Any organization requires a clear guideline on how day to day activities should be carried out. As such, there is always a person tasked with the responsibility of overseeing activities of the organization. The person can either have qualities of a manager or of a leader. In case of Richard Branson, he has been able to oversee the success of the Virgin Group. It should be noted that Richard Branson is more of a leader than a manager. To begin with, instead of imposing his ideas on people below him, Branson always supports the ideas of his staff members. This can be seen when he jubilantly accepts a proposal by one of his staff to have a wedding department and even goes ahead to dress himself like a bride when marketing the idea.
Another quality that identifies Branson as a leader is the fact that he usually encourages his staff to pursue their dreams. Unlike ordinary managers who want to control ideas that are to be implemented, Branson gives freedom to his staff to come up with various ideas that can work. On the same note, Branson works closely with his staff members to ensure that they become innovative. He avoids the bureaucracy such as boardroom meetings maintained by typical managers to ensure that people working under him are proficient. Moreover, Branson measures his success through the success of his staff. All these are the qualities of a leader, but not a manager.
Among the accomplishments of Branson, there is the fact that he has been able to influence the members of staff to think like him. Notably, staff members of Virgin Group are free to suggest any idea and even try them. On the same note, people working under Branson have a friendly relationship among themselves and do not fear presenting their ideas to him. People work in teams and Branson is viewed as a team member. There is no bureaucracy regarding who is on top and who should give orders.
Everybody in the team is an equal player who can provide solutions to any situation. By going ahead and implementing ideas proposed by members of the staff, Branson boosts employees’ self confidence. As a result, Branson has been able to make his employees buy into his philosophy that creativity is the pillar of the business. Notably, the relationship between Branson and his subordinates, or rather followers, is that of equal team members.
While being at the helm of Virgin Group, Branson has been able to disapprove various myths that people have about leaders. Branson started his first business while he was at school and was able to make it successful. He had not managed any business to gain experience on the intrigues of business management. Moreover, he had not been a leader in any place to gain knowledge on how to be a good one. Nonetheless, he has built one of the most successful companies in the world.
This is against the myth that people have leadership learnt from experience. However, Branson gives his employees freedom to try and implement their dreams. This is despite the fact that he has a talent of leadership himself. He believes that each person can be a leader. This proves that leaders are not necessarily born, they can be made. Lastly, Branson does not assume anything. There is nothing common to him. He takes every idea as unique. This is against the common believe that leadership is all about common sense.