Leadership Delegation Motivation

Leadership, Delegation &
Motivation
People Skills for Managers
Samuel A. Malone

SAMUEL A. MALONE
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION
& MOTIVATION
PEOPLE SKILLS FOR MANAGERS
Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

2
Leadership, Delegation & Motivation: People Skills for Managers
1st edition
© 2018 Samuel A. Malone & bookboon.com
ISBN 978-87-403-2349-8

3
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Contents
CONTENTS
Introduction 6
1 Leadership Skills 8
1.1 Leadership Traits 8
1.2 Functions of Leadership 11
1.3 Styles of Leadership 13
1.4 Types of Leaders 19
1.5 Differences between Managers & Leaders 20
1.6 Sources of Power And Influence 24
1.7 Dark Side of Leadership 26
1.8 Best Leadership Practices 28
1.9 Summary 34
1.10 Five Steps to Improve Your Leadership Skills 35
Free eBook on
Learning & Development
By the Chief Learning Officer of McKinsey
Download Now

Click on the ad to read more
4
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Contents
2 Delegation 36
2.1 Benefits of Delegation 38
2.2 Reasons for Lack of Delegation 41
2.3 Art of Delegation 45
2.4 Principles of Delegation 47
2.5 The Systematic Approach to Delegation 49
2.6 Summary 52
2.7 Five Steps to Improve Your Delegation Skills 53
3 Motivation 54
3.1 How to Motivate Staff 55
3.2 Motivate Yourself 57
3.3 Demotivators 59
3.4 Power of Expectation 64
3.5 Concepts of Motivation 65
3.6 Summary 71
3.7 Five Steps to Improve Your Motivation Skills 72
Acknowledgements 73
About the author 74
References and bibliography 75

5
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Introduction
INTRODUCTION
The People Skills for Managers series of books are aimed at managers who want to acquire
the vital people skills needed for success in a management career. This book covers the
skills of leadership, delegation and motivation. Each chapter starts with questions to prime
the mind for learning and includes a summary and ends with five practical things you can
do to improve your skills in the specific areas covered. Acronyms, inspirational quotations,
illustrations and diagrams are sprinkled throughout the text to further enhance and consolidate
the learning process.
The modern manager needs to develop leadership skills. Leaders create an inspirational vision
to gain the trust and commitment of staff to achieve goals. There are differences between
managers and leaders. Managers implement policy and direct activities. Leaders create and
enunciate policy and lead people. The sources of power and influence include physical,
resource, personal, position and expert. The dark side of leadership includes withholding
information and emotional immaturity. The best practices of leadership include creating
a no-blame culture by encouraging employees to learn from their mistakes facilitating a
learning culture.
Since it is impossible to do everything yourself it pays to use the skills, enthusiasm and
expertise of employees by delegating to them. Managers thus free themselves up to concentrate
on the critical tasks of management. Managers are inherently reluctant to delegate because
they fear that their staff will do a better job, and they will be shown to be less competent.
Employees may be reluctant to accept delegated tasks because they are already overworked,
fear responsibility, and they dread criticism if they make mistakes. There are certain things
a manager should not delegate including appraisal, discipline, and hiring and firing. There
is a popular maxim that you can delegate authority but you can’t delegate responsibility.
The manager is ultimately responsible for the work of their section. You should delegate
but not abdicate responsibility. However, if you do delegate work to your staff you should
give them sufficient authority, training, freedom and support to carry it out.
Managers need to be able to motivate themselves and others. Different things motivate people.
What motivates one person will not necessarily motivate another. There are numerous ways
of motivating staff. People feel more motivated if their views are valued, listened to, and if
they are consulted, and involved in decision-making. A good way of motivating oneself is
to become a lifelong learner and seek ways of continually improving performance. Office
politics and poor systems are some things staff find demotivating. The power of expectation
is a great motivator, as staff like to live up to their manager’s expectations.

6
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Introduction
After reading this book you will be able to:
• Identify the traits and styles of good leaders

• Differentiate between power and influence
• Lead people successfully
• Delegate in appropriate circumstances
• Discuss the trust control dilemma
• Motivate staff to achieve superior performance
• Motivate yourself
• Discuss the power of expectation
• Identify the various theories of motivation
Samuel A Malone July 2018

7
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Leadership Skills
1 LEADERSHIP SKILLS
What are the traits of good leaders?
What are the styles of leadership?
What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
What are the sources of power and influence?
What are the best leadership practices?
DEFINITION
Leaders paint a vision and inspire others to pursue goals. Leadership presupposes followership.
“To lead people, walk beside them…. As for the best leaders, the people
do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honour and praise.
The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate…. When the
best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.”
– Lao-tsu
1.1 LEADERSHIP TRAITS

The debate as to whether nature or nurture is dominant in creating leaders still goes on. It’s
generally agreed that some traits are genetic such as physical size, energy and personality.
Others are acquired during our development and as we mature. Many experts agree that
many of the attributes of a good leader can be learned or acquired. Hence, the rise of
management schools and leadership courses.
Leaders come in different shapes and sizes, and it can be seen that many great leaders
lack some of the traits listed. Some studies indicate that physical traits such as height and
appearance are an advantage because they give presence if you want to be a leader, but there
are exceptions to this as well. For example, many of the US presidents were tall such as
Lincoln and Kennedy, but, on the other hand, Hitler and Napoleon were small. All agree
that a certain level of intelligence and a high level of energy is needed although leaders don’t
necessarily have to be exceptionally bright. However, they do seem to work exceptionally
hard, and thus need an abundance of drive, energy and dedication.

8
An average intelligence with empathy and good common sense is often enough to become
a successful leader. Others suggest that good interpersonal relationships are crucial although
in reality we all have had experience of dealing with managers in senior positions who lack
social skills, sensitivity, and manners. The trait theory has come to the fore again in recent
years with the popularisation of emotional IQ. In fact, the most unlikely people often make
good leaders. Leaders often display different traits in different contexts, so that they can be
friendly in one situation and cold and abrupt in another. In conclusion, there seems to be
no magic list of traits for leaders. Psychologists have come up with a list of so many traits
that it has become meaningless. It’s also difficult to prioritise the traits as regards importance
in determining good leaders.
DESIRABLE TRAITS
However, the following are some traits that would be advantageous to have in some
combination or other as a leader:
Integrity
Drive Toughness
Traits of
Warmth good Confidence
leadership
IQ Humility
Enthusiasm
Fig. 1.1. Desirable Traits for Leader

9
• Integrity. Fairness, honesty and ethics are the hallmark of a good leader. Followers
expect their leaders to treat them fairly and consistently in relation to others. They
expect them to be honest and truthful and to keep their promises and to display
high ethical standards when dealing with suppliers, customers and employees.
Leaders should always be seen to do the right thing. In recent years many great
corporations including banks and financial institutions have fallen due to a lack of
ethics on the part of their senior management team.
• Toughness. Leaders are not afraid of conflict or giving constructive criticism. They
are prepared to make tough decision if the situation warrants it. Leaders sometimes
have to downsize a company to reduce costs if the financial situation is poor. This
is often met with fierce employee and union opposition and resistance. In these
circumstances it takes toughness, steely determination, ruthlessness and resilience
to make the right decision to secure the future of the company.
• Confidence. Self-efficacy is the most important ingredient of confidence. Leaders
with self-efficacy have a total belief in their own abilities to bring about a desired
outcome. They have ambitious goals, implement action plans to achieve them and
visualise successful outcomes. They tend to have optimism tinged with realism.
• Humility. The ideal leader has the humility to admit when they have made a mistake
and have no hesitation to listening to the ideas of others and adopting and adapting
them if they think they are useful. They realise they don’t know everything and
have the sense to make use of other’s abilities and expertise as needed. Nevertheless,
they often have a total belief in the soundness of their own ideas.
• Enthusiasm. Great leaders feel passionate about their work and their goals. Leaders
with passion are animated, energised, enthused and committed. They love their
jobs because they are inherently interested in what they do and so are totally self-
motivated. This enthusiasm is contagious.
• Intelligence. Common sense is possibly more important than high intelligence.
We all know people who are very bright, but who lack the common touch and a
sense of reality. Leaders with lots of common sense but average intelligence can be
very successful in running large companies. Nous is often the trait that separates
the great from the mediocre. Very intelligent people often make business problems
more complicated than they actually are. Good leaders are capable of going straight
to the critical issues.
• Warmth. A good leader has good interpersonal relationship skills and takes a genuine
interest in the welfare of their followers. He is friendly, considerate, supportive,
loyal, and respectful. This trait will win the loyalty and commitment of employees
who love people that take a genuine sincere interest in them.

10
• Drive and ambition. It stands to reason that people who get to leadership roles have
great drive and boundless ambition. They display exceptional energy, commitment,
willpower and determination on their way to the top. Leaders normally are prepared
to work long hours to achieve their goals, and so they need focus and lots of energy
and stamina to succeed.
“No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or superman

to manage it. It must be organised in such a way as to be able to get
along under a leadership composed of average human beings.”
– Peter Drucker
1.2 FUNCTIONS OF LEADERSHIP

Functions are things leaders do. They can be recalled by the acronym COMBINED
• Controlling
C
• Organising
O
• Motivating
M
• Briefing
B
• Implementing
I
• Need be a Role Model
N
• Enthusiasm
E
• Define Task
D
Fig. 1.2. Functions of Leadership Model (COMBINED)

11
• Controlling. Controlling is about making sure that what is planned gets done
efficiently. Control is achieved through organisation, coordination, discipline,
targets, policies and budgets. Actual results are compared with targets, variances
are highlighted, and corrective action is taken to put the plan back on track again.
This cyclical process and feedback loop will help a business achieve goals and stay
on target.
• Organising. The leader self-organises and achieves personal effectiveness through the
adoption of time management skills. He knows time is precious and can prioritise
tasks so that the critical issues are dealt with first and in a timely manner. The
leader organises the business through proper structures, systems, procedures and
administration. He organises material, manpower, money and equipment resources
to achieve pertinent goals.
• Motivating. Leaders inspire while managers motivate. The leader inspires with a
compelling vision and personal example and wins the commitment of employees to
achieve it. Henry Ford is reputed to have said, “Without vision, the people perish”
and Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “Imagination rules the world.”
• Briefing. The leader must consistently use clear concise communication when
dealing with others, by articulating ideas, espousing good values, and giving and
receiving feedback. Part of good communication skills is the ability to listen. Active
and attentive listening affirms the other person by showing that you’re interested
in their views and prepared to take them on board.
• Implementing plans. Without plans and follow through nothing gets done. The leader
must be seen as a person who gets things done through action plans, organisation
and delegation.
• Need to lead by example or “walk the talk”. Leaders must live up to their own
expectations and the expectation of their followers. They must do what they say
they will do and follow through on their commitments.
• Enthusiasm. See under traits.
• Define the task. The task should be clearly and precisely defined so that everybody
knows exactly what’s required and what the leader’s expectations are.

