Tesco Leadership and Management: Theory, Practice, and Reflection

This essay provides an analysis of leadership and management theories and their practical application within Tesco, a multinational public limited company. It includes a critical reflection on personal experiences in both team member and leadership roles. The essay discusses situations encountered during voluntary work and internship experiences at Tesco, highlighting the application of autocratic and democratic leadership styles, as well as the leader-member exchange and strength-based leadership theories. The author reflects on their observations of leadership practices, including planning, delegation, communication, and decision-making. The analysis covers both the benefits and drawbacks of different leadership styles, emphasizing the importance of adapting strategies to enhance team performance and achieve organizational goals. Personal experiences and lessons learned are shared, with a focus on improving skills such as planning, decision-making, and team management. The essay concludes by underscoring the crucial role of leadership and management in effectively managing daily operations and fostering growth within an organization.

Leadership and Management Theory and Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................8
APPENDIX......................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Leadership and management are two important terms which is beneficial for an organisation.
It helps in completing work on time and better plans can be made for growth and development of
company (Harris and Jones, 2018). It is important to apply leadership theories and styles so that
work can be done properly and it help in accomplishing targets of firm. Tesco is a public limited
company which was founded in the year 1919. Its headquarter is situated in Welwyn Garden
City, Hertfordshire, England, UK and serves all over the world. The report examines, critical
reflection of own experience of leadership and development plan for future.
MAIN BODY
Voluntary work
Situation
I was working in Tesco company and managers have given work in team which we have
to complete within the given time period. Different teams were made and leaders were appointed
for every team so that work can be completed on time. It was difficult for manager to distribute
work among employees and divide team because all the people are from different culture and
they are not interacting properly. After work is given to all teams, it was the responsibility of
leader to give instruction to team members so that work can be done properly and to avoid
confusion or misunderstanding. I observe the work done by leader and noticed that it is not easy
to handle all team members as there are many issues which may arise. For accomplishing goals
and objectives, leaders are working hard and making plans or strategies so that task can be
completed on time (Azad and et.al., 2017).
I observe performance of leader and identify that there are some skills which leader
should improve so that better plans can be made and goals can be achieved. According to my
opinion, leader should improve ability to delegate work, communication and take decisions
quickly. For completing task on time, leader should distribute work according to the
specialisation of employees so that they can perform efficiently. Leader of our team has done
proper planning and make a structure in which roles and responsibilities of every member was
mentioned. This helps in completing work on time and avoid confusion or misunderstanding
among employees. This idea was good and successful because all members were doing their
work and it reduces chances of duplicate work. I like this quality of leader and I will apply this in

future so that I can perform well and targets of organisation can be accomplished. The way of
working of leader was unique and all team members were working hard to finish given task on
time. leader was continuously evaluating work done by every member and rectifying mistakes so
that there will be less chances of mistakes.
Leadership theory and style
When I was working in Tesco company and managers make teams to complete work on
time. leaders were made for every team for providing guidance and instructions to members and
measure their performance so that work can be finished on time. Leader of our team applied
autocratic leadership style in which no one is having right to share their views or take decision
without consulting with leader. There are some benefits of autocratic leadership such as, it allows
for fast decision, it improves overall communication, this leadership style helps in improving
productivity of company as well as of employee (Omonona, Olabanji and Obamen, 2019).
Autocratic leadership style helps in reducing stress and counters team experience. There are
some disadvantages of autocratic leadership style are, it leads to micromanagement, it does not
offer professional ownership, it creates lack of trust among member and leader. Autocratic
leadership creates a negative work culture and employees are not able to work properly. Our
team members are not having right to share our views and doing work as per the instructions
given by leader.
Leader member exchange theory was applied as it describes, how leaders are working
and maintaining their position in groups and they build relationship with members. Leaders
motivate employees and boost their confidence to work efficiently and focus on achieving goals
and objectives. It is important to apply leadership theory because this helps in completing task on
time and better plans can be made. Leadership theory helps in growth and development of
company and make good plans or strategies so that work can be completed within the time frame
given. These are some ways which is beneficial in growth of a firm and boost confidence of
members (Bonsu and Twum-Danso, 2018).
Personal experience
I had worked as a team member and notice performance of leader. I learn many things
from my leader such as, way of working, plans or strategies made by leader, how they are
evaluating performance of every member and taking decisions. Working in a team I had learnt
many new things and my experience was good. All team members were working hard and

focusing on achieving targets so that our team can perform best and task can be completed on
time. my experience was good when working as a team and learn new things which is beneficial
in future growth and development. In starting when team was divided then members were not
interacting with each other but after sometime, leader distribute work in employees so that they
can do their work efficiently and it helps in accomplishing goals and objectives.
My experience of working in group or team was good as all the people are different from
each other and having unique qualities. Working in group helps in developing new skills and
enhance knowledge of an individual person. When task is given in groups then it becomes easy
to complete work as leaders distribute work among all the members and when work is given
according to specialisation of an employee then they work efficiently. It helps in achieving goals
and objectives of company, leader of our team evaluates performance of every team member and
make changes if required. This strategy was beneficial in accomplishing targets and better plans
are made by leader so that our team can work efficiently (Rahbi, Khalid and Khan, 2017).
Student experience in working as a group
Situation
The situation is I am working as a leader of team and share my views on how we
completed given task on time. In Tesco company, I was working as an intern and given task to be
completed within the given time and it was a team work (Fiaz, Su and Saqib, 2017). Training
was provided to us and I was working as a leader. My work was to give instructions to my team
members and make plans for growth and development of organisation. It was my responsibility
to make proper plans and give guidance to all members so that they can do their work efficiently.
All people are from different background and culture, so it was difficult to manage them
because they are not interacting with each other (Al Khajeh, 2018). My strategy was to divide
work on the basis of specialisation of every member so that they can complete work on time and
efficiently. I distribute work among all members and prepare a structure in which roles and
responsibilities of every member was mentioned. This helps in reducing confusion or
misunderstanding and members were able to focus on their work.
Evaluation was done by me to ensure that plans are properly implemented or not,
employees are doing work as per the instructions given by me. I was measuring performance of
every member to make sure that work is being done properly and it reduces chances of duplicate
work. For accomplishing targets it was important to make plans and some changes were made to

