What Drives You?
Effective global leaders should be able to paint a picture of where the company is headed, what roles people will play, and what goals must be accomplished, and also able to inspire and motivate others to work toward that point in a way that embodies excellence. In a rapidly changing future, executives will need to learn not only to let go but they will need to learn to let go quickly. One executive who was listed as an excellent future leader consistently told his people, “Get back to me when you need or want help; otherwise, I’m going to assume that you are getting the job done.”
By looking closely at personalities and experiences, one can evaluate how a given individual can lead best and in what context that leadership will likely be successful. A crucial factor in such an evaluation is the individual’s motivation: As an example, an interesting comparison is between personalities who are more achievement-motivated and those who are more power-motivated.
These executives are able to identify who the leaders are. Then they can empower those leaders. They find “the best to help the rest.” They understand different styles and know when to accept the difference. These leaders can identify someone’s strengths and weaknesses and find workers who complement each other.19
Achievement-motivated people are logical and organized; they complete assigned tasks well; they raise standards. High achievers want predictability, order, improvement, and they are diligent about technique and process. They are skilled at showing others what needs to be done and how it should be done to meet different goals successfully. However, they are uncomfortable with the lack of control they feel when they hand projects off; therefore, they are not as likely to be successful high-level leaders.
The concept of power often gets a bad reputation, but it is actually the process of influencing and having impact on whole constituencies of people. Power-motivated people inspire others to do tasks well; they create coalitions for change; they have the capacity to see the big picture and link individuals and constituencies with it. However, in many cases their capacity to carry out detailed work themselves may be limited; they prefer instead to influence others to carry out these detailed tasks, but now with more confidence that they will be in service of the “greater good” rather than of a largely individual agenda.
Every individual has a different mixture of achievement, affiliation, power, and autonomy drivers. Successful leaders recognize how these particular drivers can be deployed for best effect; they also recognize the accompanying limitations of the motivational “jigsaw” and accordingly plan for the partnering of executives with complementary strengths. Gaining insight into these motivators can be an extremely useful tool in determining what style of leadership a person will have and if he or she will be an effective leader within a specific business context.
Conclusion
Trusted, responsible, knowledgeable—empowered—workers are the foundation upon which successful companies are based. However, only if employees feel that their abilities and contributions are fully valued will they share their ideas and expertise. Company bureaucracy, excessive meetings, and micromanaging leaders undermine workers’ sense of autonomy and professionalism. A more effective leader will define roles, goals, schedules, and requirements, and then delegate specific projects to teams of individuals.
The role of the global leader is to create an environment within which people feel confident making decisions, taking responsibility, and sharing ideas and knowledge, and then give them the space and freedom they need to do their jobs well. This is especially important in today’s environment, in which the workforce is often so physically scattered that leaders can’t be operationally involved in each task. As such, they must let go of the details and put their efforts into guiding the course of the organization.