Cennection between power and motivation - Essay Example

Connection between power and motivation The power to motivate others and lead an organization is in the hands of the top managers of a company. Motivation can be defined as getting others to do something because they want to do it. One of the most important management tasks is to motivate others. In a nutshell it comprises the power to understand peoples need, to encourage them, to effectively communicate, to get involved, accepting challenges, to set an example, and to appreciate and reward them (Kotelnikov, 2006) .

The success of an organization lies in the art of motivating others, energizing them and maintaining their enthusiasm.All human beings are born with five basic needs: continued existence, love, power, fun, and freedom. All human behavior is motivated by attempts to satisfy those needs. In an organization or in a company, managers are responsible for getting the work done and the quality and quantity of the work done by the employees depend on how much the employees are motivated to do the work.

The manager may use his power and position to get the work done but the quality and quantity may go down since the employees are not motivated internally to produce quality products. While a manager cannot make workers do high quality work, it is the job of the manager to manage things so that it is easy for the workers to see a strong connection between what they are asked to do and what they believe to be worth doing. Therefore the managers are to become lead-managers. The key behind being a lead-manager is to authorize workers.

Lead-managers focus on persuasion and problem solving. They spend their time figuring out how to run the system so that the workers will see that it is to their benefit to produce high-quality work. Managers often fail to let workers feel important - to experience power and freedom. When workers see that outcomes are important and valuable they devote significant effort to realize the goals (education.calumet.purdue.edu, 2000). The implications of motives and values for management are simple: People do what they like or they do what they feel is important.

If the given task fits either of these categories, it will get done faster and better. Where suitable motives do not exist, people require strong values to replace them. In the sense, managers can try to engage or create an intellectual commitment, or can engage emotional drivers. Motives are deep constructs and can change only slowly. Changing other people’s motives without their active and devoted alliance is too difficult to be a practical management method. Therefore, the best approach is for a manager to understand what motives are already driving people, so that he or she may tap into what is there.

This understanding is crucial because even if a manager creates a new value, it may not lead to the desired results if it clashes with existing motives (Kelner, 2000).Motivation plays a crucial role within the concept of management. The ability of a manager to motivate their workers begins from the influence they have over them which often comes from the types of power they hold. This power that managers can hold motivates employees to do their job because they fear being fired. Another example of the connection between power and motivation is reward power.

Managers often hold the power to reward their employees for a job well done through bonuses, incentives etc. This power motivates employees to perform their job in the hopes they will receive a reward (Blog@Case, 2005).Power is clearly a meaningful and instinctively experienced motivation, which plays a large role everyday experience and behavior. An immediate problem in relating power to motivation is the doubt of the concept. Power is the ability to use threat of deprivations to get someone to do what they would otherwise not do.

When relating power to motivation broadly the meaning is that power is to manifest, to declare, oneself against the world and narrowly is to dominate others through force, threats, rewards, persuasion, manipulation, or love. This can be called the drive for domination, the power over others. In short, power psychologically does have a central motivational role (Rummel, 2002).In an organization the powers given to the managers should be used for creating an environment where the employees can work with their full potential to produce quality products within the specified time frame.

If this to happen managers have to exercise their power in rewarding, recognizing, giving proper training to set goal for them and giving freedom to go ahead with their creative ideas etc. Therefore it is very important to know how to use power for motivational purposes. ReferencesBlog@Case, (2005). Motivation and Management. [Online]. Available from: [22 March 2006].education.calumet.purdue.edu, (2000) Control. [Online]. Available from: [22 March 2006].Kelner, S. (2000). Human Motivation and Organizational Mobilization.

CQM Journal. Volume 9, Number 1, Summer 2000: 25-43.Kotelnikov, V. (2006). Effective Motivation- Getting others to do something because they want to do it. [Online]. Ten3 Business e-Coach, version 2006a. Available from: [22 March 2006].Rummel, R.J. (2002) What About Other Motivatations? In Understanding Conflict and War: Vol. 1: The Dynamic Psychological Field [Online]. Available from: [22 March 2006].