perform better than others. I was analysing work done by every employee and making
improvements in strategies so that my team can perform efficiently. A structure was made in
which it was mentioned that which employee will interact with whom. This was made to avoid
confusion or misunderstanding and also to avoid duplicate work. This strategy was beneficial in
achieving targets and our team perform best and complete work before time.
Leadership theory and style
I was working as a leader and giving instructions to team members and guiding them how
they have to do work. I was measuring performance of every member and identifying mistakes
so that it can be rectified and plans can be implemented properly. To accomplish targets I apply
democratic leadership style which means all members are having right to share their views and
give suggestions if any improvement is required (Gandolfi and Stone, 2018). Democratic
leadership style is one of the effective style which is helpful in boosting confidence of employees
and increase their efficiency to work. All team members are having right to take decision in
absence of leader but they should discuss it with leader. Some advantages of democratic
leadership style are, it allows for more efficient problem solving, helps in taking better decisions,
builds relationship among team member, increases morale and job satisfaction of employees.
There are some disadvantages of democratic leadership style such as, it creates negative
emotions at the workplace, conflicts may arise because in this style all members are having right
to take decision and this creates issues in organisation. Democratic leadership style does not
guarantee best possible solution. Strength based leadership theory focuses on determining
positive points of an individual person so that work can be completed on time and it helps in
achieving targets (Parés, Ospina and Subirats, 2017). Strength based approach helps in
improving delegation skills, increase team diversity and better decisions can be taken. It is
important to focus on accomplishing targets by identifying good as well as bad points and make
plans accordingly. This help leader in making good plans or strategies which is beneficial in
growth of company. So, in this situation, strength based leadership style was good and it was
applied to maintain equality. Leader should have the ability to delegate some powers to team
members so that task can be completed on time and there will be no confusion among
employees.
Personal experience

Working in a team or group is good because work is divided among members and it
becomes easy to focus on accomplishing goals and objectives (Woods, 2020). I was leader of
team and I have to manage all the activities. It was difficult to handle people because they are not
interacting properly with each other. It is essential to make plans and strategies so that task can
be completed on time and satisfy needs of customers. I analyse my performance and noticed that
I should my learning ability and I am not able to take quick decisions. This was negative point
which I should improve so that I can perform better next time and team members can also do
their work efficiently. Overall experience was good and my team members were also like
working with me and our team perform best out of other teams. It was an amazing opportunity
for me to work as a leader and guide other members to work in a systematic way and focus on
accomplishing targets.
In starting I was not sure that whether we are able to finish this task or not but my team
members were cooperative and they helped me in making plans and strategies. I also want to
improve my planning skills because while leading team I determine that I can make better plans
or strategies for accomplishing targets. It is the responsibility of leader to focus on positive
points of an individual person so that it is easy to make plans and strategies. When a leader
knows about positive and negative points of all team members and distribute work accordingly.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it can be concluded that, leadership and management plays a
crucial role in managing day to day work in an organisation. Two situation are discussed i.e.,
voluntary work and experience of working in a team or group. In first situation, leadership style
which is applied i.e., autocratic and leader member exchange theory has been discussed. Further,
in another situation democratic leadership style has been applied and strength based leadership
theory has been discussed.

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Harris, A. and Jones, M., 2018. The dark side of leadership and management.
Azad, N., and et.al., 2017. Leadership and management are one and the same. American Journal
of Pharmaceutical Education. 81(6).
Omonona, S., Olabanji, O. N. I. and Obamen, J., 2019. Effects of leadership style on employee
performance of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGS) in South Africa. Journal of
Economics and Behavioral Studies. 11(1 (J)). pp.1-10.
Bonsu, S. and Twum-Danso, E., 2018. Leadership style in the global economy: A focus on cross-
cultural and transformational leadership. Journal of Marketing and Management. 9(2).
pp.37-52.
Al Khajeh, E. H., 2018. Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of
Human Resources Management Research. 2018. pp.1-10.
Gandolfi, F. and Stone, S., 2018. Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal
of Management Research. 18(4). pp.261-269.
Parés, M., Ospina, S. M. and Subirats, J. eds., 2017. Social innovation and democratic
leadership: communities and social change from below. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Woods, P. A., 2020. Democratic leadership. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.
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.
Rahbi, D. A., Khalid, K. and Khan, M., 2017. The effects of leadership styles on team
motivation. Academy of Strategic Management Journal. 16(3).

APPENDIX
What are my
leadership
development
objectives?
What leadership
activities do I need to
undertake?
Where I will develop
my leadership?
Target date
To improve my
decision making skill
While leading team, I
notice that I am not
able to take decisions
quickly. I need time to
take decision and I
have to improve this
skill because when
task is given then it is
to be completed
within the time period
given. A leader should
have the ability to
take decisions quickly
and better plans can
be made.
At the workplace Within 2 months
To improve my ability
to learn new things
While working in the
project, I determine
that I am not having
the ability to learn
new things. I should
improve this by
learning new things at
the workplace. In an
organisation people
are from different
background and
At the workplace Within 3 months

culture, it is the best
way to improve
ability to learn new
things. Every member
has some unique skill
and learning should
never stop because it
helps in enhancing
knowledge and
developing skills
which is beneficial in
future growth and
development of an
individual person.