Leadership Principles in Contemporary Organisations - Literature review Example

The first principle of motivation is that motivation is elicited from employees, not imposed into them (Weightman, 2008). Thus, leaders cannot force employees to be motivated, but can only lead them in a way that elicits a drive to continue working into them. The best leadership styles that motivate employees are democracy and laissez-faire. However, laissez-faire is best applicable in contexts comprising of highly educated employees filled with widespread acknowledgement of the principles of professionalism. Democracy implies participative decision making where every employee’s contribution is considered in the final decision made (Ali, Mcinerney, Craven, Yeung & King (2013). The main problem in the contemporary workplace, as per the interviewee, is that autocracy is hidden in democracy, where employees are theoretically involved and their views recorded, but the final decision is made without integrating their views. “That is how the second manager I worked with operated. It was sad for employees.” Although practical democratic leadership lengthens the process of decision making because all members of the organization must agree (Tom, 2004), it is imperative to recognize that it enhances both bottom-up and top-down communication in organizations. The interviewee noted that democracy is perfectly working for the current manager because he can now identify problems and device counteractive mechanisms before they go out of control.

Another tenet of motivation inherent in the course content is that needs are the major causes of motivation. Xiang, McBride and Guan (2004) argue that since all people have needs, then all people are motivated. The best approach to motivate people in the natural world is to identify their needs and show them how they can satisfy them through work processes. Motivation is heightened if employees can recognize that through work they can salsify their needs. Abraham Maslow, in his theory of hierarchy of needs, argued that human beings’ needs are endless and cannot be fully satisfied. As such, Maslow created a hierarchy of needs in form of pyramid and argued that when one need is satisfied, others crop up to replace it. Therefore, people who recognize these needs and have the capability to work maintain their motivations as they climb up the ladder from physiological needs, security needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization. Although not all people go through the hierarchical stages, the theory is consistent with the interviewee’s observation that his current manager provides basic needs such as foodstuffs, soap, and clothing to casual workers periodically. “At the same time, the manager encourages formation of welfare groups among employees and gives houses and cars on loans to middle level managers. Promotions are also evident in the company.”

Rogoff (2012) found out that people do things for their own reasons, not for others. As mentioned in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, people strive to work hard not because of others, but because they want to achieve their personal goals. It is only that for a person to satisfy his or her need, they must satisfy the needs of another person. On the same note, Lange, Kruglanski & Higgins (2012) contend that social interactions are the fundamental influencers of motivation. In Herzberg’s two factor theory of motivation, it is evident that motivators and hygiene factors. Motivators include responsibility, challenging work and recognition while hygiene factors include working conditions, company polices, interpersonal relationships, job security and work-life balance (Roberts & Treasure, 2012). The aspects of social interactions are emphasized in this theory as evidenced by recognition in motivators and interpersonal relationships in hygiene factors. When making decisions, it is imperative for leaders to consider the motivators and hygiene factors of employees and ensure they are duly made. Social interactions simplify both formal and informal communications processes in organizations. Remedios (2010) noted that it is possible to modify motivation. According to Alderfer’s ERG theory, motivation can be modified by availing the three groups of needs: existence, relatedness, and growth. These groups of core needs are closely related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Similarly, the self-determination theory posits that optimal development and actions are inherent in humans although they do not happen automatically (Roberts & Treasure, 2012). I think this explains the reason why motivation is open to modification depending on contexts and circumstances.

Best Qualities of Employees Effective Managers and Exemplary Citizens of Societies

Being an effective employee, successful manager, and exemplary citizen is founded on the ability to communicate effectively, make quality decisions, help other peoples meet their needs, and strive to motivate the members of the society or organization towards meeting their goals. Effective decision making is emphasized in the cognitive theories of motivations including goal-setting theory and expectancy theory. These theories are primarily concerned with making decisions that can help a person achieve their goals and meet their expectations (Pritchard & Ashwood, 2008). In social contexts, these goals and expectations must be communicated across the organization if the bottom-up and democratic/laissez-faire approaches to leadership are adopted.

Conclusion

This research paper focused on the leadership principles in contemporary organisations, creating the effective work environment, tenets of motivation evident from the course, best qualities of employees, effective managers and exemplary citizens of societies. It was evident from the analysis that effective motivation theories influence the processes of decision making and communication in organisations. Therefore, leaders should adopt best practices and establish orientation towards motivating employees in order to achieve best results. It is also recommendable that leaders study and understand the theories of motivation so that they can apply them and improve the motivation levels of their employees.