Leadership Styles Versus Motivation

Leadership style influence level of motivation. However, throughout a lifetime, man’s

motivation is influenced by changing ambitions and/or leadership style he works under or
socializes with. Command-and-control leadership drains off ambition while worker
responsibility increases ambition.

Leadership Style versus Motivation

Motivation is
Leadership Style Motivation Type Personality Type Efficiency
Based on:
Self motivated Leader of ideas or
people.
Limited supervision
Independent
Creativity High
Worker with decision Team motivated
making responsibility Achiever

Thrives on change
Goal motivated Opportunity Personality type and efficiency depends on
Mixed styles Reward motivated Materialism leader's skill and/or the work environment he's
Recognition motivated Social status created.

High level of Peer motivated To be like others Status quo

supervision Authority motivated Follows policy
Dependency Low
Command-and- Threat, fear motivated Reacts to force
control Resist change

• Self-motivated or visionaries will

not accept authority controlled
environments. They will find a
way to escape if trapped.
• In a team-motivated environment,
dependency types will become
inspired and strive to be
acceptable with independent
thinking coworkers.
• Associates influence the level of
individual motivation.

Reaction to Change

Command-and-control leadership is the primary style in our society. It is accepted because

efficiency is created by repetitive action, teaching people to resist change. Once acquiring a skill,
they do not want to learn another. The worker adapts to level three with an occasional trip to
level two.
Worker responsibility is just the opposite, it motivates people to thrive on change by seeking
challenges, finding ways to achieve goals. Level one is the leader of changing technology,
finding ways to create efficiency. (Click on image)

Reaction to Efficiency

The efficiency of advancing technology is forcing change. It is up to the individual or business to

decide which side of change they want to be on, the leading edge or trailing edge. The leading
edge is exciting while the trailing edge is a drag. Playing catch-up drains motivation while
leaders of change inspire motivation.

With today’s changing technology, an individual must be willing to abandoned old skills and
learn new ones. The ability to adapt is achieved through self-development programs. Because
level one thrives on change, they adapt to whatever methods gets things done with the least
amount of effort. This brings us to work habits.

In level one, management and front line workers, together, are searching for ways to solve and
prevent problems. Decisions are made on the front line where alternative methods are analyzed.
Being able to prevent problems is a motivating force. In level three management makes all
decision, as a result, management must find ways to solve all problems and find alternative
methods. Front line employees may be aware conflicts, but they don’t have the authority to take
action and have learned not to be concerned. Supervisors are only concerned with elements that
management thinks are
important.

Under command-and-control
leadership, management
considers the opinions or
concerns of people on the front
line to be trivial. As a result,
management takes action only
when problems become too big
to ignore. If workers have
conflicts with their supervisors,
they will find ways to increase
the magnitude of problems,
creating a combative
environment. A downward spiral
of management implementing
more control and
Team Motivated Dependency of Abused Workers
Authority workers resisting control
Elementary problems Lack of leadership skills
develop. Under worker
are prevented or solved Elementary are dealt and the desire for power responsibility, management and
at the source. Getting with by management creates elementary workers unite to prevent or solve
the job done is the when large enough to be problems. Managers problems.
primary goal of recognized. focus on worker control.
management and Getting the job done is
workers. down the list. Workers
goal is to find ways to do
little as possible.
Command and Control Leadership - Problems are
always out of control.
Reaction to Learning Habits

In level two, young workers are establishing work habits, developing attitudes and learning a
professional skill. Out of training and on the job, motivation level will depend on the leadership
style they work under. Under command-and-control leadership, ambitions will be associated
with maintaining the status quo. Under worker responsibility, ambitions will be associated with
opportunity. They will continually expand their skills as the need or as opportunity arises.

Reaction to Goals

Self-motivated people are goal motivated. Once they conquer one goal, they establish another.
Every goal is a learning process that requires all the elements in level one. Companies that attract
and keep this type of person stay on the leading edge of technology. The CEO is a visionary in
customer service and employee leadership. The employees' goals are the same as the CEO’s.

If the CEO desires control, then he will lead in such a way that trains subordinates to lead by
control. As a result, the employees' goals are quitting time and payday.

