The leader as motivator: coach and self‐esteem builder

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to determine what motivating strategies followers (comprised of low and high need achievers) view as most necessary from their leaders. Design/methodology/approach -Three survey instruments were administered to 297 working professionals taking business courses offered through a college of management at a private university. Correlational research methodology was used to investigate the relationships between selfattributed needs for achievement on demographic, interest and effort variables. Discriminant analysis was used to determine if motivational and profile characteristics could be used to predict low and high self-attributed need achievers. Findings -The major findings of this study centered on the leader's ability to inspire followers by using a variety of interesting coaching techniques and by building their self-esteem regardless of achievement orientation.Research limitations/implications -The results of this study are tentative and need to be reproduced with a larger, more comprehensive sample of a broader population. Practical implications -This research offers leaders practical techniques for effectively utilizing motivating strategies which may increase their followers' interest and effort in a performance situation. Originality/value -The findings of this study indicating that interest and effort can be used to improve motivation suggest that followers may exhibit significant gains in continuing motivation when relevant techniques are applied by the leader.

Reflective leadership review: a framework for improving organisational performance

“…It is modifiable, they argue, since the leader can influence a follower's motivation to perform. Therefore, the leader who serves as coach and mentor by providing positive reinforcement and displaying supportive behaviours helps build followers' self-esteem and confidence (Castelli, 2008). Supportive behaviours include trustworthiness, providing direction and feedback, and recognizing and rewarding follower contributions.…”

“…There is much evidence indicating that attempts to build self-esteem, self-worth or feelings of competence motivate people to take action (Castelli, 2008;Collins and Amabile, 1999;House and Shamir, 1993;Redmond et al, 1993;Schyns and Wolfram, 2008;Schoel et al, 2011). Castelli's (2008) research investigated the relationship between achievement motive and motivating strategies. Findings indicate that regardless of achievement motive (low-or high-need achievers), both groups desire a leader who builds their self-esteem.…”

“…• serves as a role model; Supporting literature includes: Argyris and Schön (1974), Balliett andKelloway (2011), Cameron (2012), Castelli (2008Castelli ( , 2011Castelli ( , 2012, Castelli et al (2014), Ceasar and Zivnuska (2008), Chughtai et al (2015), Grover et al (2014), Hsieh and Wang (2015), Johansson et al (2014), Klaussner (2012), Kraemer (2011), Kudonoo et al (2012), Men and Stacks (2014), Mirvis and Ayas (2003), Sarros et al (2014), Savolainen and Lopez-Fresno (2012), Schwartz and Castelli (2014), Sidani (2007), Sparrow (2013) and Zacher et al (2014):…”

“…Supporting literature includes: Bogler and Nir (2004), Carton et al (2014), Castelli (2008, Castelli et al (2014), Duden (2014), Hackman and…”

Facilitating the acquisition of strategic skills

“…Juxtaposed against these traditional or hard skills are managerial responsibilities such as the motivation of subordinates and influencing people (Castelli, 2008) – what Katz (1974) referred to as human skills. These people‐management responsibilities are seen as requiring a different set of managerial skills – so‐called “soft” skills.…”