Work environment and motivation to lead
Does the environment in which you work affect your motivation to lead? Explain.
Troy, Interesting! I like your positivism. Do you feel that sometimes an environment can effect your motivation to lead?
Elizabeth Wheeler
Heather
I would agree that trust will play a major roll in your ability to lead it will be difficult for me to follow you if they have no trust in you or your ability.
Troy
I am not really sure about this question. I believe that your environment will play some roll but it should not affect your motivation to lead your team or your group.
Troy
KarrieAnn....don't allow the your current situation to stunt your growth. I keep what I call a "Success Bible". I write down all of my ideas and plans down; keep it with me. Sometimes with I find an OPEN opportunity to slide something in I go for it...if it's not detrimental to my company or co-workers. Sometimes forgiveness works better than permission. No on the other hand email your ideas to your superiors and put a READ RECEIPT on it so that you will know that it was indeed read.
Kevin I loved that movie! I truly believe the reason Joe Clark was successful was because he remained true to his convictions and he was able to help those pupils recognize their potential by being honest and upstanding. When you believe in people and have confidence in them it makes a difference. When we, as leaders, see the potential in those that we lead, sometimes we have to believe for them and point out to them their greatness until they can believe and see for themselves; it's like coaching.
In general I am a pretty self-motivated individual and in essence I have been one to be of motivation to others. However I find that environments laced in negativity and poor communication and lack of personal and team accountability can be quite a downer. A combative measure that I use to steer others away from drudgery is to introduce a positive affirmation daily. Not everyone will buy into it but I find that if subscribe to it and live by it for that day that it helps me to stay positive and motivated in spite of.
Gaylene, What a great perspective! How does one build these requirements into the environment?
Elizabeth Wheeler
The environment of where you work is very important. Stability, trust, empowerment, and feedback are all required to be motivated. If these are not part of the environment, an individuals needs to attempt build them into the environment to encourage and motivate others.
Dwayne, Excellent point of view! Thank you for sharing.
Dr. Jean Norris
KarrieAnn, There is always opportunity to grow! What can you do to improve the environment?
Dr. Jean Norris
Environment can be broken down in many categories. Political, operational, mission, etc.
Motivation to lead can be affected by environments; however, the desire to lead needs to come from within rather than external factors. When i think of contributing factors to wanting to lead, i think of making mission, leading a team to achieve goals, personal development, etc. Environment is usually something that leaders have to navigate as they make their way towards their missiong.
Well, at least that's how I look at it.
In my work environment we are often not heard on our ideas to lead. I believe This comes from being lead by Coercive managers. When we express leadership ideas we are ofter shot down and left diminished. I have often stopped myself from contributing because I feel my thoughts, opinion and ideas wont make the cut.
Ricardo, Interesting! It sounds like you really care about your staff. Consider a consistent negative or positive work environment; would that effect the motivation to lead?
Dr. Jean Norris
Not at all. I am always surprised at how my staff handle unexpected incidents that seem to occur almost on a daily basis. I trust them to make the correct judgment call at the time. When they do not, I will correct the matter as best I can, and, depending on the severity of error, I will make the employee aware about the mistake, but encourage them, if necessary. If I admonish them, it is only to avoid the error from happening again, not to demoralize or stifle the spirit that perpetuates a very positive work environment. I have noticed that this helps to alleviate my load as my employees become more independent, which gives me time to concentrate on what I need to do.
Steven, It's important to be aware of your successes, and things that don't so work. Great awareness on your part! It's important to be flexible, as it appears you are, which is great.
Dr. Jean Norris
Yes! Motivation, for me, reflects what other around me express as their goals. For example, if I have a dissertation student telling me they want to produce a quality problem statement, then my motivation as a leader shifts from the traditional “want a quality dissertation†perspective to a very focused motivation regarding the components of defining, creating, and placing the components into a system. (In turn, this is used to generate the problem statement.) After that shift, I can supply a vision for the student and set them off to work as to build their statement. I don’t have to manage them, which is the great thing—I get to watch them grow and change given a vision and few general rules.
For me, my drive during leading constantly shifts upon the contexts supplied by others and requirements of the university. Thus there are no real “static†contexts to affect me – it’s fluid and a little chaotic at times.
Can it be demoralizing? Sure. Sometimes a context can turn sour but that also tells me to look for another “way out†as to redefine the context, lead in a new direction, and get to a resolution. Does it always work? Mostly, sure. Have I failed? Sure, that happens too.
So, do I learn from this? Sure – my leadership (as observed) builds upon the knowledge, rules, and concepts I have developed while wrangling with the above. The upside is I am always learning, new ideas appear, and it keeps me fresh and really “into†what I love doing.
Nicholas, Thank you for sharing. You bring up an interesting point about leaders rising to the challenge. What is another instance that you witnessed a lack of leadership and poor results?
Dr. Jean Norris
Yes you will find that environment drives many aspects of a persons behavior especially motivation. However it can force great leadership and mediocre. For example in Iraq the heat often hit 120 degrees during the day and was no time for poor leadership. In the absence of leadership I would step up many times in order to speed things along towards relief from the sun. Environment is the true test of leadership.
Great awareness, Lauren. Sometimes it takes looking at things from another perspective to find the solution to the problem. The person that is willing to shift their position and see things differently holds the power.
Dr. Jean Norris