12
1.3 STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

There are four basic styles of leadership.
Dictatorial
Basic Types
Laissez-
of Autocratic
Faire
Leadership
Democratic
Fig. 1.3. Four Basic Styles of Leadership
• Dictatorial. This style advocates force by threats, penalties and punishment and so
operates on the basis of fear. It’s rarely seen in modern business but still prevalent
in some political systems such as dictatorships such as North Korea operating in
countries throughout the world. The psychological contract is one of coercion.
• Autocratic. In this style the leader makes all the decisions. Obedience and deference to
leaders is the norm. Participation by employees in decision making is not encouraged.
This style is still practised by owner-managers who build up their own companies
and have a hands-on approach. However, when companies grow beyond a certain
size this style becomes counterproductive and impracticable. The style is still in
evidence in the army, police, prison and hospital services. In hospitals, nurses find
it difficult to question consultants even when they are wrong because they are put
up on a pedestal and treated like gods. In western society, the role of the father as
autocrat within families is being eroded by the prevalence of single parent families.

13
• Democratic. This is a participative style of leadership and is the preferred style of

leadership in western democracies. Decision-making is decentralised and shared
and the involvement and empowerment of employees is encouraged. The rise of
the knowledge worker, the role of trade unions, empowerment and better-educated
employees has facilitated this process.
• Laissez Faire. The leader exercising this style takes a back seat and gives no direction.
He allows employees to set their own goals and make their own decisions. This
style may be suitable in a research environment and information technology with
highly qualified professional employees who have the specialist knowledge and
therefore need little supervision. They know what must be done and should be
given the freedom to get on with the job and do it within budgetary constraints
or unnecessary interference.
THE ASHRIDGE STYLES
The following styles are based on the work of the Research Unit at Ashridge Management
College in the UK. Using everyday language, they described the leadership styles as “tells,
“sells,” “consults” and “joins.” They are in fact similar to the dictatorial, autocratic, democratic
and laissez faire styles mentioned above.
www.sylvania.com
We do not reinvent
the wheel we reinvent
light.
Fascinating lighting offers an infinite spectrum of
possibilities: Innovative technologies and new
markets provide both opportunities and challenges.
An environment in which your expertise is in high
demand. Enjoy the supportive working atmosphere
within our global group and benefit from international
career paths. Implement sustainable ideas in close
cooperation with other specialists and contribute to
influencing our future. Come and join us in reinventing
light every day.
Light is OSRAM

14
• The autocratic or “tells” style is characterised by one-way communication between

the leader and employees. The leader makes all the decisions and issues instructions
expecting them to be obeyed without question, discussion or participation.
• The persuasive or “sells” style is where the leader makes the decision and then tries
to persuade employees of its merits. At least the leader acknowledges the employees,
deals with resistance and makes some attempt to win them over.
• The “consults” style is where the leader consults employees, but still retains the right
to make the decision. He may or may not take account of their views as he may
have made up his mind beforehand. This approach by the leader may, therefore,
be only a façade by pretending to listen to their advice and suggestions.
• The democratic or “joins” style is a joint or consensus approach to decision-making.
This style is best where employees have the knowledge and expertise to make a
meaningful contribution to the decision.
The findings of the Ashridge studies included the following:
• Employees prefer the “consults” style of leadership. Despite this they claimed that
leaders mostly exercise the “tells” and “sells” styles.
• The attitude of employees towards their work varied in relation to the style of
leadership. The most favourable employee attitudes were those who perceived their
manager to have a “consults” leadership style.
• Employees with the least favourable attitudes perceived the style of their manager to
be inconsistent and unpredictable. It seems employees are unsettled by a manager who
frequently changes between “tells,” “sells,” “consults,” and “joins” styles of leadership.
Tells, Sells, Consults & Joins Leadership Model

Autocratic Democratic
Authority
Retained
Authority
Shared
Tells Sells Consults Joins

Fig. 1.4. Tells, Sells, Consults & Joins Leadership Model Ashridge

15
THE SIX STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

Spreier et al (2006) reports on the following six styles of leadership:
Directive
Coaching Visionary
6
Leadership
Styles
Pacesetting Affiliative
Participative
Fig. 1.5. Six Styles of Leadership
• Directive. A directive style is strong and coercive behaviour. It is command and

control style of leadership where the leader tells staff what to do, when to do it,
and what will happen if they don’t. The directive approach is useful in a crisis or
when the leader must manage a poor performer, but overuse stifles initiative and
innovation. If a building is on fire there isn’t point in looking for a consensus on
how to exit. High achievers working under stress favour this style.
• Visionary. This style is authoritative but focuses on a clearly communicated vision.
The leader gains employees’ support by clearly expressing their challenges and
responsibilities in the vision and mission statement which is inspiring to followers.
This makes goals clear, increases employee commitment, and energises a team.
Usually leaders driven by the need for power favour this style.

16
• Affiliative. This style emphasises harmony and relationships and puts the emotional
needs of employees first. It’s appropriate in certain high stress situations; for example,
when employees are going through a personal crisis. It’s most effective when used
in conjunction with the visionary, participative or coaching styles but is seldom
effective alone.
• Participative. This style is collaborative and democratic where leaders involve staff
in decision making. It’s great for building trust and consensus in situations where
the leader has limited knowledge or lacks formal power and authority. The style is
suitable for teams or project-based organisations. It’s favoured in stressful conditions
by leaders with a need for affiliation.
• Pacesetting. This style involves leading by example. Leaders using this style set the
appropriate pace with high standards and make sure those standards are met, even
if they have to do the work themselves. Followers may not have the same energy,
drive and motivation as the leader. This style can get results in the short-term, but
it’s demoralising and exhausting for employees in the long-term. It’s a style for high
achieving leaders working under low stress conditions.
• Coaching. A coaching style focuses on long-term development through coaching
and mentoring of staff. Its purpose is to instil the right philosophy and skills in
followers that the manager possesses. It’s a powerful but underused approach that
should be used by all leaders. Leaders who like to involve themselves in a one-to-
one situation with staff prefer this style. It’s used in low stress conditions.
There is no one best style of leadership. Each has its own strengths and limitations. The
most effective leaders are adept at all six leadership styles and use each in the proper context
and in line with their preferences.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,

do more and become more, you are a leader.”
– John Quincy Adams
BLAKES MANAGERIAL GRID

This theory was put forward by Blake and Mouton (1962) as a two-dimensional model
of leadership (see the diagram below). It has a common-sense approach and is intuitively
appealing. Leadership is about getting the job done effectively through people. The grid
has two axes: concern for people and concern for production.

17
• Impoverished management. This is the 1.1 position on the grid. This manager is low
on concern for production and low on concern for people. This style is uninspiring
and ineffective and the manager avoids taking responsibility for actions. He has little
contact with employees, and shows no commitment to problem solving, making
decisions or achieving targets.
• Country club management. This is the 1.9 position on the grid. This manager is very
high on concern for people but low on concern for production. The manager’s key
goal is harmonious relationships and informality with employees at all cost. Conflict
and disagreement are avoided. Mistakes are ignored and even constructive criticism
is not given because it might disrupt interpersonal relationships.
• Task or authority compliance management. This is the 9.1 position on the grid. This
manager is high on concern for production but low on concern for people. He is
very competent technically but takes little account of employee’s feelings or views.
He expects schedules to be met on time and delays are viewed as employee mistakes.
It’s an autocratic style of management. Traditionally, this was the leadership style
that was favoured in the car manufacturing industry with its scientific management
approach and high productivity emphasis.
• Middle of the road management. This is the 5.5 position on the grid. This manager
balances the need to achieve acceptable production levels while maintaining harmony
and satisfactory relationships with employees. This manager has good common sense,
steers a middle course and is probably politically astute and is seen as firm but fair.
• Team management. This is the 9.9 position on the grid. This is a high-performance
manager who is good at relationships and good at achieving production targets. This
is the ideal manager for the modern organisation. They aim at the highest possible
standard of output and productivity while maintaining excellent interpersonal
relationships. This is a participative style of management where employees are
involved in decision-making and goals are seen as challenges. Conflict is seen as
inevitable and positive and is solved in a transparent fashion. There is mutual respect
and trust between the manager and the employees.
The grid can be used for the performance appraisal of managers. A manager can be scored
on the grid in relation to task and people and will be able to see how his performance as
a leader can be improved in relation to the ideal style of team manager. Leaders can then
take the appropriate action to improve their style.

