Motivating today’s Employees
I have always been interested in the concept of management verses leadership and while both play their parts in motivation, leadership style is what interests me most. I believe that adopting the role of CMSgt for a week to see how he steps in to motivate the AF workforce he is responsible is an ideal challenge to enable me to understand this perspective. According to the words of Warren G. Bennis, Ph.D., "Leaders are people who do the right thing. Managers are people who do things right.” Undeniably, management and leadership are two concepts that confuse many a person not mentioning the problems it brings when people try to separate them. Even though the two terms are complementary, there is a significant meaning in meaning between the two terms. Simply put, leadership entails the process of setting a vision or direction to guide a group and it is the responsibility of the leader to spearhead the realization of that vision (Yusuf, 2007).
Similarly, management involves the process of controlling resources within a given based on a given set of established values. It is also emphatically crucial to consider what happens in the absence of either concept. In a leadership situation without management, the vision or direction might be set but no measure will be taken to consider the process of achieving the vision (Gerald, 2001). Management minus leadership helps in maintaining the status quo by aiding in controlling resources but fails to provide a new sense of direction or change (Gerald, 2001). Combining management with leadership helps in the realization of both objectives i.e. provision of a new direction and as well, aiding in the management of resources. As such, both management and leadership play a fundamental role in motivating employees (Gerald, 2001).
Motivating the military calls more for leadership characteristics when compared to the need of exceptional management skills. Military members are held together by the Esprit de corps that enables them to share the honor and pride (Rutner, Maria, & Scott, 2012). In modest times, a strong soul that can be equated to high combat motivation is essential in bringing success to military operations. Xenophon once stated that, strength nor numbers of the military does not aid in achieving victory in war, but enemies cannot resist the army that goes into battle with a stronger soul. For Xenophon, a military organization was supposed to be a rational, effective, and orderly community that respects the dignity and freedom of individuals within it (Rutner, Maria, & Scott, 2012). Therefore, providing combat motivation to any army is the most essential characteristic that military leaders must possess in order to motivate the soldiers. Undeniably, the basic factor in the supreme moment of battle is the human heart and thus, it is emphatically crucial that soldiers be given motivation and morale while in the battlefield (Rutner, Maria, & Scott, 2012). A true military leader should be able to magnify a soldier’s capabilities and initiatives to strengthen the power of his army.
Motivating military members entails the act of combat motivation that is dependent upon the motivation and morale of the soldiers. Speaking of morale, it revolves around the level of a soldier’s persistence and enthusiasm towards the military activity. As such, morale serves as a function of esprit de corps and group cohesion. In this sense, military cohesion entails the act of bonding together of members of a military unit in such a manner that will enable them to sustain their commitment and will to one another thereby enabling them to achieve their mission (Yusuf, 2007). Leadership in combat motivation calls for efforts from military commandants to limit their tradition of giving instructions by emphasizing on ways that seem to strengthen high morale and motivation among the soldiers (Rutner, Maria, & Scott, 2012).
A leader should understand both the internal and external conditions that are requisite for enabling the soldiers to strengthen their grip on their course of action thereby increasing their chances of winning conflicts. Other than saying, “do it” as it is common with the military profession, leaders should try to convince the soldiers to do the action. For instance, a military leader should teach soldiers not to obey military orders because they are told obey orders but rather, he should teach soldiers to obey orders because they agree with the orders. He should encourage soldiers to air their sentiments if they do not agree with the orders even if that would be going against the military tenets and principles. If soldiers believe in some strategy, they will adopt the strategy and it is upon the duty of their leader to motivate them to believe in the proposed strategy (Rutner, Maria, & Scott, 2012).
Large, modern organizations have managed to increase the productivity of their workers by enhancing the morale and motivation of employees to increase their levels of productivity. For instance, sponsoring employees to attend workshops or programs tailored to improve their skills and capabilities in their various fields in a sure way of increasing motivation and job loyalty (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2010). Organizations such as Google have given employees 70% level of freedom regarding individual projects provided they help in achieving the mission and vision of the organization. This factor plays an immense role in using creativity to bring the best out of employees. The product development team at Google, for instance the Google Labs Engineers, solely determines the functional strategies in the coming future without necessarily having to depend on directions from the CEO or directions from members of the executive board (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2010). The dynamic strategy facilitates the creation of a knowledge based strategic system whereby the company’s goals and information are shared freely among all levels of management. Furthermore, Google offers the highest salary packages for best performing employees. Flexibility of work and secure working conditions is another top strategy that is used to motivate employees. Other strategies used to motivate employees include frequent review of salaries, conducive working conditions, and freedom of creativity (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2010).
Planning for this challenge will involve undertaking thorough research on strategies and concepts that can be adopted to achieve combat motivation. This includes but not limited to understanding the factors that differentiate management and leadership in a military setting, how to ensure that things are done right without using my authority, military intelligence, and above all, adopting the heart of caring (Yusuf, 2007). I believe that military commanders are capable of caring for their troops by recognizing the value that every soldier contributes in the overall military campaign. This provides soldiers with an intrinsic level of motivation to keep on performing their duties. In the end, military groups will be highly specialized and defined in addition of being capable of realizing the overall strategy of the military organization.
References
Gerald A. K., (2001) "Are you L.E.A.D.ing your troops?” Strategy & Leadership, 29 (2): pp.29
– 33
Griffin, R. W., & Moorhead, G. (2010). Organizational behavior: Managing people and
organizations (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western
Rutner, S., Maria A., & Scott C., (2012) "Logistics Evolution: A Comparison of
Military and
Commercial Logistics Thought", International Journal of Logistics Management, The,
23 (1)
Yusuf, M., S., (2007). "Perceptions of leader transformational ability: The role of leader
speech
and follower self-esteem", Journal of Management Development, 26 (8):
pp.710 – 722
