Sir Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, an international conglomerate of some 350 companies, all of them combining for more than $8 bn a year in sales. It is estimated that Branson is worth nearly $6 billion. In 1998 he published his autobiography, Losing My Virginity. He became Sir Richard Branson when he was knighted by the Queen in 1999 for "services to entrepreneurship". He is also the Patron of the International Rescue Corps, which is one of the few truly independent front-line search and rescue organizations in the world.
Richard Branson believes that his leadership style takes its origins in his childhood when he got his first lessons from his mother, a very independent woman, former actress and dancer, gilder pilot and flight attendant. She was number 1 who had influenced how he lives his life till the present day. Sometimes being tough, as he recalls in his Losing My Virginity, she finally always looked for the best in her son.
Born in 1950, Richard Branson at age of 15 gave up his school in Birmingham and moved to London. In 1966 he launched Student, a youth magazine. Now, 40 years later Sir Richard recalls, “I remember when I was asking Vanessa Redgrave or James Baldwin for an interview, and the fact that they took the time to respond meant an enormous amount to me. It inspired me. So it's extremely important to respond to people, and to give them encouragement if you're a leader.”
Virgin as such appeared in 1970 as a mail-order record business and three years later Branson founded Virgin Records, which had suddenly become one of the most successful independent record companies in the UK. In June 1984 Branson established an international airline with a single leased airplane. The airline, Virgin Atlantic Airways, overcame fierce fight with British Airlines and grew into the world's third-largest transatlantic carrier.
Then Richard Branson has built the Virgin Group into an international conglomerate of some 350 companies, all of them combining for more than $8 bn a year in sales. Besides well-known Virgin's music, airline and mobile phone businesses, one can find there limousine companies, wine business, trains, enterprises that rent bikes, make cosmetics, operate bridal shops, run health clubs, sell holidays, offer balloon flights and lingerie etc. For Sir Richard even the sky is not limit - in 2008 Branson’s Virgin Galactic will ferry passengers into Earth's orbit. "The conventional wisdom is you should specialize in what you know and never stray from that, but no other brand has become a way-of-life brand the way Virgin has. We've got people all over the world who are coming up with great new ideas, and trying them doesn't actually cost us a lot", Branson used to say.
What ties all these businesses together are extremely charismatic Branson’s personality, unique corporate structure and people who work for Virgin.
Virgin's unorthodox corporate structure was well established by the late 1980s. Group’s enterprises are a conglomeration of wholly owned subsidiaries and outside partnerships. Branson maintains a controlling interest in every company he starts, but in most cases he oversees each startup, then delegates management and moves on. Exceptions are Virgin's airline and travel businesses, where Branson remains CEO. Thus he has developed a level of trust with his top managers by setting the direction and then stepping back to let them navigate. "I come up with the original idea, spend the first three months immersed in the business so I know the ins and outs and then give chief executives a stake in the company and ask them to run it as if it’s their own," explains Branson.
There are no formal meetings, but informal lines of open communication – it is one more distinguish feature of Branson’s management style. He says, “With Virgin, we make decisions on the phone. If you've got a good idea and I like it, you can get on with it." The key to encouraging innovation and recognizing talent at any level within the Virgin ranks, asserts Branson, is to listen to any ideas and to give feedback. He believes that employees often leave companies, being frustrated by the fact that their ideas are not heard. That’s why interaction between employees and managers is fundamental. For the companies in which he holds a post of chief executive, Branson writes his staff "chitty-chatty" letters to tell them everything that is going on and to encourage them to write him with any suggestions. Every employee has Branson's phone number and home address, and can pitch new project ideas directly. That's how in 1996 a Virgin Airlines flight attendant turned her difficulties in planning her own wedding into an idea of the wedding planning boutique and was promoted by Branson to run a new venture - Virgin Bride, now the largest bridal shop in Europe.
His business philosophy of "look for the best and you'll get the best" helped him build an empire recognized for its fun culture. "For the people who work for you or with you, you must lavish praise on them at all times," Branson says. "If a flower is watered, it flourishes. If not, it shrivels up and dies. It’s much more fun looking for the best in people. People don’t need to be told where they’ve slipped up. They’ll sort it out themselves." Branson is absolutely sure that if an employee is not excelling in one area of the company, he or she should be given the possibility to try in a different Virgin Group job. That is the reason why firing is a very seldom option there.
Branson once said that “leaders have got to make a bigger effort to make sure the people who work for them are enjoying what they’re doing.” “If a chairman of a company visits Seattle,” he continued, “that chairman should take all the staff out in the evening and have a few drinks together, talk together and party together and not be embarrassed about the staff seeing the weaker side of you. They don’t lose respect for you because they see your human side."
The human side of Sir Richard himself is well-known: an epatage and charismatic ladies’ favorite, fan of extreme sports, never using a computer and writing all immediate things to remember on the back of his hand. Today Richard Branson is a living British folk hero as well as one of his nation's wealthiest men. And when he is asked what motivates him to move further above his money and fame, Branson says he sees his own life as the university education he never had. "Every day I meet new people, challenging them and being challenged."
Background links:
The Importance of Being Richard Branson, Knowledge@Wharton Here you can find Branson’s statements about his leadership style, early leadership lessons and treating people he’s working with.
What a Life, Fortune One day spending side by side with Richard Branson.
The Enlightenment of Richard Branson, Fast Company In this article it would be rather interesting to know how Branson explains his attitude to starting any business from the customer service point of view.
Losing My Virginity, Richard Branson (Autobiography)