18
9
1,9 9,9
8 Country Club Team
Management Management
Concern for People

7
6
5,5
5 Middle of
the Road
4
3 1,1 9,1
2 Impoverished Authority-
Management Compliance
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Concern for Production
Fig. 1.6. Blake & Mouton Managerial Grid (1962)
1.4 TYPES OF LEADERS

The acronym FACTS will enable you to bring these to mind
• Functional
F
• Appointed
A
• Charismatic
C
• Transformational
T
• Situational
S
Fig. 1.7. FACTS Model of Leadership
• Functional. This is a contingency theory of leadership. The leader needs to adapt

his style in relation to context, skill levels, task, group and personality needs. For

19
example, if the leader’s followers are mature, bright, highly skilled and professionally
qualified, then it is unlikely that they would need much supervision. In such a
situation the leader can step back and let the employees get on with the job with
the minimum of direction.
• Appointed. This is the bureaucratic leader who derives power from his position in
the organisational hierarchy. Obviously the more senior the position held the more
power the leader has. The powers of the position are clearly defined. However, the
appointed leader may not be able to implement them because of lack of credibility,
weak personality or lack of training.
• Charismatic. The leader’s influence is derived from their unique personalities. These
leaders set high expectations, motivate followers, and express confidence in their
ability to achieve goals. Some people have a problem with this type of leadership
style as followers are inclined to blindly follow the charismatic leader. For example,
Hitler was able to persuade his followers to commit heinous war crimes in the
concentration camps, and some religious leaders through their fanatical zeal have
been able to persuade their followers to commit mass suicide.
• Transformational. This is the leader who recognises the need for change, creates a
vision to guide that change, and then implements the change effectively. This type
of leadership requires unique skills and is needed during times of great change such
as company expansion or contraction. In times of rapid expansion, the company
may merge or acquire new companies or set up their own subsidiaries. In times of
contraction, the opposite might occur with the impelling need for disinvestment,
downsizing, redundancies and other cost cutting measures. In stable times a
transactional type of leadership is called for. This type of leader concentrates on
keeping the existing business running smoothly with little change.
• Situational. The situational leader arises during exceptional circumstances. The unique
abilities of the leader match the requirements of the situation. In an emergency a
leader may emerge who has the capabilities of dealing with a particular problem.
Obviously, in a ship wreck situation where a group of people find themselves stranded
on a remote island with little resources, the person with the greatest survival skills
will emerge as a natural leader. As soon as the emergency is dealt with the leader
resorts to his previous role as a follower.
1.5 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MANAGERS & LEADERS

It’s possible to be both a manager and a leader at the same time. Combine both roles to get
a synergy effect, as many companies are over-managed and under-lead. In modern business
there is more emphasis on leadership qualities rather than management.

20
MANAGERS
Managers Managers Managers
Promote stability
Do things right through Problem solving
implementing policy
Manage manpower,
Command, control
materials, money & Decision making
and direct
machines
Fig. 1.8. What managers do
• Do things right rather than doing the right things. Doing things right or efficiency
is a primary goal of management. However, there is no point in being efficient at
doing the wrong things – you obviously need to be effective as well.
• Manage things such as manpower, materials, money and machines within the
constraints of budgets. Plan and budget and ensure that expenditure is within
agreed budgetary limits. Take corrective action as indicated by the comparison of
actual expenditure against budget.
• Promote stability by making sure that existing operations are run smoothly. Implement
the policy handed down by the board of directors. The leader makes policy while
the manager implements it. Unless implementation takes place, nothing is achieved.
• Command, coordinate, control and direct activities by exercising the appropriate
authority. Control by comparing actual results with targets and taking corrective
action to put things back on track again.
• Problem solving and decision-making. Solve problems of a tactical or logistical
nature and make decisions with short-term implications. Managers tend to be more
analytical, structured and controlled.
“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership

determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
– Stephen R. Covey

21
LEADERS
Leaders Leaders Leaders
Create a Do the right

Influence
vision things
Formulate Tend to be
Lead
policy more creative
Fig. 1.9. What Leaders do
• Create and communicate an inspiring vision and set a clear direction for others
to follow. Energise, inspire, motivate and empower others to achieve the vision.
Leadership is the art of engaging the hearts and minds of employees and creatively
releasing their energies to accomplish the vision of the organisation.
• Lead their people forward. Leadership is based on goodwill. It means total commitment
to helping followers achieve the goals of the organisation. Build trusting relationships
and expect loyalty in return.
• Do the right things. The primary goal is effectiveness. Leaders are ethical when
achieving business results. They co-ordinate the activities of others. They let managers
and employees do the work while they concentrate on the strategic thinking.
• Formulate and enunciate policy and make decisions with long-term implications
for the organisation. Leaders focus on strategic results, and make sense of the world
around them, and advocate change for the better.
• Influence others. The key to successful leadership is influence and not the exercise
of authority. The good leader relies more on partnership and collaboration rather
than on power, status or position to get things done.
• Tend to be more innovative, creative, experimental and flexible, and are happy to
acknowledge their mistakes and move on when needed to do so.
“Leadership is not magnetic personality that can just as well be a glib tongue.
It is not ‘making friends and influencing people,’ that is flattery. Leadership is
lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to
a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations,”
– Peter F. Drucker
Theory X and Y.

22
MCGREGOR’S THEORY X & Y
Theory X Theory Y
Work avoiding Work is natural
Need to control Capable of self-direction
Avoid responsibility Seek responsibility
Workers seek security Can make good decisions
Fig. 1.10. McGregor’s Theory X & Y
This theory was enunciated in Douglas McGregor’s book the Human Side of Enterprise
(1960). This is a theory about how managers perceive employees. It has two extremes called
Theory X and Theory Y. In practice managers can be a bit of both and even adopt different
attitudes to employees in different contexts.
• Theory X. This assumes that people are lazy, dislike work, and will avoid it if they
can. This is a scientific management philosophy with its emphasis on controls and
external rewards. If managers adopt this attitude they will not trust employees to
do their work. Consequently, they will adopt a very autocratic style of leadership,
and will direct and control employees. Managers will be reluctant to delegate
because they don’t trust their employees and feel nobody but the manager can do
the work as good as they can.
• Theory Y. This assumes the opposite. People are naturally energetic and they like work
and will use their initiative to achieve their work objectives. Therefore, employees
can be trusted to perform efficiently and effectively. In such circumstances managers
will not hesitate to delegate work as they have complete faith in the capabilities
of their staff.

23
1.6 SOURCES OF POWER AND INFLUENCE

Charles Handy in his book Understanding Organisations identified six types of power from
different sources. These can be recalled by the acronym PROPER
• Physical
P
• Resource
R
• Own
360°
O
• Position
.
P
• Expert
thinking
E
• Refusal
R
Fig. 1.11. PROPER Sources of Power Model
360°
thinking . 360°
thinking .
Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers D
© Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities.
Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities.

eloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities. Click on the ad to read more
Discover the truth
24 at www.deloitte.ca/careers
• Physical or coercive power. This is the power to punish or withhold reward used to
coerce others to do something and is based on fear, punishment and intimidation. It’s
rare in most modern organisations but still comes to light in the form of bullying,
harassment and threatening behaviour. Traditionally it was the type of power resorted
to in the armed forces, police and prison service. Managers sometimes resort to
intimation and emotional blackmail to prevent industrial strikes from taking place
and may use threats to discourage strikes. Also riot police have been used to break
up unofficial picket lines in trade disputes. In certain circumstances, managers in all
organisations have the right to take disciplinary action against wayward employees.
• Resource or reward power. This is the responsibility for and control managers may
have over resources. Senior managers may have the right to grant pay increases or
award bonuses or recommend employees for promotion. Unions have resource power
to take their members out on strike and paralyze the operations of the company.
• Own or personal power. This is charismatic power or the power of personality. A
popular leader may have influence over his followers because of the magnetic power
of his personality. Such leaders exude a personal magnetism that draws people towards
them, and an air of confidence and a strong self-belief that others find irresistible.
The leader senses the needs of people and promises success in meeting them. Well-
known historical examples are St. Joan of Arc in France, Mahatma Gandhi in India,
President J.F. Kennedy in the USA, and Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
• Position power. This is legitimate power being associated with the position in the
management hierarchy. The higher up the greater the potential for position power.
This might include access to information or contact with board members or the
chief executive. Some managers may have the power to determine hiring policy,
conditions of employment or make other major decisions.
• Expert power. This is a power a manager has because of his expertise or know-how.
Specialist managers in organisations such as information technologists, engineers,
accountants and lawyers may have this power provided they are recognised as
experts in their field. It depends on education, training, specialist knowledge and
experience, and is an important source of power in a company. The holder must be
seen as convincing, trustworthy, honest and relevant. They rely on their specialist
expertise to influence senior management.
• Refusal or negative power. This is the power not to do something and delay or
disrupt operations. A manager may deliberately provide misinformation or delay
information in order to retain power, undermine another manager or sabotage a
decision. Negative power is destructive and potentially very damaging to a company’s
efficiency. Even ordinary employees have considerable negative power.

