Sir Richard Branson Research Paper

Throughout history, society has been shaped by its leaders. Whether these are political leaders, spiritual leaders or even scientific or artistic leaders, by definition, these men and women can have a profound and lasting impact on their society. Business leaders are no exception to this phenomenon. Average business leaders can direct a company. Good business leaders can influence an entire society. One example of a good business leader is the noted British entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson. Branson exhibits many qualities found in the world’s most influential business leaders, including vision, courage, determination and a strong personality. He has used these traits effectively to create the multi-billion-dollar venture capital conglomerate

Some are great, others minor. All will require a certain level of determination to overcome. The measure of determination that a business leader possesses will be directly proportional to his effectiveness as a leader. Although born into a well-off family and given many early advantages including private schooling, Branson faced setbacks that would most likely guarantee a life of obscurity for most people. According to professor and author Larisa Shavinina, “[Branson] was dyslexic and an underachiever in school, yet by demonstrating practical intelligence and creative abilities, Branson was able to achieve unbelievable success in business.” (226) Shavinina continues to emphasize Branson’s determination, “Another important aspect is that 16-year-old Richard started his first entrepreneurial venture—Student magazine—from scratch: he did not have any financial resources. The same was true for Virgin Record Shops and Virgin Music, his second and third ventures, respectively.” (226) Branson showed his strength of determination by starting up not only one but three businesses without significant funding. Branson went on to transform one of his first enterprises – a tiny music business (named “Virgin” because everyone involved had no business experience whatsoever) into today’s Virgin Group, with a diverse portfolio of companies and a self-reported revenue of $24 billion. (Virgin