Reaction to Recognition

Recognition is important; it builds positive self-esteem. By itself, its benefits are short lived.
Long-term benefits are achieved when the employee feels the job could not have been done
without them. This means they were faced with a challenge, which means, they had the
responsibility and authority to take action. This environment is found in level one.

Self Motivated Projects

Self-motivated projects' is the ability to start and finish what one has started. Most people,
working alone, do not finish what they start.

The ability to finish challenging projects is the secret to being a winner. First requirement is
interest, then asking questions which inspires' the learning process. With information, a
challenge is presented and a goal set. When action is taken, the barriers of persistence, risk, fear
and failure become a challenge by itself.

Self-motivated projects are difficult because no one cares if they succeed, which is another
barrier. This is why most people quit before they get a good start. People, who find ways to
overcome barriers and hang in there, are the winners. They develop skills and confidence, which
are required steps to larger projects.

Team Motivated Projects

Everyone can be inspired to achievement in a team-motivated environment. With a common

goal, team members support each other until success is achieved. In this environment, others do
care and team members are needed for achieving the goal. For this reason, team motivation is
extremely powerful. The exchange of ideas, information and testing the results, adds to the
motivating force. As a result, each member seeks to be a leader of quality input.

A Burning Desire, with a bigger than life vision, can Overcome All Barriers

Level of personal achievement is based on the size of a personal vision. Super achievers have a
vision that is bigger then life. Most people limit their goals to socially acceptable standards, not
what they feel. Everyone has different talent, interest and learning methods. Goals must be in
harmony with these attributes. Finding harmony is another barrier to overcome. When harmony is
found and a burning desire established, success will be found no matter what your social
surroundings or previous experience.

A burning desire is the foundation for productive motivation. You do not need to hear
motivational speakers or have money to start. You already have the startup tool - creativity, just
use it. Dreams stimulate creative thinking. Turning dreams into mini projects produces a burning
desire, many successful mini projects is preparation for the bigger than life vision.

Every person, at some time, had a desire to be an achiever. For many, this ambition was
destroyed. Under the right leadership, this latent desire can come back to life.

(http://www.motivation-tools.com/workplace/leadership_styles.htm)

Basic Overview of Supervision

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Adapted from the Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision.

There are several interpretations of the term "supervision", but typically supervision is the
activity carried out by supervisors to oversee the productivity and progress of employees who
report directly to the supervisors. For example, first-level supervisors supervise entry-level
employees. Depending on the size of the organization, middle-managers supervise first-level
supervisors, chief executives supervise middle-managers, etc. Supervision is a management
activity and supervisors have a management role in the organization.

Occasionally, writers will interchange "leadership" and "supervision". Both activities are closely
related. Supervision requires leadership. Leadership does not necessarily have to involve
supervision.
Motivation

Employee motivation describes an employee’s intrinsic enthusiasm about and drive to

accomplish work. Every employee is motivated about something in his or her life. Enabling
employee motivation in pursuit of work accomplishments is the challenge. Employee motivation
is situational. Employee motivation depends upon the needs and wants that are intrinsic to the
employee and the employee’s expectations and needs from work. And, it is the interaction of
these employee needs and wants with your company's values, employee practices and policies,
your expectations of the employee, the quality of your leadership and supervision, the health of
your industry, the competitiveness of the job market, and the economy, that enables employee
motivation in your workplace - or not.

These variables make employee motivation challenging. What, in your experience, facilitates and
makes possible employee motivation at work - or not?
(http://humanresources.about.com/u/ua/motivationrewardretention/employee_motivation.htm)

Motivation again

Employee motivation is a continuing challenge at work. Particularly in work environments that

don’t emphasize employee satisfaction as part of an embraced and supported overall business
strategy, supervisors and managers walk a tough road.

On the one hand, they recognize their power in drawing forth the best employees have to offer;
on the other, they feel unsupported, rewarded or recognized themselves for their work to develop
motivated, contributing employees.

My word to managers? Get over it. No work environment will ever perfectly support your efforts
to help employees choose motivated behaviors at work. Even the most supportive workplaces
provide daily challenges and often appear to operate at cross purposes with your goals and
efforts to encourage employee motivation.

The worst workplaces for employees? Let’s not even go there. They struggle to engage a fraction
of their employees’ motivation and desire to contribute. They never obtain their employees’
discretionary energy.

