Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Motivation

What motivate you? Is it fear of punishment or denied benefits? Are you able to motivate yourself, or must you depend on someone else to motivate you? These are two questions asked over and over again. Some think that motivation comes from within, and there are others who think that is an outside process.

The word motivation is coined from the Latin word "movere", which means to move. Motivation is defined as an internal drive that activates behavior and gives it direction. The term motivation theory is concerned with the processes that describe why and how human behavior is activated and directed. It is regarded as one of the most important areas of study in the field of organizational behavior. There are two different categories of motivation theories such as content theories, and process theories. Even though there are different motivation theories, none of them are universally accepted.

Of the different types of content theories, the most famous content theory is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. Maslow introduced five levels of basic needs through his theory. Basic needs are categorized as physiological needs, safety and security needs, needs of love, needs for self esteem and needs for self-actualization. People with high need of power take action in a way that influences others behavior.

Goal setting theory suggests that the individuals are motivated to reach set goals. It also requires that the set goals should be specific. Reinforcement theory is concerned with controlling behavior by manipulating its consequences.

That sounds like the role of a leader, what is your take on that? It depends on what school of thought that you were subjected to during your earlier years, agree or disagree. You must make your own decision in these matters. Sometime you must think outside of the box, you do not have to agree with everyone, you must choose for yourself. My intention is to make you think for yourself and not because I, or someone else said it was right. There should be some facts or an empirical test performed for the basis for your decision. So I ask you “What is Your Motivation”?
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Leadership

Before we get started, let’s define leadership. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.

Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills. This is called Process Leadership. However, we know that we have traits that can influence our actions. This is called Trait Leadership, in that it was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than made.

Leadership has two important elements and they are; Responsibility and Authority. A good leader must be able to take responsibility and be responsible in all of his or her actions in dealing with individuals. Authority comes along with responsibility, and a leader must accept this role. A good leader must be able to be a good communicator as well as a good listener. In leadership you must also be able to delegate to your subordinates and follow up to ensure that the task was completed. In Leadership you must be able to work with your subordinates as well as your superiors. Hear again good communications is of the utmost important.

One of the best ways to accomplish your leadership duties are to mold your work force into the Team concept. This way you will have buy in from everyone, because it takes a team of individuals molded into a cohesive group working as one element, which is called the Team. You must remember that everyone has a role to play and that everyone is just as important as the other person.

The Team must be motivated and each individual must be motivated as well, this will be discussed more in my next article. http://amyles-allen-myles.blogspot.com

Friday, August 13, 2010

Business Management and Leadership

Management in all business areas and organizational activities are the acts of getting people together to accomplish desire goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization(a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.

Some definition of management are:

1. Organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of clearly defined objectives. Management is often included as a factor of production along with machines, materials and money. According to the management guru Peter Drucker (1909-2005), the basic task of a management is twofold: marketing and innovation.

2. Management comprises interlocking functions of formulating corporate policy and organizing, planning controlling, and directing the firm's resources to achieve the policy's objectives. The size of management can range from one person in a small firm to hundreds or thousands of managers in multinational companies.

Because organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also defined as human actions, including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a systems. this view opens the opportunity to 'manage' oneself, a pre-requisite to attempting to manage others. Management can also refer to the person or people who perform the act(s) of management. Management has been defined as "the art of getting things done through people". http://amyles-allen-myles.blogspot.com