Leadership style is believed to be an essential element in the success of a leader. Effective leadership equals to a successful organization. One of the leadership styles is motivational leadership (Afshari et al., 2017). Motivation is the goal-oriented attribute that enables a person to achieve specific goals. It pushes a person into working hard towards that goal. Therefore a leader needs to possess motivational traits so that he/she can motivate others to strive towards specific goals instead of acting only on orders. To be an effective leader, one should first be self-motivated that understanding owns identity, needs, and urge to do anything to achieve an objective (Mumford et al., 2017). Once this is established, motivating others to achieve their objectives and harmonize their objective with common objectives of the organization will be easy ( Deckers, 2018). The paper analyzes intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, which influences a leader's behavior and personal goals that motivate a leader to enact his or her behaviors.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is when one does something because it is enjoyable or interesting, while extrinsic motivation is doing something to avoid negative consequences or to get an external reward. Both of them are important with intrinsic motivation people will stick to a task and invest more time on it and become successful. Without extrinsic motivation, people will go to work anytime they want, fail to comply with the rules, and many day-to-day activities require extrinsic motivation ( Deckers, 2018).
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Leaders are motivated by both external and internal factors because there is a reason as to why a leader behaves, reacts, and does something in a particular way. If a leader understands the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivational factors, then there is a high probability of motivating him/herself and others ( Deckers, 2018). Each behavior always has an underlying cause and motivating factor, and understanding them is important in improving or changing the outcomes. Leaders who are only extrinsically motivated do not make good leaders, but leaders who are not rewarded for their work stagnate and lose morale. A leader's success can be measured with the ability to influence others to achieve their goals ( Deckers, 2018).
Some of the extrinsic motivations that influence a leader's behavior include the following. First is the Organizational resource because leaders depend on the available resources such as technology, finance, and staff to achieve their set goals. Their success depends on how well these resources are acquired and used. Secondly is the organizational culture, which is the combination of the founders, past and present leaders. It is difficult for one to change a culture since it is the result of long-held information and traditions, customs, and shared expectations of the company. Therefore leaders will adjust their behaviors to meet the mission of the organization ( Deckers, 2018).
Thirdly is the employee role because employees have different maturity levels when approaching a certain task, and this affects the style of leadership required to guide them. Employees also impact the company with their values and work ethic. Responsibilities always have challenges, and leaders need to recognize and reduce them for the employees to achieve their goals ( Deckers, 2018).
In Intrinsically motivated behaviors, the reward is the task itself. Some of the intrinsic motivation factors include the following. First is a curiosity because it pushes a leader to explore and learn something for pleasure. Secondly is recognition; a leader can have an innate need to be appreciated by others and feel satisfied when the efforts are recognized. Thirdly is control; some leaders would want to control what happens and make a decision that impacts the outcome ( Deckers, 2018).
Personal Goals that Motivate a Leader to Enact a Behavior
Adopting positive leadership behavior will motivate the employees to become more productive and increase their ability to reaching their goals (Afshari et al., 2017). It also helps the leader to retain the top management, and the team members will value the opportunity of working with such a leader. Leaders are driven by personal goals for them to develop positive leadership behavior (CBE et al., 2014). Some of the goals include the following.
First is the need to achieve employee satisfaction and retention. Job satisfaction is a state where an employee feels self-motivated and satisfied with the job. It happens when one feels that he/she is having job stability, work-life balance, and career growth (CBE et al., 2014). Satisfied employees have a reason to work hard and contribute towards organizations success. Job satisfaction can only be achieved if a leader ensures that there is a good job description to attract employees and give opportunities to employees to learn and grow. A leader can also provide compensation and benefits, such as incentives and bonuses, to appreciate them (Baczynska & Korzynski, 2017).
Secondly is the need to develop self-discipline and personal responsibility. For one to become a good leader, he/she should first understand and have leadership of his/her own. To teach others to become responsible in their lives and work, a good leader will strive to show these qualities. Thirdly is the desire to demonstrate competence in several areas to become a more effective leader. A leader should have qualities such as good interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, courage, and conflict management (Baczynska & Korzynski, 2017).
Finally is to develop leadership presence. A good leader should gain respect from others because only knowledge and skills are not enough to get work done, but also allegiance and loyalty are required. An effective leader should have clear principles and core values and behave and speak in line with those values and principles. A leader can achieve honesty and loyalty from the employees if he/she is also loyal and honest (CBE et al., 2014).
In conclusion, the type of Leadership style in an organization determines its success. Motivational leadership is essential because it helps others achieve their goals. A leader should understand different types of motivation to motivate the employees effectively . For a leader to motivate others, he/she should be self-motivated first. Leaders should also have personal goals such as the desire to achieve employee's satisfaction for them to develop positive leadership behavior. Leaders are motivated by both external and internal factors, such as organizational culture and the need for recognition.
References
Afshari, J., Moein, Z., Afshari, F., Sharifi-Rad, J., Balouchi, A., & Afshari, A. (2017). A comparison of leadership styles with respect to biographical characteristics. SA Journal of Human Resource Management , 15 (0). https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v15i0.817
Baczynska, A., & Korzynski, P. (2017). Leadership competencies among managers. Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe , 25 (2), 6-22. https://doi.org/10.7206/jmba.ce.2450-7814.193
CBE, P. C., Biron, P. C., & Burke, P. R. (2014). Creating healthy workplaces: Stress reduction, improved well-being, and organizational effectiveness . Ashgate Publishing.
Deckers, L. (2018). Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Motivation , 307-340. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315178615-10
Mumford, M. D., Todd, E. M., Higgs, C., & McIntosh, T. (2017). Cognitive skills and leadership performance: The nine critical skills. The Leadership Quarterly , 28 (1), 24-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.10.012