No matter what climate your organization provides to support employee motivation, you can,
within the perimeters of your areas of responsibility, and even beyond, if you choose to extend
your reach, create an environment that fosters and calls forth employee motivation.

Seven Opportunities to Influence Employee Motivation

You can, daily, take actions that will increase employee satisfaction. Recommended are actions
that employees say, in a recent Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) survey, are
important to their job satisfaction. Management actions in these areas will create a work
environment conducive to employee motivation.
Additionally, in determining the areas in which to provide employee motivation tips, here are
key ideas from readers about how to increase employee motivation and employee job
satisfaction.

Four of the five most important considerations in employee motivation: job security, benefits
(especially health care) with the importance of retirement benefits rising with age of the
employee, compensation/pay, and safety in the work environment are discussed in an article that
addresses issues that are company-wide and rarely in the hands of an individual manager or
supervisor.

Specific Actions to Increase Employee Motivation

These are seven consequential ways in which a manager or supervisor can create a work
environment that will foster and influence increases in employee motivation - quickly.

Communicate responsibly and effectively any information employees need to perform their
jobs most effectively. Employees want to be members of the in-crowd, people who know what
is happening at work as soon as other employees know. They want the information necessary to
do their jobs. They need enough information so that they make good decisions about their work.

• Meet with employees following management staff meetings to update them

about any company information that may impact their work. Changing due
dates, customer feedback, product improvements, training opportunities, and
updates on new departmental reporting or interaction structures are all
important to employees. Communicate more than you think is necessary.

• Stop by the work area of employees who are particularly affected by a

change to communicate more. Make sure the employee is clear about what
the change means for their job, goals, time allocation, and decisions.

• Communicate daily with every employee who reports to you. Even a pleasant
“good morning” enables the employee to engage with you.

• Hold a weekly one-on-one meeting with each employee who reports to you.
They like to know that they will have this time every week. Encourage
employees to come prepared with questions, requests for support,
troubleshooting ideas for their work, and information that will keep you from
being blindsided or disappointed by a failure to produce on schedule or as
committed.
Employees find interaction and communication with and attention from senior and
executive managers motivational. In a recent study by Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson),
the Global Workforce Study which included nearly 90,000 workers from 18 countries, the role of
senior managers in attracting employee discretionary effort exceeded that of immediate
supervisors.

• Communicate openly, honestly and frequently. Hold whole staff meetings

periodically, attend department meetings regularly, and communicate by
wandering around work areas engaging staff and demonstrating interest in
their work.

• Implement an open door policy for staff members to talk, share ideas, and
discuss concerns. Make sure that managers understand the problems that
they can and should solve will be directed back to them, but it is the
executive’s job to listen.

• Congratulate staff on life events such as new babies, inquire about vacation
trips, and ask about how both personal and company events turned out. Care
enough to stay tuned into these kinds of employee life events and activities.

Provide the opportunity for employees to develop their skills and abilities. Employees want
to continue to develop their knowledge and skills. Employees do not want jobs that they perceive
as no-brain drudge work.

• Allow staff members to attend important meetings, meetings that cross functional areas,
and that the supervisor normally attends.

• Bring staff to interesting, unusual events, activities, and meetings. It’s quite a learning
experience for a staff person to attend an executive meeting with you or represent the
department in your absence.

• Make sure the employee has several goals that he or she wants to pursue as part of every
quarter’s performance development plan (PDP). Personal development goals belong in
the same plan.
 • Reassign responsibilities that the employee does not like or that are routine. Newer staff,
interns, and contract employees may find the work challenging and rewarding. Or, at
least, all employees have their turn.

• Provide the opportunity for the employee to cross-train in other roles and responsibilities.
Assign backup responsibilities for tasks, functions, and projects.

Employees gain a lot of motivation from the nature of and the work itself. Employees seek
autonomy and independence in decision making and in how they approach accomplishing their
work and job.

• Provide more authority for the employee to self-manage and make decisions. Within the
clear framework of the PDP and ongoing effective communication, delegate decision
making after defining limits, boundaries, and critical points at which you want to receive
feedback.

