Defining Leadership: Sir Richard Branson

I’m at the McAfee Focus event this week. They had Sir Richard Branson on the stage talking about leadership. He has an interesting take on leadership and Steve Jobs. Branson was one of those featured years ago in Steve Jobs’ think different campaign. Called Here’s to the Crazy Ones, the commercial ends with the thought that the people crazy enough to think they can change the world are often the ones who do.

Leadership
Branson has a unique view of leadership and you can easily see why people like working for him. He feels that the greatest leaders listen and continue to learn after they have become leaders, they learn to delegate, and, while he didn’t say this, he implied that they have a passion for what they do. Great leaders get out in front and aren’t afraid to fight for what they believe in. On this last note, he spoke about British Airways and how they played dirty tricks like hacking into Virgin’s computers to gain competitive information, and an aggressive campaign to disparage Virgin’s executive team. He went to war and got one of the largest legal settlements against this larger competitor.

In the end, you are left with the image of a man who enjoys what he does, ensures he balances work and personal life, is a fair competitor who doesn’t tolerate dirty tricks from others, and someone who leads from the front a group of folks who are likely to follow him anywhere – because he truly cares about them and the firms he owns.

I fly Virgin Airlines myself and have found it to provide one of the best experiences in the air. In short, from personal experience, Branson seems to drive a level of customer satisfaction that is in line with Apple, but without the unfortunate consequences.

Richard Branson on Steve Jobs
Branson is a fan of Steve Jobs, but the management style is vastly different. Branson delegates heavily and provides for significant autonomy, Jobs was a massive micro-manager. Branson focuses on making his companies great places to work, Jobs not so much.   Both executives had a deep connection to their products and were the face of their companies, but Branson appeared to be very focused on ensuring he had fun and Jobs was more driven. This partially led to his demise, because it put massive amounts of stress on him.
The lasting lesson is that you can be successful and still have fun, you can be successful and still treat your folks well, and you can still be successful and do a few truly crazy things like Virgin Galactic. In the end, you are left with the view that the ad that focused on “The Crazy Ones” was more about Branson than Jobs.
Branson clearly admired Steve Jobs and thinks highly of Apple’s products, but he also thinks there are other important aspects of running a successful company. He demonstrates that belief and he spends a great deal of his time to tackle international problems associated with making the world a better place. In short, Branson puts what he cares about first and this is reflected in his companies, employees, and philanthropic efforts. He drives ideas like job sharing, which shift more focus on the personal lives he argued could massively reduce unemployment while improving work/life balance for many.

In short, he argued you could be a success and still be a great leader, with great products, by just having the right priorities.

Sir Richard Branson for President?
The latest Republican Debate was coincidently going to be held in the same complex the evening after Branson’s talk. Branson articulated a better plan to address long term joblessness than either party has so far presented. He demonstrated personal values that were less about ideological differences and more about making companies and countries successful while also improving the quality of life. He even pointed out that he uses all the profits from his dirty businesses to develop alternative fuels. I was left wondering what it would take to get someone like Branson to run for President, or to get one of the existing candidates to be more like Branson.

In the end, if only one idea came through to other leaders, his primary directive that his firms never do anything they would be embarrassed to read about in the paper, is one that most leaders, and virtually every politician, should learn and follow.