25
1.7 DARK SIDE OF LEADERSHIP

Just like in any profession there are good leaders and bad leaders. These are some of the
negative characteristics of leaders or the negative things that they do.
NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS
Immaturity
Narcissism
Gullibility
Fear of Letting Go
Fig. 1.12. Dark Side of Leadership
• Emotional inadequacy. These are bureaucratic leaders who rigidly follow rules and
regulations. They are typical organisation men, conservative, disciplined, cold and
dispassionate with an inability to empathise with others. This means they find it
difficult to foster good interpersonal relationships. They like working in a structured
environment and tend to lack creativity. They drive out excellent people because of
their mediocrity, lack of vision, empathy, and conventional approach.
• Narcissism. Narcissistic leaders are egocentric and easily provoked to anger. They
have little self-awareness of their shortcomings, weaknesses and faults. Criticism
from others is not tolerated, and if given provokes the leader’s wrath. They have
little empathy for others. They have feelings of grandiosity often demonstrated by
explicit or implicit arrogance, dominance and devaluation of others. According
to Coutu (2004) the problem with narcissistic leaders is that they activate their
follower’s latent narcissism. The followers idealise and praise the leader. If the leader
likes being praised he becomes addicted to the follower’s sycophantic idealisation
of him and loses touch with reality. Tragically, some leaders get to the point where
they fire individuals who don’t support or praise them sufficiently.
• Fooled by flattery. Some leaders surround themselves with yes-men who fool them
with flattery and isolate them from uncomfortable realities. We all like a quiet
life and leaders are no different. Research shows that they prefer conformity to

26
controversy. Leaders like those who like them and are more easily influenced by
people that they like and feel comfortable with. Leaders need to surround themselves
with people who will tell them the way things really are and keep their feet solidly
rooted on the ground. A leader should never underestimate the value of dissent
and constructive feedback. Well-run 360-degree feedback programs and executive
coaching will help a leader stay in touch with reality.
• Fear of letting go. Some leaders try to hang on to power as long as possible even
though their power base has been eroded and they are advancing in years and not
up to the job. Ideally, you should retire on a high before you are undermined and
pushed out! They tend to be workaholics and see no future for themselves beyond
the present job. They constantly fear the possibility of younger and more able people
taking over their jobs and thus are basically very insecure people.
TOXIC THINGS THEY DO
Work Life Withholding

Balance Information
Machiavellian
False Image
Tactics
Unethical
Fig. 1.11. Toxic Leaders
• Withholding information. These leaders see information as power and are reluctant
to share information with others, especially those they see as rivals and threats.
Some leaders may even provide misinformation to further their own aims. Leaders
are like the rest of use. Some are trustworthy while others are deceitful. Some are
greedy while others are generous. The need for checks and balances in companies
grew out of the idea to counter bad ethical behaviour in organisations.

27
• Machiavellian tactics. These are named after a sixteenth century, Italian author.
Machiavelli admired unethical selfish leaders who exercised power by force. He
suggested that fear was an acceptable way of enforcing power on others and is
reputed to have said, “it is much safer to be feared than loved.” This philosophy of
management advocates that the end justifies the means. Leaders with this philosophy
are motivated by the need for power and use it to control others. They tend to
be rational and unemotional and will not hesitate to use lies and deceit to achieve
their goals. They are driven by the philosophy that the end justifies the means.
They put little emphasis on loyalty and friendship and enjoy manipulating others
for their own purposes. This philosophy though frowned on is still alive and well
in modern business leadership. It’s still a popular approach in politics.
• Unethical practice. Some leaders have been ruthless and relentless in the pursuit
of business results often cutting corners, cheating and breaking the law. Out of
control ambition and greed have seen senior executives before the courts for fraud
and accounting irregularities. Examples include Enron and WorldCom where false
accounting and window dressing was used to defraud shareholders and resulted in
the collapse of the company and the jailing of senior executives.
• Creating a false impression. Leaders who create a false image and pretend they
are something they’re not. Because people can see through this façade they lose
the respect and trust of others. Followers expect their leaders to be honest and
transparent in their views and opinions.
• Life-work balance. Few leaders lead balanced lives. Many are workaholics with few
interests and friends outside the job, being obsessed about their work and talk about
nothing else. Once they become very successful they find it very hard to slow down.
All they know is how to do their job. In the meantime, their personal and family
relationships are in tatters because of neglect over the years. However, retirement
looms for everyone and when that happens they are likely to become very depressed
because they have no interests or friendships to fall back on outside of work.
1.8 BEST LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

These can be categorised under personal attributes, learning and employee centred.

28
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
Risk takers
Prioritise Create a
time vision
Personal
attributes of
leaders
Lead by
Commitment
example
Humble
Fig. 1.12. Personal attributes of leaders
• They take calculated risks. There is risk attached to any decision and this risk must
be balanced by the potential returns. However, nothing worthwhile gets done if
you’re not prepared to make decisions and take some acceptable risk.
• Good leaders communicate a vision that others can believe in and adopt as their
own. They identify and communicate three to five priorities that are needed
to achieve that vision and mobilise staff to make it happen by getting them to
commit to goals. Their vision should be supported by shared values. If the leader
and employees have different values they will lack a common purpose. They lead
by example to strengthen and maintain their credibility. They listen actively and
acknowledge the ideas of others. They practise two-way feedback and encourage
dialogue with other managers and staff. They ask insightful questions and seek out
answers rather than give them.
• They possess the necessary commitment and drive to be successful leaders and decide
what needs to get done and then develop action plans to do them. They have the
ability to act and reflect, so that they can learn from mistakes and not repeat them
in the future. They take responsibility for making decisions and encourage their
followers to do likewise.
• They display humility and realise that they don’t know everything. They are able to
tap into the knowledge and expertise of others and build a network of confidants
to help them accomplish goals. They will need a sounding board such as a coach
to test out the soundness and viability of their ideas.

29
• They motivate others by involvement and caring and are prepared to roll up their
sleeves like operatives and chip in when an emergency arises. They realise that they
must lead by example and walk the talk if they want to have credibility. They win
respect by demonstrating expertise and competence. Followers admire leaders who
know what they’re talking about, do what they say and have the ability, reputation
and track record to prove it.
• They run productive meetings. This requires deciding the format of the meeting and
sticking to the agenda. It’s important to finish the meeting as soon as its purpose
is accomplished. They know how they are spending time by ensuring that they
prioritise time in relation to key tasks. They ensure that staff prioritises their time
in a similar fashion. They do first things first and one thing at a time.
“Leadership is the ability to establish standards and manage a creative climate where
people are self-motivated toward the mastery of long-term constructive goals, in a
participatory environment of mutual respect, compatible with personal values.”
– Mike Vance
Seek mentors
See mistakes
Lifelong
as learning
Learners
opportunities
Learning traits
of leaders
Seek
Seek out
continuous
role models
improvement
Want
practical
experience
Fig. 1.13. Learning attributes of leaders

30
LEARNING
• They seek out a good mentor. Most successful leaders have access to the ear of a
good mentor who will guide and advise them on their careers. Most good leaders
acknowledge the role that mentors played in their success.
• They turn mistakes into learning situations and avoid the blame game or looking
for fall guys. They see problems as opportunities to be exploited and concentrate
on possibilities rather than obstacles. They understand that they are ultimately
responsible for the actions of their team.
• They acquire deep knowledge of their company and the industry they operate in.
They know that they must constantly keep up to date if they want to remain on top
and keep themselves and their company competitive. They encourage continuous
improvement in all areas of the organisation. They know that systems and methods
must be improved, and costs must be managed vigorously within budgets if a
company is to remain profitable.
• Leadership cannot be taught; it can only be learned through experience. Leaders may
acquire knowledge and ideas from books and specialist magazines, but experience
is the real teacher as practical work experience is the most important source of
learning. Knowledge is useless until it’s translated into deeds.
• They adopt an inspirational role model by studying great leaders and taking on
some of their behaviours and methods. We learn by imitation and by embracing the
best practices of others. They in turn act as a role model for staff. They exude an
air of confidence, enthusiasm and optimism in everything they do. Enthusiasm is
contagious. They create a “can do” attitude amongst staff and celebrate staff successes.
• They encourage staff to undertake training and development and provide the
means of doing so. They provide staff with opportunities for growth in the form
of secondments, projects, assignments, overseas placements and job rotation. They
promulgate the philosophy of lifelong learning and practise and believe in the
concept themselves.
“The leader is one who mobilises others towards a goal shared

by leaders and followers. Leaders, followers and goals make up
the three equally necessary supports for leadership.”
– Gary Wills

31
BEING EMPLOYEE CENTRED
Participative
style
Climate of
Role models
trust
Leaders are
employee
centred
Picks good Create

support self-belief in
staff staff
Team
oriented
Fig. 1.14. Being employee centred
• They are employee centred and operate a participative leadership style. They take a
genuine interest in their employee’s background, families and interests. At the same
time, they maintain a discreet psychological distance so their authority is respected
and accepted without over-familiarity or resentment. In addition, they create a happy
family work environment as they realise that happy workers are productive workers
and treat others well. They focus on the needs of internal and external customers
and treat them equally. They are more concerned about outcomes than activities.
• They act as role models. They operate to high ethical standards. They have a high
sense of integrity and are honest, authentic and transparent. They show their character
by doing the right thing. Words should be consistent with deeds, and so they say
what they mean and mean what they say. They encourage mutual respect because

32
employees admire and follow those they respect and trust. Nelson Mandela was
one of the most highly respected leaders in the world. He sacrificed a significant
proportion of his life for a vision and belief in the greater good, regardless of what
those in opposition did to him
• They create self-belief and self-efficacy in staff by giving them tasks they can do
successfully. They provide necessary encouragement, support, training and resources
to their staff without being intrusive. They are prepared to do themselves whatever
they ask their staff to do.
• They have a team orientation and believe that teams achieve the best results. The
leader should be able to work alone or as part of a team. He selects team members
for their different skills and contributions and brings out their talents through
training and development. They help the team to be exceptional and reach their
potential. A team is successful when the members augment and complement one
another. The leader acts as a coach facilitating the team to achieve its goals.
• The leader picks good support staff to do what they want done. They demand high
levels of loyalty, commitment and performance without exercising close supervision,
as they believe that most employees are capable of doing a good job if they are left
alone. Then they have the self-confidence to practise self-restraint by not meddling
with them while they do it. They delegate but don’t abdicate by deserting employees
when they need their advice, guidance or support.
• They trust but verify, take nothing for granted and thus always establish the facts.
They are conscious of sycophants who fool you with flattery and isolate you from
uncomfortable realities. To counteract this, they surround themselves with people
who will give honest feedback and sound advice. They cultivate and reward the
truth from staff.
“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I’. And that’s
not because they have trained themselves not to say ‘I’. They don’t think ‘I’.
They think ‘we,’ they think ‘team.’ They understand their job to be to make the
team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but ‘we’ gets the
credit…This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.”
– Peter F. Drucker

33
1.9 SUMMARY
Leaders create and communicate an inspirational vision to gain the commitment of staff to
achieve goals. Ideal leadership traits include integrity, intelligence, toughness, confidence,
humility, enthusiasm and warmth. Leaders build a climate of mutual trust and respect. The
functions of leadership include planning, leading, organising and controlling. Leadership
styles are autocratic, democratic and laissez faire. In practical everyday terms they are
tells, sells, consults and joints. The types of leader are functional, appointed, charismatic,
traditional and situational.
There are differences between managers and leaders. Managers implement policy while
leaders create and enunciate policy. Managers direct activities while leaders lead people. The
sources of power and influence include physical, resource, personal, position and expert.
Leadership’s dark side includes withholding information and emotional immaturity. The
best practices of leadership include creating a no blame culture by encouraging employees
to learn from their mistakes and accept responsibility.
We will turn your CV into

an opportunity of a lifetime
Do you like cars? Would you like to be a part of a successful brand? Send us your CV on
We will appreciate and reward both your enthusiasm and talent. www.employerforlife.com
Send us your CV. You will be surprised where it can take you.

