Leadership and Teamwork: A Reflective Portfolio on Leadership Theories, Conflict Management, and Different Styles of Leadership

This reflective portfolio explores the impact of leadership and teamwork on organizational success. It covers leadership theories, a summary of leadership and conflict in an organization, and a critical reflection on different styles of leadership from work experience. The study emphasizes the importance of effective leadership in managing conflicts and achieving organizational goals.

A reflective
portfolio on
Leadership and
Teamwork in the
private organization

Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................3
Critical discussion on leadership theories..........................................................................................3
A summary of a journal article on leadership and conflict in an organization...............................5
A critical reflection on different styles of leadership from your work or volunteering experience.
...............................................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................8
References............................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
The Leadership and teamwork have a direct impact on an organization's ability to
accomplish its mission which requires to make sure everyone in team is moving in the same
direction and working towards the same goal.Teams are a form of group usually devoted to
production or problem solving. Due to the combined energies and talents of the members,
teams can often achieve higher levels of performance than individuals.The leader is a group
role associated with a high-level position that can be formally or informally recognized by
group members. Leadership is a complex of beliefs, communication patterns and behaviours
that influence the functioning of a group and induce a group to carry out its task.Leadership is
about motivation, teamwork emphasizes cooperation (Stahl, K., 2019). There is an awareness
that for the team to perform at its best, each member must demonstrate a collaborative
attitude. The study covers the reflective portfolio on leadership and teamwork which working
as leader in Tesco. The study covers leadership theories, a summary of leadership and
conflict organisation. Further more the critical reflection is provided on different styles of
leadership from the work experience.
Critical discussion on leadership theories
Leadership is the ability to influence and lead an individual or group of individuals,
supporters, or other members of an organization.Leadership theory examines the qualities of
good leaders. Effective leadership is based on ideas, both original and inherited, that are
effectively conveyed to others in a way that engages them enough to act as the leader wants
them to do (Bennis, W.G., 2017).Leadership theories are the explanations of how and why
certain people become leaders. They focus on the traits and behaviours people can adopt to
improve their leadership skills. The leadership theories are as follows-
 Behavioural theory- It is also known as style theory which focuses on how leaders
behave and traits are assumed that can be copied by another leader.This style suggest
that leaders are not born successful but, in the organisation, they can be created based
on learnable behaviour.Behavioural theories of leadership focus heavily on the actions
of a leader. Action instead of qualities are the focus of behavioural learning theory.
Behavioural patterns are observed in this theory and categorized as leadership styles.
While working in Tesco as leader this theory helped in learning and deciding
what actions needs to be implemented to become what kind of leader I want to be

(Aufderheide, P., 2018). This allowed me flexibility and can be used in several
circumstances. It also helps in suggesting the capability of becoming leader. With this
theory it has some drawback that does not defines how to behave in certain situations.
In this as tsk oriented leaders the process will be looked to see if something can be
adjusted in the workflow and as people oriented there will be look on individual and
issues are asked rightly. The Behavioural Leadership Theory helped me as a leaders
focus on their actions and use their decisions to be a great leader.
 Contingency theory-This is also known as situational theory which focuses on
context of leader. This theory oversees at the situational effect on the success and
failure of leader.The effectiveness of a manager is directly determined by the
situational context. While a leader's personality is a small factor in their success, the
most important factor is the leader's context and situation (Pearce, Wood, and
Wassenaar, 2018). This theory takes up the specific leadership styles and suggests that
good leaders can adapt their leadership style to the situation. It also suggests that
finding the right type of leader for a given situation may be best.
While working as leader in Tesco it helped in to become an effective leader in
according to situation and on importance it is been focused. As leader internal and
external factors are analysed in a specific situation. I understand that it emphasizes
both the manager's personality and the situation in which the manager is operating. It
is characterized by three factors that create favourable or unfavourable situations. The
factors are leadership-member relationships, task structure and position of power.
 Great man theory-It is called by the name of trait theory which defines that good
leader are born. It has innate traits and skills which makes the great and the things
which can be taught or learned. Due to their special traits the leaders deserve to be in
their position. This type of leader often has the natural characteristics of intelligence,
courage, trust, intuition and charm, among other things. This is unscientific which do
not belongs to modernleadership. It brings order to chaos and leaders are born with
traits making them capable of becoming Great Men (Holenweger, Jager, and Kernic,
eds., 2017).
In Tesco, this theory helped me in bringing focus on leadership and its
elements. In such theory two assumptions were made that there are certain

