Leaders Are not Born, They Are Made - Coursework Example

Name Institution Tutor Date Motivation and Leadership “Leaders are not born, they are made” Effective leadership involves motivating the team to deliver results. Though this concept has been hotly contested by some observers who are of the view that motivation is a fuzzy element in effective leadership, such school of thought has tended to argue from the basis that a true “leader is born and not made” and therefore would still lead despite the situations. Some theorists such as Pritchard and Ashwood (6) have refuted these notions and reasserted that “leaders are not born as they are made.” It is from this view that I take my stand that effective leadership cannot exist without tact and motivation. To support this assertion, over the years, effective leadership has been a subject of interest given its potential impact on the end results on businesses, by virtue of fulfillment and greatly constructive outcomes. Indeed, it has been argued that leadership is the process through which those at the forefront motivate members within their groups to accomplish a certain task, while at the same time influencing the team towards delivering the aims and objectives of their group. Several theorists have supported this description (Baumeister, 554). However, even as it can be agreed that different leaders tend to use different styles to motivate and encourage their teams to attain certain goals and objectives, the term motivation has in itself received equal share of praise given its potential to hormonal response that is highly stimulated towards attaining some optimal results. The concept of motivation has therefore been of essence logically given its might to influence psychological processes responsible for triggering result-oriented voluntary moves (Scouller, 186). Actually, the term “motivation” is derived from the Latin word “movere,” which denotes triggering one to “move.” Within the organizational scenario, motivation is a greatly considered asset attributed to its potent influence in triggering certain controlled behaviors, in which case, the individuals within the team carry on in performing the tasks with persistence. Then again, effective leaders are individuals capable of motivating their teams and achieve a common objective through improved performances. Researchers argue that is crucial that individuals who make up the team be motivated and stimulated with an apparent suggestion of focus to enable them to direct their energies towards the predestined direction (Baumeister, 554). It is on this basis regard that it can be argued that motivation is a psychological aspect that stimulated organisms to work towards the preferred goals, as well as elicit certain behaviors and restraints. Indeed, it can be regarded as a psychological drive that compels a response towards achieving a certain goal. Just as hunger can be pointed out as a motivation that triggers the desire to eat, motivation can be pointed out as eliciting certain organization behaviors, wishes, goals or desires. Motivation and leadership at the workplace It can be agreed that the modern-day workplace has transformed over the past two decades to now establish motivation and leadership as critical factors to the success of the organization. Studies have shown that unlike in the past, employees are now encouraged to motivate or lead fellow team members to contribute towards the overall effectiveness of the organization (Baumeister, 554). Employers have showed the general tendency to depend on leadership skills that each individual employee possesses, showing an appreciation of the role of the workers in improving the organization. To some theorists however, as much as they view that “leaders are made and not born,” have suggested that motivation has become more and more challenging given the increasingly unstable working environment, as well as limited understanding of what can really motivate the fresher generation of people who join the workforce. With this regard, researchers are continually speculating the realities of how leaders are made and what make them more effective. Following numerous studies on the extent in which leadership and motivation can have on the workforce, several theories and models have been developed to elucidate the concepts of leadership and motivation at workplace. Although each of the theories tends to be minimal in scope, by considering the key concepts behind them, a key understanding of the “viewpoint leaders are made and not born” can be understood. Motivational theories Styles Burns (1978) recognized that leadership is basically of two forms, namely transformational leadership and transaction leadership. Transactional leadership describes that the leader consents to the independence of the team members along with their own individual independences. Conversely, transformational leadership describes a situation where the leader takes to alter the goals and objectives of the team members in compliance with the overall objectives of the organization. The argument that leadership and motivation can further be supported by a number of theories, all of which hint at the two working in correlatively. Instinct Theory This theory rules that workers are motivated to behave in particular manners since they have been evolutionary programmed to act so. In observance of this theory, it can be argued that as each organization has its own traditions and cultures, when the leader takes the initiative to initiate an organizational behavior where each employ is motivated to do so, the evolutionary process would be followed even by the new employees who join the workforce. As a result, the motivation process would be elicited out of instinct. Incentive Theory This theory suggests that individuals are motivated to elicit certain behaviors or perform certain works due to certain external rewards. Theorists have tended to explain this theory by demonstrating that employee turnover rates are often reduced given the external rewards such as benefits or high perks. Drive Theory This theory suggests that individuals in a team are motivated to conform to certain behaviors or perform certain tasks to reduce the internal tension that can be caused by unfulfilled demands or expectations. Arousal Theory This theory implies that individual act in certain ways to motivated by the need to increase or decrease their levels of arousals. Humanistic Theory According to this theory, individuals also form strong cognitive to perform certain tasks. This theory is demonstrated