34
1.10 FIVE STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLS
1. Create an inspirational vision and mobilise and motivate staff to make it happen.
Set a direction for others to follow through goals, targets and action plans.
2. Build a climate of mutual respect and trust. Employees follow and are loyal to
those they trust. Rely on partnership, empowerment and collaboration, rather than
power or position to get things done.
3. Encourage continuous improvement and lifelong learning. Act as a role model in this
regard. Advocate change only when needed for improvement and cost reduction.
4. Beware of sycophants. Reward truthful feedback from trusted employees. Surround
yourself with people who will give you honest feedback and advice such as an
external coach.
5. Acquire a deep knowledge of the company and industry in which you operate.
Keep up to date with best practices.

35
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Delegation
2 DELEGATION
How can I delegate effectively?
What are the benefits of delegation?
Why do managers fail to delegate?
What is the systematic approach to delegation?
What is the trust control dilemma?
DEFINITION
Delegation is getting work done effectively through other people by entrusting others with
authority and responsibility to do the work delegated to an acceptable standard. It is a
two-way process and a management and social skill. A manager must be aware of people’s
psychological needs, attitudes, aptitudes, skills and strengths and weaknesses to delegate
effectively. The work you delegate should be SMARTER tasks. This is an acronym explained
in the diagram below. Unclear or vague tasks are impossible to complete and control. It’s
best if your requirements are clearly communicated.
• Specific
S
• Measurable
M
• Achievable
A
• Realistic
R
• Timely
T
• Ethical
E
• Recorded
R
Fig. 2.1. SMARTER Tasks Suitable for Delegation

36
• Specific. Be specific about what you want done and how you want it done. This
requires clear, concise communication on your part. Specify clearly the extent of
the employee’s discretion, and the sources of relevant information and knowledge
needed to do the job delegated. Ideally it should be in writing. Vague instructions
create vague results.
• Measurable. Design controls and checkpoints for interim stages; so that you know the
job delegated is being done satisfactorily and going according to plan. This feedback
is essential if you don’t want any surprises. This will give you the opportunity to
put things right while the job is still in progress before a catastrophe occurs when
it may be too late to rectify the situation. Remember if you can’t measure it you
can’t manage it.
• Achievable. Make sure the job delegated can be done satisfactorily with the allocated
resources and within the time specified. Jobs offering a challenge can be motivational
while those too difficult to do might be demoralising leading to frustration and stress.
• Realistic. Make sure the job is within the capabilities of the staff to whom you
delegate. You may need to provide them with further coaching or training to bring
them up to the standard required to do the job.
• Timely. Delegated tasks need to be done efficiently, effectively and on time. That
which can be done at any time is likely never to get done. Deadlines create a sense
of urgency and focus so that the job gets the priority and attention it deserves.
Things that can be done at any time may never get done at all!
• Ethical. Make sure you are not breaking the law or being unethical by circumventing
legal constraints. Remember Enron and what happened there! If senior management
is unethical the staff will follow their example with possible disastrous outcomes
for the company.
• Recorded. The terms of reference should be brief, verbal or preferably in writing.
Written guidelines are best so that there is no uncertainty on what the manager’s
expectations are. In the case of disagreement, it is easy to refer to a written guideline.

37
2.1 BENEFITS OF DELEGATION

The benefits of delegation can be considered from two perspectives: management and staff.
MANAGEMENT
More mgt
time
Benefits of
80/20 Rule delegation Promotion
for mgrs
Decentralised
Fig. 2.2. Benefits of delegation for mgrs.
• It will give you more time to handle the real responsibilities of management such
as thinking about the future and coaching staff. Successful delegation will help
to overcome Gresham’s Law of Planning. This states that routine work tends to
drive out non-routine work. Routine work involves decisions that are repetitive,
while non-routine involves decisions that are novel and unstructured. Some

38
managers lose themselves in the routine instead of attending consciously to their

management responsibilities.
• It will develop you for promotion and career opportunities by broadening your
experience and increasing your competencies. Because you will have more time you
can concentrate on developing the skills needed to get to the next level of management
instead of being bogged down by routine. It creates less stress for the manager.
The manager realises that he doesn’t have to do everything himself. It relieves the
manager of routine tasks so that he can concentrate on critical management tasks
such as planning, leading, organising, controlling and co-ordinating.
• It’s essential where an organisation is geographically dispersed. Such organisations
by their nature are decentralised with delegated structures and decisions made as
close to the operations and customers as possible. Delegation is sound economics.
It’s a question of opportunity cost. There is no sense in having high level people
doing lower level tasks. Decisions should be made at lower levels and as near the
customer or site of operations as possible. Decision-making will be quicker, better
and more informed. Delegation is synonymous with efficiency.
• The 80/20 rule. It is 20 per cent of tasks that really make a difference to your
business. It makes sense to delegate the other 80 per cent so that you can concentrate
on those issues that really count. This helps you to achieve a sensible work-life
balance. You need a reasonable balance between home life and work life. Work
smarter, not harder. You can work less, achieve more and be more efficient, effective
and productive if you delegate effectively.

39
STAFF
Exploits
expertise
of staff
Improves Benefits of
morale of delegation Staff T&D
staff to staff
Spreading
the
workload
Fig. 2.3. Benefits of delegation to staff
• It uses the under-utilised and hidden expertise of staff. Some of your staff may be
better qualified, experienced and more capable of doing the work delegated than
you are. Let them surprise you with their competence.
• Training and development of staff. It’s a way of testing staff’s suitability for
promotion and undertaking more responsible work. It provides staff with a varied
experience making them multiskilled. It’s a way of management succession gradually
empowering and preparing staff to take over more responsible positions. It develops
the specialist knowledge and skills of staff as well as giving them the confidence
to deal with new situations.
• It gives an even spread of work to employees. Overworked managers can offload
some of their more routine work to others who have spare capacity. Routine work
which is boring and time-consuming for the manager to do will often provide a
challenge to staff because they have never done it before.
• It improves the morale, self-esteem and self-efficacy of staff through better job
enrichment, job satisfaction, participation and commitment.
“If you want to grow one year of prosperity, you can grow grain.
If you want to grow 10 years of prosperity, you can grow trees. If
you want to grow 100 years of prosperity, grow people.”
– Chinese Proverb

40
2.2 REASONS FOR LACK OF DELEGATION

We will consider this from the perspective of the manager and the staff.
MANAGER
Lack of
self-confidence
Feels the task

is better done Perfectionism
by the mgr
Reasons for
lack of
delegation
Lack of Theory X
training view of staff
Control
Fig. 2.4. Why managers don’t delegate
• The manager may lack self-confidence and feel insecure and exposed when he
delegates to staff. If they do the work badly he will be blamed. On the other hand,
he may feel that if staff do the work very well they will get the credit, and his
own credibility and competence will be undermined and questioned. In fact, the
opposite is the case, if the staff member does a good job it will reflect favourably
on the manager.

41
• Perfectionism. The manager feels that nobody can do the work as good as he can.
However, they may be able to do it to an acceptable standard and that’s all that
matters. The manager is risk averse and does not want to take the chance that the
work delegated may not be done properly, and that he will be held responsible for
the poor outcome.
• The manager has no confidence in the capability of the staff to do the work
delegated. He has a Theory X view of staff. He believes that staff are naturally
lazy, lack initiative, avoid responsibility if they can, can’t be trusted and therefore
must be coerced and threatened to do a good job. Such a manager will only be
interested in limited delegation. The manager doesn’t realise that the more you trust
staff the more their confidence grows and the more capable they become and the
more they will respect you.
• The manager wants to stay in control. He fears the surrendering of authority to
others and wants to stay in touch with everything that is going on. There may be
lack of controls to act as early warning systems to alert the manager when things
go wrong and need addressing. Feedback controls are easy to install and therefore
should not be a constraint on delegation.
• The manager has no experience or received no training in the art of delegation and
doesn’t understand the philosophy of empowerment involved or the importance of
delegation to the development of staff. He lacks the confidence and communication
skills to give clear instructions and persuade staff of the benefits of taking on delegation.
• The manager feels that it would take too much time to instruct or coach staff to
do the work. Besides they are reluctant to delegate those tasks they are particularly
good at doing – the tasks that lead to their promotion in the first place! The
manager’s attitude is that he would be quicker doing the work himself. The first
time around this may be true but it’s a false notion of efficiency. In the long-term,
staff will become capable, competent and confident, and the manager will reap the
benefits of delegation.
“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick
good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough
to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

42
STAFF
No
incentive
Fear of
See no Staff
making
benefits perspective
mistakes
Work
overload
Fig. 2.5. Why staff are reluctant to accept delegation
• They are reluctant to accept delegated work because there are no monetary or
non-monetary incentives to do so. They find it easier to ask the manager to help
them – a type of reverse delegation may take place. The manager in turn is too
willing to accept work offloaded by staff rather than allowing them to get on with
the job themselves.
• They fear criticism for mistakes they may make and the additional responsibility
of the work involved. The company has a non-supportive corporate blame culture.
Mistakes are viewed negatively rather than seen as opportunities to develop and
learn. Staff in the past have been criticised, reprimanded and lost face in front of
colleagues for making mistakes undermining their self-esteem and self-confidence.