characteristics and traits presented inherently in people and second is the need of
leaders, great leaders arise from it.
 Managementtheory- Management theory is sometimes referred to as transactional
leadership and emphases on supervision, organization, and group performance.
Transactional leadership is a structure of rewards and punishments which is used
regularly in business. The employees are rewarded in the organisation by the leaders
on doing something successful and in the same they are also punished for the failure.
The rewards and punishments are based on idea that working is done for only getting
rewards. This can be effective as positive reinforcement is produced by motivating,
encouraging employees to be success. Whereas morale can be decreased in the
organisation due to punishments (Schwarzmüller, Brosi, Duman, and Welpe, 2018). It
viewed as effective leadership as result-oriented and hierarchical. Transactional
executives prioritize order and structure over creativity.
A summary of a journal article on leadership and conflict in an organization.
Leadership is an important Concept for every organisation. It is all about sharing the
necessary ideas thoughts and opinions and guidance for the Welfare of organisation and its
employees. No Organisation would seek less talented staff and wants to attain higher level of
productivity and profitability from their end. The four leadership plays a vital role in order to
achieve highest profitability and best outcome from the employees. The leaders are liable for
guiding instructing the employees in order to complete all the tasks and activities and also
how to behave and act within an organisation working environment is also taught by leaders
to their team members (Tanveer, and.et.al, 2018). Leaders guide and will impact highly on
that in building as employees will learn from them and apply all the knowledge in their
practice. The leadership and organisational conflict are interconnected as conflict arises due
to people mismanagement and poor coordination among them. Organisation is a group of
number of people which create interactions of People with different behaviour, attitude and
skills. So that, it is required to have an effective leadership to dissolve the entire crisis and
perform efficient practices at workplace. Conflict arises due to an appropriate work
conditions and confusion that may frustrate employees while working. Conflicts are the
elements which fluctuate objectives of organisation and leads to in achievement of goals
within a stipulated time period. When all the work depends on employees coordination and
teamwork conflicts are the key hurdles that needs to be manage by leaders properly.
Therefore, a potential leader is the one who have soft and polite nature problem-solving skills

and great communication strategy through which they can interact with the team and solve
internal queries as well as conclusion. The more employees will be remaining out of the
confusion and clear with their job roles and responsibilities, the more they will be chances of
fewer conflicts in an organisation. Leaders needs to be attentive as well as active about the
performance of employees so that they could take necessary actions at initial level which will
necessary actions at initial level. This will help in analysing what employees want and keep
them motivated towards own team. Leadership may impact both in positive and negative way
on organisational conflicts. It depends on the way of how the leaders treat their subordinates
police top leaders are the inspirational character for their teams which a directly on their
behaviours and attitudes towards work (Cheung, Yeung,. and Wu, 2018). The conflict arises
mainly due to improper work conditions and poor lines of communication due to which
employees can satisfied and lead to create disputes. The team members need to be changed in
such a manner that they could manage workplace activities in the absence of leaders.
Any types of conflict arise at the workplace. This describes as cognitive and relational
which impact negatively on employee’s performance. Cognitive conflicts may arise due to
task and performance. When employees are not happy with their task or face any miss
happening during that it will lead to create a conflict that will impact on task completion.
There are various ways that impact on leadership and employees performance. Different
individuals have different behaviour which has own perception to manage workplace attitude
and maintain coordination but sometimes these conflicts lead to create emotional barriers.
Conflicts and disputes needs to be managed as earliest as possible( Abbasi, 2018).
. They create many work politics and informal relation which needs to be determined
through making a regular communication with employees.
A critical reflection on different styles of leadership from your work or volunteering
experience.
Leadership defines as the crucial Concept for organisation. there are different leaders
who have particular trait and skills to manage their team and tasks. These riddles adopt
different styles and various techniques to guide and manage team work. These leaders help
organisation to achieve their goals and objectives properly and keep employees satisfied and
motivated. As my own workplace experience in Tesco, I have come through which many
styles which I can utilise to be an effective leader and a goal model for my team member. The
behavioural style of leadership is very clear and precise in their guidance. This style is used
to undertake important decisions and clear guidelines to the team. These leaders are quite

