The Best Leadership Theories For Employee Motivation

Leadership theories, styles and types can have a powerful effect on motivating employees. On the other hand, deciding which one will be the most effective will make your head spin. There is an endless list of possiblities to choose from. At the same time you need to decide whether to employ a style that fits your personality or go outside your comfort zone. This article will help you develop the correct business leadership skills, way of training and coaching methods.

It should be no surprise that your employees enjoy working in a positive workplace culture. Leaders that are fair, but firm and bold will be excepted and followed compared to leaders that are dictators. Being beliveable and not being assumed as being fake will gain you points. Keep in mind that you cannot make everyone happy, so dont even try. Treating your workers fairly accross the board while following proper policiies and procedures will make all the difference.

Many people have personennel prefrences when choosing leadership theories. They choose the style that best fits their own personality. Others may think outside their comfort zone. These leaders take on new unknown techniques and styles that will have to be learned.

Ultimately the best theories of leadership is to choose the one that will invlove the combining of the two different styles. Find the best theory that fits your personality and the one that involves learning. This will allow you to develop into a strong leader.

Before you can use any leadership theories it's good idea to understand what type of leader you are right now. Some people say leadership traits are inherited at birth. while others say leaders can be developed. Use the theory called Trait Theory to determine what type of leader you.

Trait theory is explained as people who have inherited leadership characteristics. The focus then shifted to discovering traits by studying successful leaders. The assumption was that if other people had the same traits, then they could also be great leaders.

In 1974 Stogdill recognized critical traits and skills for successful leaders. Use the table below to determine your level of leadership. Match up the traits and skills to find out if you are a natural leader or a leader who needs to develop. The higher number of skills equal natural ability while less skills require a personal leadership developement plan.

Dont worry if you have determined that you fall into the category that requires a leadership development plan. Behavioral theory follows the notation that leaders can be made instead of inheriting traits. This particular theory is the easiest to develop of all the leaderships theories.

The process of using behavioral theory is assessing successful leaders. Studying what has worked for them in regards to behaviors for success. The same can be said about any particular failures that may have been encountered. Assessing successfull leaders strengthens and weaknesses will provide a road map for success.

There are leadership theories that allow you to involve other people in the decision making process. Participative leadership theory follows this belief. Employees will be less competitive and more willing to work together on joint goals. When decisions are made as a team, the committment level to one another increases as does their committment to the decision.

The process of using participative leadership calls for leaders to involve others who are directly involved in the project. The differenc here is that you are staying away for making autocratic decisions. The amount of control or influnce others have will be determinedd by the leader.

Keep this in mind when determining the amount of participation you will allow. When several people work together they will make better decisions than when one person does. You will find that something special will start to happen. A team will start to form and you will find it easier to motivate your employees. There is one important note to make about participative leadership and that is don't be afraid to delegate some control. You will be thankful you did.

Transformational leadership theories takes the road of selling compared to the telling style of transactional leadership. The basic notation is that workers will follow people whom their inspired by. Transformational leaders can be great to work with, they provide positive inspiring experiences. They bleed passion and high levels of energy. They are also just as concerned about you then they are about themselves.

This theory is one of the best ones out there for employee motivation. It is amazing how much can get done by injecting a little excitement and energy.

The process of transformational leadership has four parts.

#1 Building The Vision

Transformational Leadership starts with building a vision. It needs to be something that will create excitement. The vision can also come from anyone in your organization or from a brainstroming session. It is critcial though that the leader buyers into it in order to sell it.

#2 Promoting The Vision

The key to this stage is the consistent promotion of the vision. For the reason being, that people will commit to join your vision at varying points. It may take a while before people start to buy into it. But with consistent promoton a snowball effective will start to grow. So it is of vital importance to take every opportunity to promote and convince others to join the cause.

The tramsformational leader must be careful in creating trust, and their personal integrity is a critical part they are selling. In effect, they are selling themselves as well as the vision.

#3 Finding The Way Forward

Transformational leaders don't always have a roadmap or plan to follow. If there is a clean vision, then the direction will also be known. Transformational leaders must expect a bumpy road with potholes and stop signs. But then again even if you have an established plan it still dosen't mean you will not have any corrections to make.

#4 Leading The Movement

Transformational leaders will always be available and visible. They lead by example and expect others to act the some. They try to motivate workers consistently. They make the necessary rounds, listening, soothing and enthusing. This opportunity for motivaing employees can invlove many things. For more motivation ideas check out this insightful article.

Situational Leadership is another one of those leadership theories that is self explanatory. Situational leaders will adapt to what ever situation presents itself. This leadership style calls for the understanding of several different theories. Understanding a wide vareity of theories will allow leaders to be prepared for any sort of issue that may arise. Situational Leadership is considered by many leaders to be the best theory to use daily.

All the Leadership Theories above can be used for employee motivation purposes. There are many other ways to motivate your employees. For more motivation ideas try these articles for inspiring ideas.

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This article explains what are the right skills you will need to be an successful leader. As well as defining what leadership is all about.

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