43
• They are already suffering from work overload and lack the competencies, information,
time and resources to do the delegated work. They may be aware of other staff
who have spare capacity but show no willingness to accept delegated tasks. Work
overload can create stress and anxiety undermining their confidence further.
• The may view delegation simply as extra work and without any inherent incentives
or advantages such as compensation or improved promotion prospects. In addition,
they haven’t been sold on the benefits to their training and development of taking
on delegated work.
“Delegating means letting others become the experts and hence the best.”
– Timothy Firnstahl

44
2.3 ART OF DELEGATION
WHEN NOT TO DELEGATE
Jobs you
don't like
Accept
Controversial
upward
jobs
delegation
When not
to delegate
Jobs
Drive by
requiring
delegator
mgr's status
Personal jobs
Fig. 2.6. When not to delegate
• Don’t dump tasks on your staff just because you don’t like the work. The opposite
of this is allowing staff to delegate partially finished jobs upwards to you. If you
do you may end up doing a lot of the work you previously delegated.
• Don’t delegate controversial jobs or difficult jobs. The staff will perceive you are
avoiding potential sources of conflict and setting them up for failure.
• Don’t delegate jobs requiring the status of the manager such as hiring and firing,
attending meetings, policy issues, control and dealing with key customers. Similarly,
don’t delegate HR jobs like motivation, training, team-building, performance appraisal,
counselling, discipline, reprimands and rewards and confidential reports which are
for your eyes only. These are inherently management tasks and are not suitable for
delegation. However, the attendance at routine meetings can be delegated to staff
providing them with development opportunities while at the same time saving the
manager considerable time.
• Don’t delegate personal jobs like picking up the dry cleaning or shopping. This is
inherently a conflict of interest as well as being unethical and degrading for staff
and will only provoke their resentment and undermine your authority.
• Avoid being a “drive-by-delegator” – someone who assigns tasks to a staff member when
they meet them by chance in the office corridor or at the office photocopier. Instead
assign the task formally in your own office. Take the time to thoroughly explain the
task and give the employee the opportunity to ask questions and the resources needed
to do the job. Employees should have pencil and paper to record their mission.

45
DO PRACTISE THE FOLLOWING
One task
at a time
Have Practise the Praise

patience following people
Break work
into parts
Fig. 2.7. Practise the right approach to delegation
• Start by delegating one task only at a time. As your confidence in staff grows and
they prove themselves capable of doing the work you can delegate more tasks. On
the other hand, by delegating gradually in line with their experience you will build
up the trust and confidence of your staff. From the employee perspective there is
nothing worse than to be given work that you feel you haven’t the competence
to do or indeed time to do. This may become a self-fulfilling-prophesy creating a
cycle of failure and despair.
• Do motivate staff by recognising success and avoiding blame. If people do a good
job don’t hesitate to praise them. People love to be praised and in practice staff do
not get praise often enough. This will build up their esteem and self-confidence
and encourage them to take on further tasks if they have the spare capacity and
competence to do so.
• Break very difficult jobs into parts. Delegate parts to different people. However,
it is generally better to delegate complete jobs if possible. Complete jobs give an
overview and provide greater satisfaction and the outcome is more likely to be
better thought out and integrated.
• The first-time you delegate work, have the patience to accept that it will usually
take longer for staff to complete it and get it right as they are not used to doing
it. After all they are just novices and still learning the job while you have been
doing it for years! Review the delegated work at appropriate checkpoints, without
breathing down people’s necks, to solve problems before work develops into a crisis.

46
“The great leaders are like the best conductors – they reach
beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.”
– Blaine Lee
2.4 PRINCIPLES OF DELEGATION
Can’t Delegate
Responsibility
Differences
Inform between authority
Other Depts responsibility
accountability
Principles of
Delegation
No Upward
No Abdication
Delegation
Macro Manage
Fig. 2.8. Principles of Delegation
• You can delegate authority but you can’t delegate responsibility. In the final analysis
the manager still retains the responsibility for the delegated work. Therefore, it’s
important that the manager picks the right person at the right time with the
right experience and competence for the work delegated. Authority should match
responsibility. Many employees complain that they lack the authority to do the
job effectively.

47
• There’s a difference between authority, responsibility and accountability. Authority is

the power to give orders, make decisions, spend resources and take action. Authority
is supported by the management hierarchy and organisation structure. More senior
positions have more authority than less senior positions. Power is the ability to
carry out an action while authority is the right to do so. A manager may have the
authority to make a decision but if staff do not respect him they may find ways of
circumventing it. The manager is ultimately responsible for the work of the section.
When the manager delegates work to an employee he can make the employee
accountable to him for the satisfactory performance of the work delegated. However,
he remains ultimately responsible for the acceptable performance of the work.
• Delegation is not abdication. The manager should support staff in every way by
providing the necessary resources such as equipment, training and knowledge to do
the job. He’s still responsible for ensuring that the work gets done to a satisfactory
standard of performance. He should agree performance standards with the staff
member. The manager should monitor performance without interference or continually
checking and should operate the Management by Exception principle. This means
the manager should only check those items that are not going according to plan
and that require his attention.
• Macro-manage rather than micro-manage. Breathing down employees’ necks is not
the way to manage when you delegate. Just tell the employee that you know that
they are capable of doing the job, but if they run into trouble that you can call on
them for support. Delegation requires trust, confidence and courage. Confidence
is contagious. So, tell staff that you have faith and trust in their ability to do the
work delegated to an acceptable standard and on time.
• The manager should not encourage reverse or upward delegation. This occurs when
the staff member tries to offload the work delegated back to the manager. In practice,
it is surprising how often this occurs and the manager may be completely unaware
that it is happening. Obviously, this defeats the purpose of delegation.
• The manager should inform other departments about the nature and extent of the
delegation. This will facilitate the staff member when they seek the co-operation
of other departments because they will know that he has the authority to work
on your behalf.
“The great leaders are like the best conductors – they reach
beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.”
– Blaine Lee

48
2.5 THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO DELEGATION

THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO DELEGATION
Why? What?
When? Who?
How?
Fig. 2.9. Systematic Delegation Model
• What to delegate? Tasks that can be better performed by staff because they have
superior skills, experience and knowledge to do it. If you keep an activity log for
a few weeks it will help you identify the routine jobs that you could delegate
successfully. Make a list and determine how long it takes to do them. Obviously,
routine tasks are prime targets for delegation. Work that a manager finds routine
may offer development, task variety and challenge to someone who has never done
it before. However, there are always tasks that should not be delegated.
• To whom should you delegate? Match the needs of the task with the competencies
of the employee. Employees must have the time and be willing and reliable to do
the work. Inexperienced staff will need coaching, mentoring and training from you
to bring them up to the standard needed to do the delegated tasks. Initially these
people will require close supervision, but it will be worthwhile in the long-term as
it will free you up to do the managerial tasks, such as to thinking and planning,
implementing policy, and improving operations.
• How do I delegate? Give staff the right degree of authority to do the work delegated
and then step back and let them get along with it. Prepare staff for the work by
briefing or coaching and explain the purpose of the job and your expectations
regarding outcomes and standards of performance. The exact method of how they
do the job should be left to the employee’s discretion. Make sure you provide the
necessary resources including training for the employee to do the job.
• When? Employees are motivated by targets and time deadlines. Install controls to
and feedback systems to review and evaluate the work done. If there are various
tasks involved indicate the priorities and agree a time schedule with dates for the
completion of interim stages. Praise a job well done.
• Why? or the purpose of delegation. Explain to the staff member why the job or
responsibility is being delegated and why that person was chosen to do the delegated

49
task – the person is known to have special experience and abilities to do the tasks
delegated. Indicate the importance of the job to the organisation and how it fits
into the overall scheme of things.
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do

and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
– General George Smith Patton, Jr.
HANDY’S TRUST CONTROL FORMULA
Trust Control Dilemma
T+ C= Y
Fig. 2.10. Trust Control Dilemma
Handy (1985) advanced the T + C = Y formula called the trust control dilemma, where T
equals trust; C equals control, and Y is a constant unchanging value. The more managers
trust their staff, the more they will delegate and the less control they will exercise. In other
words, the more experienced and reliable the employee is, the more freedom you can give
them to get on with the job without inference. The less managers trust their staff, the less
they will delegate and the more control they will exercise. In other words, the less experienced
and reliable the employee is, the less freedom you are inclined to give. The more critical the
task the less cautious you will be in allowing a lot of freedom especially if your reputation
is on the line. This is the dilemma that faces management.
“The first rule of management is delegation. Don’t try and

do everything yourself because you can’t.”
– Anthea Turner
DELEGATION STYES
Each of these styles gives progressively more control and freedom to staff to do the delegated
task. One gives little or no freedom while six gives complete freedom to do the job.

