Knowledge@Wharton published an article about the way Richard Branson, owner and founder of The Virgin Group, is managing.
Interesting!
It is difficult to separate the success of the Virgin brand from the flamboyant man behind that brand. […] “Advertising costs enormous amounts of money these days. I just announced in India that I was setting up a domestic airline, and we ended up getting on the front pages of the newspaper. The costs of that in advertising terms would have been considerable.” Visibility is good, says Branson, “as long as you’re not in the headlines for the wrong reasons.”
What is the most important quality of a good leader? “Having a personality of caring about people is important,” he says. “You can’t be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.” He reinforces that message with all his CEOs and top managers.
Branson places enormous value on time management skills. As chairman of a large group of firms, Branson says he spends about a third of his time on trouble shooting, another third on new projects, both charitable and business, and the last third on promoting and talking about the businesses he has set up. He also makes time for family and vacation.
In order for this process to work, employees must be happy. Branson says his philosophy of “look for the best and you’ll get the best” helped him build an empire recognized for its young, 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 or made a mess of something. They’ll sort it out themselves.”
Motivational strategies extend to innovative ideas. The key to encouraging innovation within the Virgin ranks, suggests Branson, is to listen to any and all ideas and to offer feedback. Employees often leave companies, he reasons, because they are frustrated by the fact that their ideas fall on deaf ears. Interaction between employees and managers is fundamental. For the companies in which he serves as both chief executive and chairman, Branson writes his staff “chitty-chatty” letters to tell them everything that is going on and to encourage them to write him with any ideas or suggestions. He gives them his home address and phone number. He responds with a letter personally, even if he doesn’t follow up and deal with the details.
“Some 80% of your life is spent working,” says Branson. “You want to have fun at home; why shouldn’t you have fun at work? I think 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, 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. They actually gain more respect for you.”
When asked what motivates him to grow now that he has money and fame, Branson says he sees his own life as the long university education he never had. “Every day I meet new people, challenging them and being challenged.” Virgin is poised, he believes, to make a real difference. “Because I don’t see Virgin as a company but as a way of life and I fully enjoy it, I don’t think I’ll ever retire,” says Branson.