in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs that exhibits varied motivations and varied levels. Four-drive theory The four-drive theory harnesses several drives and needs of human, and tends to consider human perceptions and social influences instead of just instincts. This theory is classified into four groups, including to defend, acquire, learn and bond, which are found general in every individual around the world. The drive to acquire is showed by the tendency of humans to seize, control or seek as well as to keep custody of personal objects and experiences. It is in fact the most potent with leadership, as it reveals the tendency by individuals in a team to acquire anything from social status, recognition, benefits or other substantial rewards. This explains the need for a leader to motivate his subjects by helping them, or appearing as capable of helping them to acquire specific individual desires if the goals and the objectives of the team have to be met n the long run. However, the drive to desire can sometimes be insatiable, especially if the subjects may rather acquire higher positions that possible rewards. Forms of Leadership The concept of leadership can been described in several ways, including as a course of social influence where an individual can join up the help and support from other individuals to fulfill certain obligations. However, it can as well be described as eventually creating a means for individuals to contributing towards making it possible for certain ends to me met. This means it cannot independently stand by itself without motivation. Some social theorist, even as they have attempted to distance themselves from utterly contesting the perception that “leaders are born and not made,” have been vociferous in attesting the notion that “leaders can be made or born, and that they “may or may lack substantial authority.” Though the argument has been considered by certain observers as rather ambivalent, some theories have been developed in support of the notion, including situational interactions, charisma and intelligence, power, behavior or traits as showed by some leaders. Overall, even as these theories are developed to back-up the notion, a common element that’s suffices in the consensus is that there may be no effective leadership without due motivation (Baumeister, 554). For instance, even as leadership may be entrenched in certain characteristics exhibited by certain individuals, for instance, in the traits theory, to gain full trust and dedication of involuntary nature from his subjects, this kind of leader must have shown evidence to his subjects that he can motivate them. This theory has preceded a number of other theories such as leadership styles theories and charismatic theory, all which in one way or the other, embrace motivation. Motivation to Achieve Desired Goals Motivation has further been described by some social theories as a strong and respective compulsion that moves people to achieve objectives of desire, which has the capacity to overcome possible obstacles and seek the most convenient means to achieving the goal. Based on this assumption, motivation can be pointed out as an amazing aspect of leadership that has helped individuals and organizations meet their desires, goals and objectives. (Baumeister, 554). However, if the leader has to use motivation to meet the desires of the team, then two other essential concepts, including determination and inspiration, stand to be integrated in the form of leadership. Consequently, the concept of determination and inspiration tend to work hand in hand with motivation, and have helped pursue and achieve personal and organizational interests. To some scholars, when motivation is backed with a strong will and courage, it can become invincible weapon in the hands of an individual and the organization to achieve certain goals. However, some social theorists have tended to disregard this assumption on account of the technical progresses in the modern-day, in which nano-technologies and innovations, including procrastination, depression, laziness or negligence, which can rally together to disrepute motivation and inspiration. In my view however, it is to this extent that other concepts of leadership such as accountability, diligence and liability comes into effect. To some experts, this is essentially why management and motivation are affiliated. It is also possible to classify motivation according to the nature of phenomenon or personal traits of the owner. The concept of organizational management is extensively developed and includes activities such as coordinating, controlling, leading and planning. It is in fact based on this background that I specifically consider motivation as a group of factors that direct, activate and maintain certain norms and behaviors towards attaining a certain goal (Steel, 49). Motivation can be considered as a form of energy that makes individuals to perform certain tasks, a result of the need by individuals to satisfy certain needs, which may however vary per individual. Depending on how individuals are led and motivated, they may determine the effort put in work; as a result, a motivated worker is a productive worker (Van Vugt, 183). Leaders Motivating Employees Studies have shown that workers, even as they may benefit from a number of monetary rewards such as wages and salaries, need something more than leadership to keep them working persistently. Even though the salaries may offer sufficient incentive to keep them working, effective leadership is crucial in directing their energies towards a predetermined direction. Leadership is however lacking if the employee is not motivated. Furthermore, chances are the employee will not give his full commitment to the organization, since with this, then the employee’s quality of work would not end up deteriorating. Social theorists have expressed that individuals’ personality dimensions referred as locus of control. This variable depicts individual’s beliefs or perceptions on the location of factors that determine the kind of behavior they should exhibit at certain instances. At one side of the continuum, are individuals (high internals) who believe that they reserve all the rights to control their behaviors. On the other side of the continuum, some individuals, (high externals) believe that it’s the external factors that control or determine their behaviors. This is less surprising as externals, unlike internals, will tend to view the organization as unpredictable or that some powerful individuals control their destinies. In