strict in their work as they want the particular outcome which they have expected from the
employees (McKibben, 2017). In my own experience while working in Tesco, I have seen
leaders of other departments that they maintain a strong relationship and take decisions on
prompt basis which helped them to achieve deadlines in work completion. But this kind of
leader could not maintain good communication with employees as they are particular about
their standards. This strictness leads to reduce the level of creativity and innovation.
Participative style this leadership style is the most effective and vital for an organisation. The
leaders focus on getting employees participation and their interaction with other team
members. This style keeps the employees motivated and valued. While working at Tesco, I
find this leadership helpful in taking decisions which require employees consent also. It helps
me bringing new and creative ideas to make any relevant changes in my department. The
employees remain motivated and I felt that they are working dedicatedly to support
organisational goals and objectives (Rai, and Agarwal, 2018). I have also analysed that
excess participation will lead to create confusion and delay in other activities. As organisation
work in diversity operations which require valuable time for those activities also .therefore I
somehow find difficulty in working on other areas due to excessive time consumption in this
style of leadership.
Transactional leadership is also one of the most used and vital organisational
leadership style which makes a leader specific and time bound about achieving the goals and
a performance. This type of leader is believed in giving rewards and punishments for height
of humans and low productivity respectively. These leaders are focus on setting clear aims
and objective for short term winnings. I found myself as a transactional leader that helps me
managing time activity object is and productivity at the same time. These leadership styles
help me in bringing customer workplace achievements due to which my team members does
not lead to any conflict or confusion state. I believe in equality which reflects in my
leadership trait that I give reward to the best potential team member to boost its motivation
and make them an inspiration for others. These are the most effective styles of leadership
which are found to be useful to be an effective leader. Every individual adopt their own style
as per their capabilities (Fiaz, Su, and Saqib, 2017). I need to develop some good
communication as well as management skills so that I could engage my employees more
prominently and communicate about necessary information with them. Due to shortage of
time and diversify and activities we did not get much time which leads to create workplace

conflicts and confusion. This will lead to break relations and team Unity. I need to provide a
valuable guidance and proper training to the Employees to prepare them as a future leader.
It has critically evaluated that the employees must be remain motivated and satisfied
whether a leader any of the styles of leadership. Every technique needs to be used smartly
and within a specific time frame. Or else, it would not be beneficial for the organisation as its
profitability depends on employee’s morality.
Conclusion
It is concluded that leadership is the ability to lead a group of people in pursuit of a
common goal. This is done by people who use their leadership skills. Executives create
commitment and enthusiasm among their followers in order to achieve goals. Leadership is
achieved through the interaction between leader, follower and environment. There is a
general belief that leadership is critical to the effective functioning and success of
organizations and societies. Teamwork is becoming more and more important in modern
organizations and, as long as teams are effectively formed, managed and implemented, can
offer a competitive advantage in terms of increased employee satisfaction, creativity and
innovation.

References
Books and journals
Abbasi, S.G., 2018. Leadership styles: Moderating impact on job stress and health. Journal of
Human Resources Management Research, 2018, pp.1-11.
Aufderheide, P., 2018. Media literacy: From a report of the national leadership conference on
media literacy. In Media literacy in the information age (pp. 79-86). Routledge.
Bennis, W.G., 2017. Post bureaucratic leadership. In American Bureaucracy (pp. 165-187).
Routledge.
Cheung, F., Yeung, D.Y. and Wu, A.M., 2018. Employees’ perception of leadership styles
and successful aging in the workplace. Journal of Career Development, 45(6),
pp.610-624.
Fiaz, M., Su, Q. and Saqib, A., 2017. Leadership styles and employees' motivation:
Perspective from an emerging economy. The Journal of Developing Areas, 51(4),
pp.143-156.
Holenweger, M., Jager, M.K. and Kernic, F. eds., 2017. Leadership in extreme situations.
Cham: Springer.
McKibben, L., 2017. Conflict management: importance and implications. British Journal of
Nursing, 26(2), pp.100-103.
Pearce, C.L., Wood, B.G. and Wassenaar, C.L., 2018. The future of leadership in public
universities: is shared leadership the answer?. Public Administration Review, 78(4),
pp.640-644.
Rai, A. and Agarwal, U.A., 2018. A review of literature on mediators and moderators of
workplace bullying: Agenda for future research. Management Research Review.
Schwarzmüller, T., Brosi, P., Duman, D. and Welpe, I.M., 2018. How does the digital
transformation affect organizations? Key themes of change in work design and
leadership. mrev management revue, 29(2), pp.114-138.
Stahl, K., 2019. Teamwork During Mass Casualty Incidents and Disasters. In Disasters and
Mass Casualty Incidents (pp. 159-161). Springer, Cham.
Tanveer, and.et.al, 2018. Antecedents of frontline manager handling relationship
conflicts. International Journal of Conflict Management.