Position of the leader Essay

In every team endeavor someone formally or informally takes the position of the leader. A leader keeps track of all the team activities and has a deciding effect on the workings of the team. He has to care not only about the work but also its speed of execution. As team is composed of people, this means he has to get the work done with the people and as always observed; people work when they have some motivation to do so. Motivation is the key to how people react to a particular work or situation. A good leader very well knows what is the motivation behind each of his team member’s work and uses it for the maximum benefit of the team. Some of my motivations are holidays and spending time on my hobbies. I am also motivated by being a part of process of some positive change and also if I get chance to work with small, relaxed, honest people. These form the major crunch of my motivation. I believe that things that motivate me will very well motivate others also. I find the theory Y approach1 useful. In it the workers are assumed to be happy with their job and use their creativity and imagination to make decision and to solve problems. These set of people will tackle problem themselves as far as possible and remain satisfied with their work because this gives them opportunity to do the work as they like. Of course, some people fall in the theory X category, I prefer to throw out such people and if that’s not possible try to turn them to Y side. Also I find the ‘Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’2 quite useful. He mentions that everyone is motivated by his needs but once his needs are met, He isn’t satisfied instead it is taken over by another higher need. A leader has to take care of the needs of where his people are in this hierarchy. References: 1 Douglas McGregor (1960). ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’. McGraw Hill 2 ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ Psychological Review 50, pp 370-396