of something—and a leader who can recognize that fact and provide that which is needed is a leader who puts people first. Branson is such a leader—that is what I learned from researching his leadership style.
I also learned that it is important for a business leader to be rooted to ethics. Branson did not give ethics much of a thought initially—at least not in terms of making sure all taxes were paid. However, his early run-in with the law for tax evasion drove the point home that ethical leadership is a must. A leader must lead beautifully and must be able to guide others meaningfully to the “good life”—which is really where everyone wants to be.
By treating others as he would want to be treated, Branson sets the tone early on and embraces the Golden Rule. This is the essence of his organizational culture, and it is a culture that fosters positive organizational behavior. He is devoted to corporate social responsibility and it shows: he attracts like-minded people who want to make a difference in the world rather than sit idly by and let the status quo march on.
Branson also recognized the impact of impression management. This was one of the most surprising aspects of his story that I admired: his willingness to use small tricks in order to make a big impression on clients to get their business. Yet, at the end of the day, he knew he had to back up the impressions with quality products and service—otherwise none of it would matter at all anyway.
The one decision that I would have made differently, however, would have been the sale of Virgin Records to keep Virgin Airlines afloat. I feel that running an airline is just too much of a commercial enterprise for a man like Branson. He is anti-establishment to the core: he loves shaking things up and doing things differently. I would have kept the one business that embodied that ethos more than any other—the rock and roll label. To sell that in order to keep a failing airline afloat seems to go against the grain—but Branson wanted to see his airline succeed—so that is the one business decision I would have made differently. I would have felt that, as a leader, one should always stay true to one’s core values—and, really, Virgin started out as a record company, so to sell the record label business to prop up a commercial airline business seems to suggest that one is deviating from one’s core values. However, I understand that Branson really wanted to change the airline industry and keep his dream alive—so I can appreciate that. I, however, would have cut my losses with the airline and kept the Virgin label going strong.

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