Sir Richard Bransen Case

Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on July 18, 1950 in Surrey, England. His parents both worked blue collar jobs with average pay. At the age of 13 he transferred from an all-boys school to a boarding school. In the year 1966 Richard, noted to have dyslexia, dropped out of school at the age of 16. It was at this time that he actually began his first business endeavor. He started a youth-culture magazine by the name Student. This magazine which was ran by students, simply for students, grossed $8,000 on its first publication. Once Branson covered the costs with advertisings, the first print of 50,000 copies was distributed for free. Just 4 year later Branson began a record mail order business. A year later he founded chain of record stores, currently known as Virgin Megastores. Branson's Virgin brand expanded quickly throughout the 80’s. He went on to make the Virgin Records music label much larger, as well as, to create Virgin Atlantic Airways. The Sunday Times Rich List reports him to be worth over £4 billion (equivalent to US$7.8 billion).

Sir Richard Branson is an anomaly. He started out a high school dropout and worked his way to being a multi-billionaire. Mr. Branson has become an icon as a leader in his business endeavors and the industries in which they are in. According to Hellreigel, D. & Slocum, J., (2011), through his company Virgin Group, LTD, Mr. Branson “has turned a lifelong disdain for conventional business wisdom into a multibillion dollar global conglomerate and one of the worlds most recognized brands” (p. 344). Certainly one of the keys to the Branson name and legacy are his unconventional ways. Even though Mr. Branson is a very successful entrepreneur, he is not generally favored or even liked in the conventional business world. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that Branson is not particularly concerned with being an expert in the ways of the industry, as much as he is about his beliefs regarding the people who work for him. “Some have suggested that Branson and the Virgin brand attract almost a cult following, and it works both ways-many people admire Branson, but some detest him” ( Hellreigel, D. & Slocum, J. 2011).

Mr. Branson’s leadership style is an example of the Situational Leadership Model. “The situational leadership model states that the style of leadership should be matched to the level of readiness of the followers” ( Hellreigel, D. & Slocum, J. 2011). The Virgin group consists of over 200 companies in many countries. This means that Mr. Branson’s leadership style has to be compatible in a wide variety of dynamics within the business world. By using the Situational Leadership Model, Mr. Branson’s leadership style has changed over time from a telling style in which the leader provides very clear instructions, gives specific directions and supervises the work very closely. As the employees become better equipped