50
Activity – 6 Levels of Delegation
Explore
Give me Explore, and
Take care
Do as I Look into Your Decide Decide
of it for
Say This Advice, and Check Within
Me
I’ll Decide With me These
Limits
Fig. 2.11. Six Levels of Delegation
Level one. Do as I say! This gives the employee the freedom to examine the problem and
collect the facts. The manager reserves the right to decide what to do based on the established
facts. The manager has total control. The employee has little freedom and discretion and
exercises few independent thinking skills.
Level two. Look into this! In addition, to examining the problem and getting the facts,
the employee is allowed to generate alternatives and make recommendations as to what
course of action he thinks is best and should be taken. The manager retains total control.
However, the employee does exercise considerable thinking skills in generating alternatives
and making recommendations sometimes justifying them using cost benefit analysis.
Level three. Give me your advice but I’ll decide! This gives the employee permission to
examine the problem, collect the facts, generate alternatives, make recommendations and
advise what they intend to do. However, they must wait for the manager’s approval before
they proceed. The ultimate control is still with the manager. However, the employee exercises
considerable thinking and decision-making skills.
Level four. Explore, decide and check with me! This gives the employee a free hand to do
all of the previous three and to proceed unless the boss tells you otherwise. The manager still
retains some of the control. However, a lot of authority has been passed to the employee.
Level five. Explore and decide within these limits! This gives the employee a free hand to
do all of the previous four but the manager expects to be kept informed about what you
did. Most of the control has passed from the manager to the employee. The manager has
great trust in the employee to do the work delegated.
Level six. Take care of it for me! No further contact with the manager is needed. At this
level the manager has complete trust and confidence in the staff who are empowered to do
the work delegated and are free to get on with the job without any interference from the
manager. A complete level of authority has been passed to the employee.

51
“You need courage to risk delegating. Managers typically avoid taking chances,
but delegation is a calculated risk, and you must expect that over time the
gains will surpass the losses. You must recognise the risk and adjust emotionally
and intellectually in order to delegate effectively. Delegation is risky because
you’re never absolutely sure of the outcome of a task you delegate.”
– Dr. Frank F. Huppe
2.6 SUMMARY
Delegation is getting work done through other people. Since it is impossible to do everything
yourself it pays to engage the skills and expertise of others. Managers free themselves up to
attend to the tasks of management such as planning, leading, organising, controlling and
staffing. The benefits of delegating include less stress and you will train and develop staff
for promotion or more responsible work. Managers might be reluctant to delegate because
they fear that their staff will do a better job, and they will be shown up as less competent.
Employees may be reluctant because they are already overworked, and they fear the criticism
and responsibility if they make mistakes. A manager should not delegate human resource
duties such as appraisal, discipline and hiring and firing.
There are some principles of delegation such as you can delegate authority but you can’t
delegate responsibility. The manager is ultimately responsible for the work of his section.
Delegate but don’t abdicate. If you delegate work to your staff give them sufficient authority
and freedom to carry it out. Follow a systematic approach when delegating by asking the
questions, What? Whom? How? and When? The trust control dilemma suggests that the
more you trust staff, the more you will delegate and the less you will control. The less you
trust staff, the less you will delegate and the more you will control. This is the dilemma of
management. The delegation styles model gives progressively more control and freedom to
staff to do the delegated task.

52
2.7 FIVE STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR DELEGATION SKILLS
1. Build up the expertise of staff through coaching, mentoring and training so that
you are confident that they will be able to do the delegated work satisfactorily.
The staff you delegate to should be willing and able to do the work and have the
time to do so. It is your responsibility to ensure that they possess the necessary
competencies. Accept that staff will make mistakes and initially take longer to do
the work delegated because they are novices.
2. When you delegate work, make sure you give the employee sufficient authority
and resources to carry it out. Make them accountable to you for the correct
performance of the tasks delegated. Give them general guidance but let staff
decide for themselves the methods they will use to do the work delegated. There
are different ways of doing any task and encourage staff to be creative.
3. Monitor staff performance without undue-interference or continually checking. Give
your staff scope to use their initiative while at the same time telling them you’re
available if needed for guidance and support.
4. Delegate but do not abdicate. Keep in touch with what’s going on by installing
appropriate checks and reviews. Give staff the necessary supports such as equipment,
training and information to do the work satisfactorily. At the end of the day if
anything goes wrong you’re responsible. It pays to ensure that everything runs
smoothly, and that there are no surprises.
5. Don’t just delegate routine jobs or ones you don’t like. Pick those jobs that will
challenge and stretch employees so that you are catering for their growth and
development. Nevertheless, even jobs that you find routine may challenge and
interest the novice. Over time and as you gain more confidence in your staff,
gradually increase the complexity of the tasks you delegate.

53
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Motivation
3 MOTIVATION
How can I motivate staff?
How can I motivate myself?
What are the main demotivators?
What is the power of expectation?
What are the theories of motivation?
Internal Versus External Motivation
INTRINSIC
EXTRINSIC
Motivation
Motivation
• motivation that
• comes from the
is driven by an
outside of an
interest
individual
• exists within
the individual
Fig. 3.1. Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation
Different things motivate different people. Motivation changes over time. Intrinsic motivated
is self-generated and comes from internal needs, drives and desires and tends to be long-
term. A person will be highly motivated if they have a passion for the work and for personal
growth and development. A person may be driven by curiosity and interest to learn something
new. Employees are more creative when motivated primarily by the interest, enjoyment,
satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself. When intrinsic motivation is lowered, creativity
dips. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation comes from outside and tends to be short-
term. It may be rewards such as salary, fringe benefits, incentives, praise or promotion. Over
time employees get used to these and the effect gradually wears off.

54
3.1 HOW TO MOTIVATE STAFF
Staff views
audits
Work Staff
environment suggestions
How to
No blame Work life
motivate
culture balance
staff
Praise Participation
Inspired
vision
Fig. 3.2. How to motivate staff
• Find out what motivates staff. Undertake regular employee satisfaction audits to
determine their views. Generally, some of the things that motivate staff include
autonomy, recognition, opportunities for achievement, career advancement,
participation, and having interesting and worthwhile work. They also like training
and development and continuous learning opportunities. To motivate staff, you
need to meet their hopes, desires, aspirations and expectations and make them feel
important. At the minimum you need to provide them with a decent living. Have
equitable pay and working conditions. This makes staff feel they are working for an
ethical, trustworthy, responsible and reputable organisation. There’s a link between
the level of pay and a sense of self-worth.
• Seek staff suggestions. A formal suggestion scheme should be implemented to
encourage and reward staff who suggest ways to improve work methods and
operations. Small prizes should be awarded for ideas that are implemented. The
more involved staff feel the more motivated they will be. They love to feel that
their views are valued and important to management and that they are making a
worthwhile contribution to the company’s success.

55
• Respect that staff need a work-life-balance and realise that they have interests and a
life outside work. As a manager you’ve a duty to help staff achieve a healthy work-
life-balance and help them avoid situations where they become unduly stressed by
being obsessed with work. Maintaining mental health is an important aspect of life.
• Create a sense of staff involvement. Explain to them the importance to the organisation
of the work they do. Participation in the formulation of goals leads to commitment
through a sense of ownership and high performance. Employees’ motivation will
be high if they perceive their work as making a significant contribution to the
objectives of the organisation and especially to their everyday work. Keep in touch
with your staff by managing by wandering about (MBWA) and being available on a
daily basis to discuss their concerns. Allow staff to plan and control and continually
improve their work. Delegate whole tasks so that they can readily see the overall
impact of their work.
• Communicate clearly a shared vision and goals. Goals should be specific, realistic,
measurable, and challenging. Most employees want an interesting challenging job
rather than an easy and boring one. Knowledge of results should be accurate and
timely. Do continuous performance appraisals, rather than an appraisal once a year.
This will help staff rectify problems as they are highlighted through feedback, and
also continually identify training needs. They will know where they stand with their
manager rather than the uncertainty of waiting 12 months to find out.
• Recognise achievement by praise and saying “thanks” as appropriate. Only praise
work that’s exceptional or outstanding. Praise must be earned to be worthwhile as
this makes staff feel they’re doing important work. Praising everyday performance
diminishes its worth and may only arouse cynicism in staff. Give credit as soon
as possible, after the event deserving praise, for immediate impact. When showing
appreciation, you should specifically describe the desired behaviour, state why the
desired behaviour was helpful and express sincere thanks. Always be friendly, courteous
and polite. Encourage staff to give their best and give rewards proportionate to effort.
• Avoid the blame culture. Criticise behaviour and not people and treat employees
as special and unique to build their self-esteem and sense of self-worth. Celebrate
success to motivate people to go on to achieve further success. Adopt a Theory
Y approach to staff by showing that you trust them and expect them to show
initiative and be productive. Treat employees with respect. Show employees that
you like them, are interested in their welfare, and value their views, loyalty and
commitment. Do this and you are sure to have a motivated staff.
• Create an attractive environment and make work more interesting. The work
environment should be friendly, non-threatening, pleasant and safe. Work can be
made more interesting by job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation and job
redesign. Build on the strengths of staff, by delegating assignments in line with
their capabilities to help them grow and develop. Introduce flexible working hours

56
if demanded by staff. These will meet the achievement needs of staff and create
opportunities for collaboration and friendship.
“No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No stream or gas drives anything
until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is
tunnelled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.
– Harry Emerson Fosdick
3.2 MOTIVATE YOURSELF
Enthusiasm
is
contagious
Discover
what Be honest
motivates and sincere
you
How to
motivate
yourself
Role model SMART goals
Be positive
Fig. 3.3. How to motivate yourself
• Be motivated yourself. If the manager is genuinely enthusiastic and committed then

this is likely to rub off the staff. If the manager is not prepared to do something
that he expects others to do, then why should the employees? The excitement

