Motivation and Theories

Post Written By: Crystal Kubeczka

Throughout the scholarly article, “Leadership and Motivation: A Core Concept,” it explains that there is a working theory of motivation. The first strand of theory is described as Maslow’s theory. The article states that each human has basic needs that are arranged in a hierarchy: (1) Self-actualization, (2) Esteem from self and others, (3) Social: Love and Belongingness, (4) Security, and (5) Physiological. We discussed Maslow’s theory in class. Each human has to satisfy certain needs before others and whenever those needs are not being fulfilled correctly it can make the person feel uneasy. The second strand in motivation theory includes, “the interrelationship between the action or behavior of the individual and his goal attainment and need satisfaction” or in other words the Path-Goal approach. We discussed this theory in class also. With this theory, the individual is goal directed.

Kroth from a different scholarly source called, “Organizational Change: Motivation, Communication, and Leadership Effectiveness,” describes motivation as, “Motivation is the influence or drive that causes us to behave in a specific manner and has been described as consisting of energy, direction, and sustainability. In an organizational context, a leader’s ability to persuade and influence others to work in a common direction reflects his or her talent to motivate…Motivational theories explore the multiple approaches to meeting individual’s needs, including expectancy theory, Maslow’s need theory, and the widely used goal theory.” This article relate with the other article listed in the paragraph above. Both describe different motivational theories and how to handle them through the motivational approach. In order to become motivated it is up to the person and what type of attitude they put towards something. “In other words motivation is either positively or negatively affected by die experience an employee has within a given work environment and with his or her leaders.” Motivation is all on the employee and how motivated they are towards reaching and completing their goals.

Evans, Martin G. "Leadership And Motivation: A Core Concept."  Academy Of Management Journal  13.1 (1970):                 91-102.  Business Source Complete . Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

 Gilley, A., Gilley, J. W., & McMillan, H. S. (2009). Organizational change: Motivation, communication, and            leadership effectiveness.  Performance Improvement Quarterly, 21(4), 75-94. '''

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