Motivation is an integral component of an organization’s performance. I had the pleasure of learning about motivational techniques and theories. Motivation alone is not enough; it must be combined with a fitting power. As such, in this article, I will reflect on various learnings on motivational techniques and theories, leader power, and generally the compatibility of the two. The first thing I learned was leadership and its intricacies. As such the most important aspect of leadership, in this context, is leader power. I was made to understand that the influence of a leader is dependent on a couple of factors. Examples of the factors are the personality of the leader and the personality of their followers too. The first concept of leadership
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It was amazing to learn that there were actually several types of leader power. The power taxonomy introduced by John French and Bertram Raven in 1959 lists five types of power. Coercive power, as I came to learn, is all about threatening others for example that they will lose their jobs, be demoted or even receive a poor performance review. Reward power, which I find effective, is all about motivating followers by offering promotions, pay raises, and even awards. Legitimate power is basic leadership where a person in a higher position has control over people in lower positions in the same organization. The fourth type of leadership power that I learned of was expert power. This is where the leader possesses superior skills or knowledge over their followers. The last power type I came across was referent power. In this type, the leader is usually an individual with positive qualities such as charisma and integrity. As such they are trusted and respected by their followers (Giang, 2013). Follower motivation, as I came to learn, is basically motivation in employees. I am of the opinion that it should be sustained …show more content…
I thought they were all similar but it came to my attention that there are content theories and process theories. The difference between the two categories is that process theories are all about how human behavior is motivated while content theories focus needs and how motivation can fulfill the needs. The main content theories that I came across were: Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s two- factor theory, Maslow’s needs hierarchy, and McClelland’s achievement motivation. The process theories I can pride myself on being conversant with are: Adam’s equity theory, Skinner’s reinforcement theory, Locke’s goal setting theory, and Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory. Despite the presence of a myriad of theories, it came to my attention that people’s motives or the lack thereof cannot be comprehensively explained by a single theory. The most appropriate motivational theory for my industry is Maslow’s needs hierarchy. All needs are structured in a hierarchy. According to my understanding of the theory, it is only when a lower level of need has been fully met will an employee be interested in having the next level satisfied. Therefore, the leadership of the organization should always look at offering incentives to workers to help the fulfillment of needs. With this, the employees will move up the
It was amazing to learn that there were actually several types of leader power. The power taxonomy introduced by John French and Bertram Raven in 1959 lists five types of power. Coercive power, as I came to learn, is all about threatening others for example that they will lose their jobs, be demoted or even receive a poor performance review. Reward power, which I find effective, is all about motivating followers by offering promotions, pay raises, and even awards. Legitimate power is basic leadership where a person in a higher position has control over people in lower positions in the same organization. The fourth type of leadership power that I learned of was expert power. This is where the leader possesses superior skills or knowledge over their followers. The last power type I came across was referent power. In this type, the leader is usually an individual with positive qualities such as charisma and integrity. As such they are trusted and respected by their followers (Giang, 2013). Follower motivation, as I came to learn, is basically motivation in employees. I am of the opinion that it should be sustained …show more content…
I thought they were all similar but it came to my attention that there are content theories and process theories. The difference between the two categories is that process theories are all about how human behavior is motivated while content theories focus needs and how motivation can fulfill the needs. The main content theories that I came across were: Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s two- factor theory, Maslow’s needs hierarchy, and McClelland’s achievement motivation. The process theories I can pride myself on being conversant with are: Adam’s equity theory, Skinner’s reinforcement theory, Locke’s goal setting theory, and Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory. Despite the presence of a myriad of theories, it came to my attention that people’s motives or the lack thereof cannot be comprehensively explained by a single theory. The most appropriate motivational theory for my industry is Maslow’s needs hierarchy. All needs are structured in a hierarchy. According to my understanding of the theory, it is only when a lower level of need has been fully met will an employee be interested in having the next level satisfied. Therefore, the leadership of the organization should always look at offering incentives to workers to help the fulfillment of needs. With this, the employees will move up the