WHAT MOTIVATES PEOPLE TO FOLLOW LEADERSHIP

Presenters: David Moreno and John Mendoza

CHAPTER 3

What People Want From the Motivator

Success Respect Recognition Money Power Privileges Opportunity Intelligence

1. Personal Gain – This is the strongest and most prevalent individual motive possessed by human beings.

Questions To Ask Yourself

o What is the personal gain for the (teacher) (staff) (parent) in my school or district to do as I ask?

o What individual benefits do I offer those being led?o Do I assign work to those being led according to their

ability?

Some Conclusions

o A leader must know what those being led want.o The biggest mistake we can make as a leader is to believe

that those being led do not have any expectations of us. o The answers we give to these kinds of questions are

important. They tell us if the person gains by following us.

Behaviors That Tell Us Prestige Is The Motivator

Telling us the good things they are doing, and waiting for us to respond.

Talking about how others want and need them. Saving and displaying all evidence of their

successes.

2. Prestige- People are motivated by what causes them to feel important or will enable them to win approval or recognition from others.

Questions To Ask Yourself

Is there any prestige in following me? Can I follow as well as lead? What am I doing to make those being led feel special?

Some Conclusions Giving people authority and responsibility is prestigious. Recognition is prestige. Appreciation is prestige. Reward is

prestige. Treating people as subordinates takes away prestige.

Behaviors That Tell Us Pleasure Is The Motivator

o Arriving at school early and/or staying late. o Stopping by to see and visit with us. o Request or volunteer for hard or important tasks. o Smiling all the time and seldom being angry.o Wanting to serve on committees.

3. Pleasure - When the prestige motivator is combined with the need people have to achieve pleasure, motivation to accept leadership is enhanced.

Questions To Ask Yourself

o What joy or fun is it to be with me? To follow me?o Do I make work pleasant or unpleasant?o How pleasurable is it to come to my office? To come to a

faculty meeting?

Some Conclusions

o Schools can’t be all fun and games. However, work does not have to be unpleasant.

o Learning is enjoyable.o Expressing enthusiasm enhances pleasure.

Behaviors That Tell Us Imitation Is TheMotivator. Trying to fit in. Seeking the opinion of others before making a

decision. Saying, “I don’t agree, but if Mr. Smith says its ok,

then its ok with me too.”

4. Imitation- This a need people have to follow the crowd and do what the majority-or the minority- are doing.

Questions to ask yourself

Do I see myself as a model for (students) (teachers) (parents)?

What can I do to make those being led want to imitate excellence?

How can I make those being led imitate those who work hard, achieve, and are involved in the (school) (district)?

Some Conclusions

If we want respect, we should give it. If we want people to work hard, we should work hard. To further positive motivation, we must display good work.

Behaviors That Tell Us Security is The Motivatoro Never volunteering.o Worrying about everything and everyone.o Wanting to do the right thing.o Being constantly concerned about standards and

requirements. o Asking for permission before doing anything.

5. Security – We all desire this motivational factor.

Questions To Ask Yourself

o Do I motivate with pressure? Fear? Force?o Do teachers work for me, or do I work with teachers?o Can those being led count on me? Do they think so?

Some Conclusions

o People who are fearful are seldom progressive.o A leader can feel more control when people feel insecure,

but a leader is secure only when those being led are secure.

o Fear can cancel intellect.o Fear can consume people and dictate everything they do.

Behaviors That Tell Us Convenience Is The Motivator

Approving anything- if it does not involve their doing anything.

Looking for the easy, simplest way Always voting against change.

6. Convenience- When a leader can combine the need for convenience with the need for personal gain, leadership acceptance and motivation are enhanced.

Questions To Ask Yourself

Am I approachable? Do I make it convenient for those being led to have access

to resources and get help? Do I make it easy to “buy” what I have to say?

Some Conclusions

Rules and procedures can make things convenient or inconvenient for people

People will almost always choose the convenient. Convenience can increase productivity.

Behavior That Tell Us A Desire To Avoid Fear Is The Motivator

o Refusing to be involved. o Serving reluctantly in leadership capacities.o Opposing new ideas.o Wanting rules for everything.o Wanting promises and guarantees.

7. Desire to Avoid Fear – This need keeps revealing itself in every list, and it is a much stronger need that we will ever suspect.

Questions To Ask Yourselfo What can I do to reduce or eliminate fears in the (school)

(district) for (students) (staff) (parents)?o Do I keep my thumb on people?o Do I believe that I can’t be nice to people and still be an

effective leader?

Some Conclusiono Fear is a very effective motivator. It works.o What it does for control, however, it does against creativity,

ingenuity, and intellect. o It is better to think in terms of motivation rather than

reprimand.

Behaviors That Tell Us New Experiences Are the Motivator

Asking to change the room or do tasks in a different order. Requesting to visit another school. Wanting to change the schedule or vary an activity.

8. New Experiences- This is the need felt my many people to do, see, or participate in something new, different, varied, or unique.

Questions To Ask Yourself What new experiences do I give (teachers) (students)? What is my attitude toward change? Am I comfortable with routine?

Some Conclusions

Attention can be created with new experiences. Interest and success can be created with new experiences. Variation can be motivating.

Behaviors That Tell Us Love/Caring Is The Motivator

o (Student) (teacher) or (colleagues) trying to please us and doing anything we request.

o Providing events for the staff. o Volunteering to help o Noticing what we wear.

9. Love – This is an extremely effective motivator – and a necessary one. Why? Because the reality is that love is the only emotion that human beings cannot live without.

Questions To Ask Yourself

o What am I doing that is above and beyond the call of duty?o Do I fear making myself vulnerable?o What is the evidence that I care about those I lead

personally?

Some Conclusions

o Love and caring are vital elements in the leader-follower relationship.

o People will follow a leader who makes many mistakes if they feel loved. Few will follow if they don’t.

o Love and caring show that the leader values those being led as individual persons of worth

“There is no greater priority than to provide the best possible education for students. It is the teaching staff that will make this objective either a myth or reality. Yet it is the quality of our leadership that will provide the climate and motivation necessary for teachers to reach this goal.”

Final Thoughts