Analysis of Leadership and Motivation - Research Paper Example

 Analysis of Leadership and Motivation Contents Introduction 1 Evaluation of Personality Traits 1 Methods for Motivating the Team 3 Leadership Strategy 4 Conclusion 5 References 6 Introduction Leadership and motivation are two sides of the same coin. In order to be an effective leader, one must be able to understand the different personality types of his/her employees and then motivate them accordingly. Every individual is different and responds to different motivational styles and technique. An effective leader is one who plans his/her leadership based on the above mentioned factors. In this report, I will evaluate the personality traits of the different members in my team and plan methods for motivating them. Also I will plan my leadership strategy based on the findings of the evaluation and corresponding motivational methods. Evaluation of Personality Traits In order to evaluate the personality traits of 4 members in my team, first I will identify the personality types they belong to. As there is no one solution fits all personality types, I will be using the following 3 different personality type classifications understand their personality. Also sometimes, employees can show mixed personalities and hence the one that best suits will be used in making decisions. 1. Rye’s four personality types, namely, Power Player, Party Player, Team Players and Diplomatic Players (Rye, 1998). 2. Personality types based on social dimensions, namely, Drivers, Analyticals, Amiables and Expressives (Orridge, 2009). 3. Holland’s six personality types: Realistic, Conventional, Enterprising, Social, Artistic and Investigative (Woods & West, 2010). Following is the evaluation of the four members in my team: Ambrose H: Ambrose shows traits that are close to the personality types of Driver-Analytical and Realistic. Drivers are task-oriented, workaholics and results oriented. They place a very high priority on completing the task in hand. They are very efficient and good team players. Analyticals on the other hand are very structured and organized with focus being on task and details. They are very punctual and they are not comfortable approaching people. They do everything by the book (Fairley, 2011). Ambrose is also a realistic as his personality characteristics match those of a realistic. Personality characteristics of a realistic are practical, uninvolved, stable, materialistic, genuine and shy (Kleynhans et al., 2009). Jackie M: Jackie is in complete contrast to Ambrose. Jackie’s personality types matches closely to those of an expressive, team player and a social. Jackie is friendly, understanding, idealistic, sociable and kind. These personality characteristics make him a social. His characteristics are also closely related to that of an expressive. Expressive are overly enthusiastic and outgoing. They always try to create involvement and excitement in others and volunteer themselves to all activities (Bolton & Bolton, 2009). They are fun-loving, talkative and excitable. They are socialising but aren’t completion oriented. In a hurry to finish their jobs, they tend to make mistakes. Jackie is also a team player. Whenever there is extra work team players are always the first to volunteer. They tend to make other happy and are open to suggestions. They do not mind being told that they are wrong. Simon H: Simon is very different from both Jackie and Ambrose. Being the most experienced member of the team, he is very knowledgeable but does not share the same enthusiastic level as Jackie or the desire to perfection as Ambrose. The personality type of Simon matches that of a conventional, diplomatic and analytical. As all analytical Simon is very knowledgeable and task oriented but he is not organized or structured (Huczynski, 2004). Most of Simon’s characteristics are in close match with a conventional. Following are the common personality characteristics of a conventional that Simon shares: practical, inflexible, efficient and prudish. Simon is also a diplomat. Diplomats are quiet, independent individuals. They do not like confrontations and keep to themselves. Bureaucratic environments are best suited for them. Brian R: Brian is a power player and artistic. Power players like to things on their own terms. They do not like to work under an authoritarian boss and can become arrogant if pushed. They like to work and can be highly productive but need to be motivated and rewarded in the right way (Rye, 2009). In this case, Brian is very intelligent and capable of innovative thought but does not deliver on his potential. Power Players being intelligent and creative are bossy personalities. Artistic on the other hand are imaginative, intuitive, original and creative (Kleynhans et al., 2009). Brian is creative and imaginative as he is capable of innovative thought. They also want to certain freedom to be associated with their jobs. Methods for Motivating the Team As each member of the team is different, different methods need to be adopted based on their personality types to motivate them. Following are the motivation methods that will be used to motivate each one of them. Ambrose: Give him more responsibility and show confidence in him Reward and recognise him for the efficient work he does Allow him to take the centre stage in team meetings so that he can overcome his insecurity Set high standards and stiffer deadline Jackie: Unrealistic expectations about himself must be dispelled and he needs to have clarity of what is required of him Recognise and appreciate him openly Do not offend him, instead discuss issues with him Place expectations that are realistic and show confidence in him Be sincere and sensitive Simon: Allow him to be flexible at his work Praise openly for the work he does Put importance on his experience and knowledge Reward him the way he wants to be rewarded (monetary or otherwise) Discuss his role and importance in the team as the most experienced member Brian: Give work that challenges him innovatively and creatively Proper recognition and rewards for the work accomplished As he is not emotional, try to appeal to his logics Communicate directly with him about what is required of him Leadership Strategy In the current scenario, an engaging and empowerment leadership strategy would be best suited. Employee empowerment is the key (Pearce & Conger, 2003). The team we have is a very efficient one and has a right mixture of experience. From where I see, the problem is they are not empowered to make their own decisions and act accordingly. Hence, I would adopt the strategy where each member is completely responsible for his work including finding solutions and decision making. All of them need to be more involved and engaged in what they do. Placing responsibility on them and showing confidence in them will bring out better results than pressurising them to meet deadlines. For the overall success of the team each member must learn to take initiative and personal responsibility. As a leader, I would monitor and supervise their activities without interfering with their decision making. The culture of intrepreneurship needs to be developed if there number of orders and the quality of workmanship needs to be increased. Each employee must act on his own intuition and knowledge, rather than just obeying orders. Conclusion In this paper, I have successfully evaluated the different personality types of the members of my team and have discussed the motivation methods that I will be using to motivate them. Also I will be adopting an engaging and empowering leadership style where the main focus will be to develop an organizational culture of intrepreneurship. Employee empowerment is the way forward. References Bolton, R. & Bolton, D.G. (2009). People styles at work-- and beyond: making bad relationships good and good relationships better. NY: AMACOM. Fairley, R.E. (2011). Managing and Leading Software Projects. NY: John Wiley and Sons. Huczynski, A. (2004). Influencing within Organization: Second Edition. NY: Routledge. Kleynhans, R., Markham, L., Meyer, W., o'Neill, C., Schlecter, A., Aswegen, S.V., Botha, S. & Lotz, O. (2009). Human resource management: fresh perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson South Africa. Orridge, M. (2009). Change leadership: developing a change-adept organization. VT: Gower Publishing, Ltd. Pearce, C.L. & Conger, J.A. (2003). Shared leadership: reframing the hows and whys of leadership. CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Rye, D.E. (1998). 1,001 ways to inspire: your organization, your team, and yourself. NJ: Career Press Rye, D. E. (2009). Stop Managing and Lead: Change Your Role, Change Your Results. MA: Adams Media. Woods, S. & West, M. A. (2010). The Psychology of Work and Organizations. Hampshire: Cengage Learning Read More