Terry Leahy, the long-time former CEO of the British retail chain Tesco, has published a book entitled Management in 10 Words. He describes ten principles of so-called transformational leadership which helped him to put Tesco among the global leaders in the retail industry. According to the review of the British server Management Today, this book should be read by anyone who does not think that working as an ordinary employee in a supermarket is a promising start to his or her career.
The Management Today's reviewer Moira Benigson points to the fact that a career in retail has always been considered a second-rate career in the UK. The prospects of working in manufacturing, creative industries and especially the financial sector in the City is simply more attractive. However, most successful managers of (not only) retail companies, including Sir Terry Leahy, started their careers by stocking shelves and still consider this a crucial part of their professional development.
The third largest retail network in the world
The book is divided into 10 chapters devoted to loyalty, trust, values, and other principles of leadership supported by specific examples from the rich experience of Terry Leahy. He answers the question of how a company rose from the position of a declining British chain to become the third largest retailer in the world.
"It's quite simple. We just focused relentlessly on delivering for our customers. We set ourselves some simple aims and some basic values to live by. And then we created a process to achieve them," says Terry Leahy. He has followed such principles as: initial failure leads to ultimate success; profit is based on corporate values; competition should be welcomed; simplicity leads to innovation and trust is the foundation of effective leadership. You can discover exactly what this means in practice in an extract from the book on Amazon where you can also order the book in English. A Czech translation is being prepared and and will be published by the Management Press publishing house in September 2013 under the title Management v deseti slovech.
Leahy, Terry. Management in 10 Words. London: Random House Business Books, 2013. 336 p.
-Kk-