Organizational Behavior: Leadership as a Motivational Method - Essay Example

Employees can be motivated by use of practical approaches that rely on the Maslow theory of motivation, McGregor’s theory and Theory X and Theory Y. These theories emphasize the need to motivate people by appealing to their emotional and psychological needs for fulfillment as well as motivating them to perform to their potential by use of a carrot and stick approach. There are different types of leadership styles that can be applied to modern organizations. Here, we focus on the authoritarian leader, the democratic leader and the laissez-faire leader.

The authoritarian leaders believe in a hierarchical leadership that emphasizes obedience to authority and conformity to the decisions taken at the top. This is a top-down approach that favors the employees going along with whatever decisions have been taken by the leader. The democratic style of leadership on the other hand emphasizes participation by all the stakeholders in the decision making and relies more on consensual approaches to decision making rather than imposing decisions from above.

This can be considered an even approach in the sense that it combines top-down approaches to decision making with that of participation from the bottom as well. The last leadership style that we are discussing here is the laissez-faire form where decision making is decentralized and the decision making process flows in all directions and includes top-down as well as bottom-up and horizontal as well as vertical. This leadership style might not be appropriate in all situations and usually the “New Economy” service sectors adopt this model.

Leaders have to adapt their leadership styles to the situation at hand and ensure that it fits the culture of the company. There is no defined leadership style for all situations and hence the leader must decide on the appropriate leadership style according to the organization that