Key Elements of Leadership and Motivational Theory
As a small-business manager, your role is to guide and motivate employees into getting the job done. Therefore, leadership and motivation go hand in hand. Over the years, researchers have developed a number of leadership and motivational theories, which managers can employ to fit a situation.
Without leadership, employees are lost, resulting in a chaotic work environment. Without motivation, employees fail to perform to the best of their ability. If used effectively, leadership and motivational theories enable you to lead employees and the company toward success. You achieve this by understanding the key elements of basic leadership and motivational theories and applying them accordingly.
Leadership theories are separated into four main groups: behavioral, trait, contingency, and power and influence. Under behavioral theory, autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting anyone else, democratic leaders consider the teams’ input when making decisions, and laissez-faire leaders practice noninterference, allowing the team to make many of the decisions. Under contingency theory, the situation dictates the leadership style that is used. The argument is that one leadership style doesn’t dictate the type of leadership that should be applied, but rather the situation itself does. Under trait theory, leaders have certain common attributes that they share and the style of leadership emerges from these characteristics. Power and influence theory is based on power and influence tactics leaders use to get things done.
Famous psychologist Abraham Maslow's motivational theory has helped managers to conceive employee motivation. The theory includes Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which breaks down basic human needs into five categories: physiological, safety, social, self-esteem and self-actualization. As a manager, helping an employee to fulfill those needs motivates him into becoming a better worker. Physiological needs are those required to survive physically, such as food and water. Safety needs instill security, such as a home or a comfortable routine. Social needs concern the desire to belong and form meaningful relationships. Self-esteem needs are developed based on confidence and sense of achievement. Once the individual has obtained those four needs, he develops self-actualization, which requires him to find himself. By taking a sincere interest in your employees, recognizing their basic needs and taking steps to meet them, you inspire and motivate employees.
In more recent years, researchers have developed the transformational leadership theory, which is appropriate in most corporate situations. Under this theory, leaders guide with meaning, values and a higher purpose. Specifically, it requires you to have integrity, set a positive example, encourage, support, inspire, apply effective communication, provide stimulating assignments, give credit where and when its due, expect the best from workers, set realistic goals and help employees focus on team interests rather than individual needs. To motivate employees, combine effective leadership with satisfying employee needs, treating workers fairly, rewarding jobs based on performance and applying effective discipline.
Grace Ferguson has been writing professionally since 2009. With 10 years of experience in employee benefits and payroll administration, Ferguson has written extensively on topics relating to employment and finance. A research writer as well, she has been published in The Sage Encyclopedia and Mission Bell Media.