As a manager, we may have asked: What motivates managers to become successful in a large organisation? Among other things, they need to make an impact to be strong and to influence the behaviour of others for the organisational good. What separates good managers from poor managers is the “need for power”. However, it should neither be dictatorial, nor power for personal goals. It is not crude power, or power used impulsively. It can be referred to as altruistic power, meaning the power to influence people for the good of the organisation for which they work. It may also be called socialized power, meaning power which is tempered by a large dose of self-
control and perspective.
When a large number of executives are grouped according to their success in a running large, complex corporation, the profile of the effective manager looks like this:The top managers of a company must possess a high concern for influencing people and commensurate authority. However, this need must be disciplined and controlled so that it is directed towards the benefit of an institution as a whole and not toward the manager’s personal benefits. Moreover, the top manager’s need for power ought to be greater than her/his need for being liked by people.
A good manager is not primarily motivated by the need for affiliation. The affiliation need refers to the desire to be liked and accepted by other people. People with strong affiliation need not necessarily do well in management positions.To maintain a high morale and productive environment, policies must be applied universally and consistently. A manager concerned with developing friendly relationships may make too many “exceptions to the rule” for certain subordinates, thereby upsetting these subordinates who do not receive special treatment. A manager motivated by the affiliation need may create poor teamwork and low morale. This, of course, would be inadvertent; as such an individual would not purposefully do anything to upset the relationships in the work group. It would occur most likely because of the failure of the manager to focus on the task to be accomplished.
The need for achievement is not extreme among effective managers. The need for achievement means a desire to do things better. Entrepreneurs, for example, are high in the need to achieve. This is understandable since people high in this need try to do things better themselves and want constant feedback on their performance to see how well they are working. While good managers may be high in the need to achieve, it is usually not greatly out of balance when compared to the power and affiliation motives.A manager with an usually high need to achieve would in all probability be characterized by the inability to delegate authority. But good managers get things done with and through other people. They are, therefore, required invariably to delegate authority. The manager must get others to do things through influence or through persuasion. By definition, then, one aspect of a manager’s job is to help others perform their jobs better, rather than trying to better perform the many short-term projects alone.
A mature, self-controlled need for power will help create a good manager who helps subordinates, feels strong and responsible, rewards them properly for good performance and sees that things are organized in such a way that subordinates feel they know what they should be doing. Above all, managers should foster among others a strong sense of team spirit, of pride in working as part of a particular team. If a manager creates and encourages this spirit, her/his subordinate(s) certainly should perform better.
The actions of managers can be measured along two dimensions – a concern for people and a concern for productive output. A strong power need combined with a weak need for affiliation does not conflict with being people-oriented or democratic toward subordinates. Power is a motive while being people-oriented is a behaviour or an action.
Effective managers, in their effort to influence subordinates and get work done, express their strong power needs in democratic, people-oriented ways. Research on power in organisations indicates that the managers who were strong in power needs were also rated strong on the people-oriented supervisory style by their own subordinates.
control and perspective.
When a large number of executives are grouped according to their success in a running large, complex corporation, the profile of the effective manager looks like this:The top managers of a company must possess a high concern for influencing people and commensurate authority. However, this need must be disciplined and controlled so that it is directed towards the benefit of an institution as a whole and not toward the manager’s personal benefits. Moreover, the top manager’s need for power ought to be greater than her/his need for being liked by people.
A good manager is not primarily motivated by the need for affiliation. The affiliation need refers to the desire to be liked and accepted by other people. People with strong affiliation need not necessarily do well in management positions.To maintain a high morale and productive environment, policies must be applied universally and consistently. A manager concerned with developing friendly relationships may make too many “exceptions to the rule” for certain subordinates, thereby upsetting these subordinates who do not receive special treatment. A manager motivated by the affiliation need may create poor teamwork and low morale. This, of course, would be inadvertent; as such an individual would not purposefully do anything to upset the relationships in the work group. It would occur most likely because of the failure of the manager to focus on the task to be accomplished.
The need for achievement is not extreme among effective managers. The need for achievement means a desire to do things better. Entrepreneurs, for example, are high in the need to achieve. This is understandable since people high in this need try to do things better themselves and want constant feedback on their performance to see how well they are working. While good managers may be high in the need to achieve, it is usually not greatly out of balance when compared to the power and affiliation motives.A manager with an usually high need to achieve would in all probability be characterized by the inability to delegate authority. But good managers get things done with and through other people. They are, therefore, required invariably to delegate authority. The manager must get others to do things through influence or through persuasion. By definition, then, one aspect of a manager’s job is to help others perform their jobs better, rather than trying to better perform the many short-term projects alone.
