What is the biggest factor of great leadership?

This is a question I’m often asked in one way or another, so when Rebecca asked me I figured it was a good chance to share my thoughts with you all!

When I started out in business, there wasn’t any courses or webinars or experts in the field of leadership (at least that I was aware of). I learnt instinctively and on-the-go, and I realised there really isn’t one all-encompassing formula. Everyone responds differently to leadership, so I quickly learnt to adapt to different people’s needs. Some love to be challenged, while others need gentle encouragement and positive reinforcement. As my first businesses (Student Magazine and the Student Advisory Centre) grew, it became harder to provide such a personalised ‘service’, but one thing I knew for sure is that nobody responds badly to kindness. It’s one of the most underrated qualities a leader can embrace. While it’s important to be visionary, inspiring, bold, clear and so forth – people often underestimate the simple power of kindness. As the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart once said: “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.”

Aside from kindness, here are a few other ways to be a great leader:

1. Lead from the front. You’ve got to get out there as a leader. Be visible and walk the walk. Whenever I’m on a Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Australia flight, I like to walk through the cabin chatting to the passengers, playing games, and hearing their feedback. Even when I’m tired, I find it’s an invaluable way of getting real feedback while also inspiring our crew. Once when we had a technical hiccup checking people in to a Virgin Voyages cruise, I stood in the queue waiting with the passengers until it got resolved. Virgin Voyages’ wonderful CEO, Nirmal, stood there with me and we made sure we were the last people to board. You can’t be an inspiring leader unless you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and do anything you would ask your team to do (especially when things don’t go to plan!).

2. Prioritise your people. Lead through positive influence, instead of just instilling authority. I’ve always believed that if you look after your people, your people will look after your business. They are your greatest asset, and you can’t be a good leader if you don’t remind yourself of this every day. A good leader is someone who nurtures people, trains them well, motivates them and looks after their wellbeing. Asserting power is a lot less powerful than it sounds…

3. Get good (really good) at making decisions. Decision-making is one of the most important things you do as a leader, but people don’t talk about it enough. A leader makes decisions countless times a day, so it’s vital to sharpen your instincts and be assertive. Coincidentally, this also answers another question that Isi asked me ahead of this newsletter. He asked if I make decisions collaboratively or instinctively, and the honest answer is both. Honing and trusting your instinct is crucial, but it’s never wise to go it alone. I surround myself with brilliant people who I bounce ideas off every day. It always leads to more refined ideas and more educated decisions. A nice example of this is the launch of Virgin Voyages. I’ve wanted to launch a cruise ship since I was 27-years-old. The urge would crop at various points in my life, but the timing was never right, and I had to trust my instinct that it was better to wait. Finally, an opportunity presented itself in 2014. The finances made sense and the golden days of cruising were over. It was time to bring it back. I got a group of people around me, put down a giant sheet of paper and we wrote down all our ideas: what we love about sailing, what we disliked about cruising, what we could do differently, and what we wouldn’t do at all. We ended up with a ship that was designed like a superyacht and with no buffets or single-use plastic in sight. And we now have three incredible ships (with a fourth on the way) sailing all around the world from Miami to Marseille, sweeping up almost every industry award as they go. I great example of what can happen when you use both instinct and collaboration to make a decision.

Thank you to Rebecca and Isi for sharing these great questions. I hope you found my answers helpful! 

Until next month,

Richard