• Expand the job to include new, higher level responsibilities. Assign responsibilities to the
employee that will help him or her grow their skills and knowledge. Stretching
assignments develop staff capabilities and increase their ability to contribute at work.
(Remove some of the time-consuming, less desirable job components at the same time, so
the employee does not feel that what was delegated was “more” work.)

• Provide the employee a voice in higher level meetings; provide more access to important
and desirable meetings and projects.

• Provide more information by including the employee on specific mailing lists, in

company briefings, and in your confidence.

• Provide more opportunity for the employee to impact department or company goals,
priorities, and measurements.

• Assign the employee to head up projects or teams. Assign reporting staff members to his
or her leadership on projects or teams or under his or her direct supervision.
 • Enable the employee to spend more time with his or her boss. Most employees find this
attention rewarding.

Elicit and address employee concerns and complaints before they make an employee or
workplace dysfunctional. Listening to employee complaints and keeping the employee
informed about how you are addressing the complaint are critical to producing a motivating work
environment. (These are employee complaints that readers identify as regularly occurring in their
workplaces.)

Even if the complaint cannot be resolved to the employee’s satisfaction, the fact that you
addressed the complaint and provided feedback about the consideration of and resolution of the
complaint to the employee is appreciated. The importance of the feedback loop in addressing
employee concerns cannot be overemphasized.

• Keep your door open and encourage employees to come to you with legitimate concerns
and questions.

• Always address and provide feedback to the employee about the status of their expressed
concern. The concern or complaint cannot disappear into a dark hole forever. Nothing
causes more consternation for an employee than feeling that their legitimate concern went
unaddressed.

Recognition of employee performance is high on the list of employee needs for motivation.
Many supervisors equate reward and recognition with monetary gifts. While employees
appreciate money, they also appreciate praise, a verbal or written thank you, out-of-the-ordinary
job content opportunities, and attention from their supervisor.

• Write a thank you note that praises and thanks an employee for a specific contribution in
as much detail as possible to reinforce and communicate to the employee the behaviors
you want to continue to see.

• Verbally praise and recognize an employee for a contribution. Visit the employee in his
or her work space.

• Give the employee a small token of your gratitude. A card, their favorite candy bar, a
cutting from a plant in your office, fruit for the whole office, and more, based on the
traditions and interaction in your office, will make an employee’s day.
Employees appreciate a responsive and involved relationship with their immediate
supervisor.

• Avoid cancelling regular meetings, and if you must, stop by the employee’s work area to
apologize, offer the reason, and immediately reschedule. Regularly missing an employee
meeting send a powerful message of disrespect.

• Talk daily with each employee who reports to you. The daily interaction builds the
relationship and will stand for a lot when times are troubled, disappointments occur, or
you need to address employee performance improvement.

• The interaction of an employee with his or her immediate supervisor is the most
significant factor in an employee's satisfaction with work. Practice just listening.
Encourage the employee who brings you an idea or improvement. Even if you think the
idea won't work, that the idea has been unsuccessfully tried in the past, or you believe
your executive leadership won't support it, this is not what the employee wants to hear
from the supervisor.

And, it's not in your best interests for employee motivation to put the kibosh on employee
contributions and ideas. You'll tick them off, deflate them, and make their thoughts
insignificant.

Think creatively about how you can explore the idea, support the employee in his or her
quest to try out the innovation, provide time for experimentation, and more.
Encouragement brings payback in positive employee motivation.

• Remember that your nonverbal communication communicates more expressively than the
words you use to convey your honest response to employee thoughts, concerns, and
suggestions. Pay attention, ask questions to further elicit information, and focus on
understanding the employee's communication. Lose your reactions: shrugged shoulders,
rolling eyes, or partial attention are insulting and degrading.

• The supervisor's relationship to reporting staff is the single most important factor in
employee retention. Stay on top of what your staff needs and wants to provide a work
environment for employee motivation.

Employee motivation is a common interest from supervisors and managers who are responsible
to oversee the work of other employees. You can increase your efforts to improve employee
motivation. The big seven actions and behaviors that you can make happen every day for
employee motivation are covered in this article. I'm willing to make a serious bet that, if you pay
constant attention to these significant factors in employee motivation, you'll win with motivated,
excited, contributing employees. Can work get any better than that for a manager or supervisor?

(http://humanresources.about.com/od/motivationrewardretention/a/employee_motivation_2.htm)