A mature, self-controlled need for power will help create a good manager who helps subordinates, feels strong and responsible, rewards them properly for good performance and sees that things are organized in such a way that subordinates feel they know what they should be doing. Above all, managers should foster among others a strong sense of team spirit, of pride in working as part of a particular team. If a manager creates and encourages this spirit, her/his subordinate(s) certainly should perform better.
The actions of managers can be measured along two dimensions – a concern for people and a concern for productive output. A strong power need combined with a weak need for affiliation does not conflict with being people-oriented or democratic toward subordinates. Power is a motive while being people-oriented is a behaviour or an action.
Effective managers, in their effort to influence subordinates and get work done, express their strong power needs in democratic, people-oriented ways. Research on power in organisations indicates that the managers who were strong in power needs were also rated strong on the people-oriented supervisory style by their own subordinates.
• Motivation is defined as a “process governing choices, made by persons or lower organisms, among alternatives forms of voluntary activity”. As such motivation is concerned with (1) the direction of behaviour, or what a person chooses to do when presented with a number of possible alterna tives, (2) the amplitude, or strength of the effect once the choice is made and (3) the persistence of the behaviour, or how long the person continues with it. Choices behaviour refers to decisions directed toward occupational preference, choices, organisation choices, job attendance, self- training, creativity, spontaneity and job termination.
• Almost all workers are motivated to have a high level of self-esteem in the work situation. Often when a person is not in a work situation providing high self- esteem, the person will be “fighting back” – actively or passively like a slave – with all sorts of sly country measures. People do not want to be pushed around, misunderstood, unappreciated, mistreated, controlled or laughed at. All these
things cause low self-esteem. The individual does not want to expect success to be active, to be respected to exercise self-control and to be self-starting.
• Factors within the job (intrinsic factors) are usually effective motivators and can help awaken the urge to accomplish and to be self-starting. Such factors include feelings of achievement, recognition and responsibility among others. These feelings sometimes “surprise” workers and in so doing inspire and encourage high motivation
• Jobs not providing for intrinsic motivation are low in “cultivation” or stimulation. Some form of job redesign is suggested for this type of job.
• High task performance results when (1) employees are able to use their valued abilities and skills in becoming task competent, (2) employees perceive valued and equitable rewards to be linked to task performance, and (3) employees acknowledge a differential reward system based on performance within the organisation.
• The power motive is important to effective managers. This need is not for dictatorial power or crude impulsive power but rather socialized power and the power to influence people for the sake of the organisation. While some balance of motives is usually present within most individuals a high need for power seem to be critical to a person’s ability to function as a manager.
• Motivation is a complex problem in organisation because the needs, wants, and desires of each worker differ as each individual is unique in his/ her biological and psychological makeup and in his/her learning experiences. Motivation is either internal or external, depending on where the action is initiated.
• External motivation builds on internal motivation and depends on the motivational assumptions and techniques used by the manager.
• Almost all workers are motivated to have a high level of self-esteem in the work situation. Often when a person is not in a work situation providing high self- esteem, the person will be “fighting back” – actively or passively like a slave – with all sorts of sly country measures. People do not want to be pushed around, misunderstood, unappreciated, mistreated, controlled or laughed at. All these
things cause low self-esteem. The individual does not want to expect success to be active, to be respected to exercise self-control and to be self-starting.
• Factors within the job (intrinsic factors) are usually effective motivators and can help awaken the urge to accomplish and to be self-starting. Such factors include feelings of achievement, recognition and responsibility among others. These feelings sometimes “surprise” workers and in so doing inspire and encourage high motivation
• Jobs not providing for intrinsic motivation are low in “cultivation” or stimulation. Some form of job redesign is suggested for this type of job.
• High task performance results when (1) employees are able to use their valued abilities and skills in becoming task competent, (2) employees perceive valued and equitable rewards to be linked to task performance, and (3) employees acknowledge a differential reward system based on performance within the organisation.
• The power motive is important to effective managers. This need is not for dictatorial power or crude impulsive power but rather socialized power and the power to influence people for the sake of the organisation. While some balance of motives is usually present within most individuals a high need for power seem to be critical to a person’s ability to function as a manager.
• Motivation is a complex problem in organisation because the needs, wants, and desires of each worker differ as each individual is unique in his/ her biological and psychological makeup and in his/her learning experiences. Motivation is either internal or external, depending on where the action is initiated.
• External motivation builds on internal motivation and depends on the motivational assumptions and techniques used by the manager.
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