Essay Example on Leadership: Traits of Good & Bad Leaders Explored

Introduction

Leadership refers to the art of encouraging, directing, and motivating people so that they strive to attain a common goal. Leaders are people that outstand amongst a group; they possess both leadership skills and qualities that make others admire, adore, and want to follow their direction. Leadership qualities have been observed and studied throughout history. They have been highlighted and showcased by both bad and good leaders. In either of the cases, the leader's traits correlated with their abilities in achieving their goals. Primarily, the very traits exhibited by these leaders determine the extent to which their followers look up to them. Great leaders have struck a balance between their business goals, performance, and character. Their innate characteristics include courage, honor, self-effacement, focus, strategic planning, and enhancing cooperation among their teams. This essay focuses on the principles of leadership and how they are developed by Sir Richard Branson, the leader behind the Virgin Group that started as Virgin Records in the 1970s, and he steered it into the multinational Virgin Group.

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Richard Branson Leadership Profile

Sir Richard Branson is a British business tycoon and entrepreneur. Branson co-created the Virgin Group that has since transformed into a multinational brand with over four hundred businesses in different industries such as entertainment, lifestyle, and travel. The entrepreneur is renowned for his risk-taking and rule-breaking approach. As a businessperson with a flamboyant lifestyle, he inspires his staff and supporters to think out of the box and add value to their day to day businesses and work. Richard Branson always remains vigilant and active in the selection of employees that join his organization. It portrays his understanding and acknowledgment of working with the right people in any business.

Ability to Think Differently

According to Collinson and Tourish (2015), governance doesn't follow a secret recipe; instead, every leader goes about doing things by following their unique approach. Therefore, it is Sir Branson's leadership style of being innovative and thinking outside the box that sets him apart from other leaders. Branson employs a collaborative and democratic approach to leadership. Branson's approach to leadership is different from those of other successful leaders such as Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who employed the autocratic approach to leadership. Despite the differences in approach for both Sir Richard and Steve Jobs, they both enjoy great success. Therefore, leadership skills call for the selection of the approach that best fits your business and optimizing the existing talents.

Positive Company Culture

In line with Sir Richard Branson's views, qualifications are not all that count when leading people. Branson's approach to leadership is of the notion that personality should come before their resume. Therefore, people looking to work at the senior levels in an organization are to have soft people skills that entail to unite, supervise employees, as well as be the guiding factor strong leadership skills. Branson has been quoted as saying an individual with numerous educational qualifications is not always the better choice than an individual with a wide-range experience and a delightful character. The best leader will lead from the front and by example; however, be keen to have some fun in life.

Capability to Delegate

Effective organizational heads have grasped the art of entrustment, an aspect that aids shed off their workload and offer opportunities to go-getting employees (Sostrin, 2017). Sir Richard Branson believes in the delegation. He has perfected the art of scouting for the most excellent employees to work at Virgin and empower them with working liberty ensuring they are successful. The approach is essential in enhancing leadership skills, building confidence, and strengthening businesses.

Practical Approach

According to Branson, great leaders are those that are highly visible and engaging with their personnel, thus employing a practical approach. As such, Branson takes an approach of walking the floor that allows him to know his employees. Although he does not run Virgin's companies on an everyday basis anymore, he still finds it necessary to get out and personally interact with his company's staff. It is critical for a leader to be involved in the business and with their employees as it facilitates workers to view and feel that the leader is part of the team, and not just a boss. Besides, the approach allows Branson to listen, interact with his employees on a personal level.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Sir Richard Branson offers a phenomenon role model for a leader with a unique leadership approach. In Richard Branson's leadership analysis approach, there are leadership attributes that competent leaders should incorporate in their leadership approaches. Success results from having the will to learn; as such, as a leader, it is a necessity to listen and learn from my employees. As the head of an organization, it is imperative to hire people with the essential abilities, experience, determination, and a good culture that fit the business. Taking a chance on people is a leadership philosophy that fosters success. It cultivates commitment and sends a good message to everybody in the organization. As a leader creating a fun work environment passes enthusiasm to your employees and supports a positive work environment. It is a critical element to add to my leadership philosophy as it ensures employees perceive me as a member of their team. Finally, choosing a leadership approach that best suits your organization and set goals is critical to optimizing the productivity of your employees and the success of the organization.

References

Collinson, D., & Tourish, D. (2015). Teaching leadership critically: New directions forleadership pedagogy. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14(4), 576-594. Retrieved from: https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amle.2014.0079

Sostrin, J. (2017). To be a great leader, you have to learn how to delegate well. Harvard Business Review, 1-8. Retrieved from: https://connectthedotsconsulting.com/sites/default/files/clients/To%20Be%20a%20Great%20Leader%2C%20You%20Have%20to%20Learn%20How%20to%20Delegate%20Well.pdf