this case, for effective leadership, it will require some tact in motivating the subjects using specific motivational appeals or motivational strategies (Steel, 49). The general motivational strategies require the leader to exhibit soft-sell personality over hard sell, as they tend to have logical appeals, in which case the leader will use emotional appeals such as praising his subjects whenever necessary. Other strategies may include recognizing their efforts, calling them by names to show the leader understands them and engaging them in active interactive communication to show that the organization recognizes them and that they are integral to the health of the organization without which the organization collapses. With regard to hard sell strategy, this kind of approach is characterized by pressure, barter or outnumbering. Overall, an effective leader will have to be both tactical is he aims to motivate his subjects. In essence, recognizing the employee is not always about bonuses or timely gifts (Kickul & Neuman, 30). Relatively, employees become better recognized when the organization changes its culture to meet the goals or objectives that must most prominently link the employees to the organizations’ core values and visions. This kind of strategic employee recognition is viewed as a vital program that has been instrumental in reducing employee turnover rates as well as motivating the worker to cause a positive influence on the company’s financial health. Some scholars have categorized the gifts and bonuses under the traditional approach and classified strategic recognition as the capacity to make employee understand that he is an important business partner of the employee who must be treated with respect and whose influences can improve the organization’s strategic objectives in rather measurable or quantifiable way. Even as researchers tend to define the concept of leadership and motivation in the organizational scenario, it is beneficial to understand that a majority of the organizations are looking to be more innovative, or to develop innovative products and business models. However, innovation cannot be maximally achieved by leadership by merely managing an organization so that over time, innovations will materialize. An innovative worker must be highly motivated. Leadership Although social theorists have pointed out that the leader may or may lack social authority, the concepts of motivations as aforementioned have led leadership to be perceived a specifically emotion-fixated process, where emotions are interconnected with processes of social influence. In fact, the leader’s attitudes, behaviors have some effect on the performance of his team or subordinates. For instance, leaders who are highly motivated and who have exuberant moods always transmit the exuberance to the team members. In fact, it plays a primary role in motivating the subjects. According to some studies, mood contagion is a major mechanism that charismatic leaders use to influence those he leads. The leader’s moods all have an effective effect on the tone of the subjects (Steel, 49). This group effective tone has an homogenous effect within the group where it determines the aggregate emotional responses of individuals within the group, meaning teams with leaders who always have a positive mood, always have positive moods themselves. In addition, group processes such as coordination is highly influenced by the expressions exhibited by the leader. This is especially so as in a common scenario, people express moods influenced by the experiences they go through. Leaders must therefore take the initiative of signaling their intentions and objectives of the organizations through the moods he expresses (Kickul & Neuman, 32). For instance, leaders who are bent on motivating their teams must express positive moods by expressing signals that indicate progress toward the objectives of improving the employee welfare as well as that of the organization. Usually, the team members will respond to these signals cognitively and in the behaviors they exhibit. Some researchers have showed the positive and motivating mood a leader expresses improve the performance of the team (Steel, 49). Aside from the moods of the leader, his behavior also influences the kind of behavior that the team members exhibit as well as their emotions at workplace. Some experts have advised that since this is evident in most work situations or teams, the leaders must create situations and events, such as those that motivate the team members, if they need to realize positive emotional response from the employees. To some extent, certain behaviors by leaders that they display during their interaction with the employees are the scenarios by which some employees feel motivated (Kickul & Neuman, 30). For instance, leaders whose communications lines are always open, and how always feel intent to listen to their employees without restrictions has been describes as capable of influencing the performance of their teams. Indeed, leaders need to shape the events and moods of their workplace and since the team members are directed affected by their emotional situations it is important that the leaders anticipates employee’s emotional response when assigning a task or delegating a duty (Pritchard & Ashwood, 6). Overall, effective leadership and motivation can be effectively managed by an individual who is emotionally intelligent as effective leadership involves motivating the team to deliver results as effective leadership cannot exist without tact and motivation. Works Cited Baumeister, R.F.; Vohs, K.D. (2004), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications, New York: Guilford Press, p. 574, Kickul, J., & Neuman, G. (2000). Emergence leadership behaviors: The function of personality and cognitive ability in determining teamwork performance and KSAs. Journal of Business and Psychology, 15, 27-51. Pritchard, R. & E. Ashwood (2008). Managing Motivation. New York: Taylor & Francis Group. p. 6 Robbins, Stephen P.; Judge, Timothy A. (2007), Essentials of Organizational Behavior (9 ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Scouller, J. (2011). The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill. Cirencester: Management Books 2000. Steel, Piers. Motivation: Theory and Applied. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2012. Print. pp. 49 Van Vugt, M., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. (2008). Leadership, followership, and evolution: Some lessons from the past. American Psychologist, 63, 182-196 Read More