57
and passion you create will be contagious. Love your job as an inherent love and
interest for what you do is probably the greatest energiser and motivator of all.
Always respond positively and enthusiastically to new ideas put forward by staff.
• Be genuine, honest and sincere. Walk the talk and keep your promises. There is
nothing more de-motivational to staff than dealing with “phoney” managers – those
pretending to be something they are not. Provide genuine support and try to help
staff with personal problems.
• Set SMART goals. These should challenge, stretch abilities and drive you forward
to achieve desired outcomes. Cultivate a desire to achieve. Ambition fires drive and
provides the motivation to succeed. Celebrate your own successes no matter how small
as this provides you with the motivation to keep on going. Don’t make unfavourable
comparisons between yourself and others but instead in the circumstances try and
be the best you can possibly be. Welcome difficulty and challenge. See problems as
challenges and opportunities to be exploited. Solving complex problems is interesting
and challenging and the process is motivating in itself. The journey or process is
often more motivational than the arrival or destination.
• Use positive self-talk or affirmations. Look after yourself mentally and physically –
a healthy mind in a healthy body. Develop a strong self-belief in your abilities. If
you don’t believe in yourself nobody else will! Have a positive attitude by visualising
successful outcomes. Mentally rehearse the way you want some future situation to
work out so that you’re subconsciously propelled forward to reach your dream.
Likewise, encourage staff to develop a positive sense of self-belief.
• Adopt a role model to guide you towards better performance and act as a role model
to staff by leading by example. Become a lifelong learner and seek out opportunities
for continuous improvement and encourage others to do likewise. Review your
performance and reflect on and learn from your mistakes and shortcomings.
• Discover what motivates you. Motivators might be values such as success, praise,
recognition, respect, or love, friendship and acceptance, or just the feeling you
get when you’ve done a worthwhile job. More physical things such as a house, a
car, a cause or an education might be motivators as well. The scientific school of
management believed that money was a prime motivator and that people were driven
by incentives. On the other hand, behavioural scientists consider job satisfaction,
responsibility, relationships, power and achievement to be more important.
“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always
be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So, what? Get started
now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and
more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”
– Mark Victor Hansen

58
3.3 DEMOTIVATORS
The signs of de-motivation include high staff turnover, tardiness, absenteeism and poor
industrial relations. These are often caused by:
ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES
Organisational Organisational
issues issues
Not walking
Bureaucracy
the talk
Poor Keeping staff

communication in the dark
Work overload
Wasteful Mtgs
Work underload
Poor HR policies Office politics
Fig. 3.4. Organisational demotivators
• Command and control culture. A bureaucratic type organisation is unlikely to

reward risk taking, creativity and innovation. In fact, it often rewards conformity,
mediocrity, lack of initiative and decisiveness, and a conservative approach to work
issues. If employees feel they are over managed and have no control over their work
situation then they will tend to be de-motivated.
• Confusing instructions, poor communication and unclear expectations mean that
employees do not know precisely what the manager wants. Employees can spend
a lot of time on the wrong tasks, achieving the wrong results, and consequently
becoming extremely frustrated. Management need good communication skills if
they want staff to do what they want them to do.
• Unproductive meetings with ambiguous outcomes. Everybody should be clear on
what’s supposed to be done when a meeting concludes. A results-oriented meeting
with an action plan will keep people focused and motivated. Managers should follow
up to make sure that staff tasked to do something, do it. Only those with relevant
needs and a contribution to make should be invited to the meeting.
• Poor human resource policies. Where there is no clear relationship between effort
and reward employees will have no incentive to be more productive. Where there
is an incremental scale awarded on the basis of service rather than effort. Where

59
there is a lack of equity in pay and reward systems employees will feel disgruntled.
Where there is a culture of bullying, intimidation and harassment in the company
employees will feel a sense of injustice. Where employees generally are not treated
with dignity and respect they will feel demoralised and resentful.
• Not walking the talk. Management say one thing and do another. There should be
no inconsistency between words and deeds. For example, a company may encourage
feedback from employees, and then do nothing about it. I worked once for a
company that undertook a costly staff survey in response to frequent industrial
relations problems, and then did nothing about the findings. A favourite approach is
kicking for touch by setting up investigative committees to make recommendations
which by the time they are made people have forgotten the original purpose of the
investigation and nothing is done. Hypocrisy is rampant in business. A company
may introduce a cost cutting programme, ask employees to defer wage increases
or accept wage cuts and at the same time award its chief executive a huge salary
increase including massive bonuses.
• The company operates a policy of not keeping staff fully informed about what’s
going on in the company. Lack of information is a major source for employee
stress. When an information vacuum occurs, misleading rumours fly around the
organisation to fill the gap often causing anxiety and unease. Some companies are
very good at keeping their employees informed even about the financial performance
of the company. Unfortunately, others prefer to keep them in the dark.
• Work overload causes people to feel anxious or stressed all the time and may lead
to burnout. On the other hand, work underload is where people are bored because
they have too little to do. Also, staff may not have the scope or get the opportunity
to use their discretion, unique expertise, qualifications and abilities to do their jobs
more effectively.
• Office politics. This includes competition for power, influence, budgetary resources,
training opportunities, favour and promotions. Office politics are the unwritten
subtle rules for success in an organisation. Some people seem to be cuter and better
at playing the game than other. The latter find it difficult to read situations and
ascertain what the politically correct behaviour in an organisation is. Consequently,
they often feel anxious in case they upset powerful people in the organisation and
hinder their chances of promotion. Ideally if office politics were eliminated from
an organisation people would feel they have an equal chance for success.
“In 1998, Mitsubishi paid $34 million in a sexual misconduct settlement.

The company’s North American division paid awards of $10,000 to
$300,000 to 486 female workers to settle allegations that women on an
assembly line were harassed and managers did nothing to stop it.
– Curtice (2005)

60
STAFF ISSUES
Boredom Lack of resources

No consultation Low quality standards
Negative thinking Lack of praise
Staff issues
Constant change Poor Pay

Dysfunctional relationships Mgrs take credit for staff ideas
Fig. 3.5. Demotivators staff issues
• Boredom. The work is tedious and there is no desire or effort on the part of
management to make it more interesting. Policies just as job enrichment, job
enlargement and job rotation should be a feature of progressive organisations.
• The staff are not consulted about plans, goals, targets and strategies. The staff are
not forewarned about changes such as downsizing or expansion. Sometimes the
first employees know about problems in the company, is when they arrive to work
on a Monday morning to find the company gate shut and a receiver appointed.
This is extraordinarily insensitive but such cases are highlighted on the media from
time to time.
• There is negative thinking and lack of self-belief among staff because of the way
the organisation functions. Employees are treated like automatons rather than
thinking human beings. Any worthwhile potential contribution they could make
to the success of the organisation is ignored.
• Constant change. Some change can be highly motivational provided it is needed,
results orientated, well planned and communicated and clearly in the interests of
the company and its employees. Some people are unsettled by constant change,
although there are people who thrive on change. Change ideally should be incremental
rather than abrupt. The reason for the change should be clearly communicated
by management to employees and their concerns openly and honestly addressed.
Managers should focus on the positive aspects of the change, and the improvements
it will bring. Management should help those who find it hard to cope with change
by emphasising the positive benefits.
• There are dysfunctional relationships among employees and departments. There is
a lack of co-operation between departments with ongoing battles for power and
territory. Good interpersonal relationships in the workplace have a positive influence
on morale and productivity.

61
• There are inadequate resources for staff such as equipment, materials and space.
There is little support in the form of coaching, mentoring, training and information
from managers. Managers routinely withhold information from staff.
• Low quality standards. Employees like to take a pride in their work. Short-term cost
reduction considerations are often the reason for quality compromises. Employees
should be involved in goal setting and process improvement. Tapping into their
creativity will often mean that quality standards will not always be sacrificed for
cost considerations.
• The staff are reprimanded for poor performance but never praised when performance
is exceptional. Praise is rare in the workplace with the contribution of workers often
taken for granted. Employees who hear nothing but destructive criticism inevitably
feel demoralised, undermined, inadequate, worthless and resentful.
• The staff feel they are underpaid for the type of work they do and the level of
responsibility they have. They may be aware that similar positions are earning more
in competitive companies.
• Managers and supervisors steal the ideas of their staff and take the credit without
due acknowledgement or recognition. This is standard practice in many organisations
as managers consider their staff to be adjuncts of themselves, and therefore exist to
bolster their ego and positions and make them look good. Staff deserve recognition
for their ideas.
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children
of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
– Helen Keller
BLOCKED DESIRES
Blocked desires cause frustration and lead to a lack of motivation. Employees will feel
frustrated if they haven’t the right equipment, support systems and training to perform to a
level that they desire. Likewise, they will feel frustrated if their ideas are not acknowledged
or implemented. Most employees desire to do a good job provided they get the necessary
supports from management. The acronym RAFT will help you remember the important
aspects of frustration.

62
• Regression
R
• Aggression
A
• Fixation
F
• Total Withdrawal
T
Fig. 3.6. Blocked Desires
• Regression. This is where employees revert to childish behaviour such as tantrums

if they feel they lack the facilities to help them do a good job or their wishes are
continually frustrated or ignored.
• Aggression. Blocked desires result in pent up feelings waiting for an opportunity
to explode. The release of feelings may take the form of physical attack or verbal
abuse on those in authority that they blame for their frustrations or lack of facilities.
In extreme cases employees may go on strike for trivial issues causing widespread
disruption, or even commit acts of sabotage.
• Fixation. This is where employees persist in unproductive behaviour of no value such
as delaying work for no particular reason or working to rule. This is in response
to their feelings of frustration.
• Total withdrawal. This is where employees show apathy, indifference and resignation
in response to an unfavourable situation, such as lack of resources needed to do
the job, instead of engaging or doing something constructive about it.

63
3.4 POWER OF EXPECTATION
Our actions
(towards others)
influence impact
Pygmalion
Our beliefs Others beliefs
Effect
(about ourselver) (about us)
(self-fulfilling prophecy)
reinforce cause
Others actions
(towards us)
Fig. 3. 7. Pygmalion Effect
• If the manager communicates high expectations then the staff will tend to live
up to them. This is known as the Pygmalion effect or the self-fulfilling-prophesy.
Expectations should be realistic and achievable. With new recruits the initial
management expectations set mould subsequent behaviour. Managers should possess
the self-belief to train and develop staff to achieve results.
• Staff have greater respect and belief in competent managers who act as role models
with proven track records and who live up to their promises. The tone of the manager
should be congruent with the words spoken. Words used to describe situations
should be appropriate, simple and direct and in line with behaviour.
• The manager should use non-verbal cues when communicating their expectations. The
body language should be in harmony with the message. Lean slightly forward with
your body keeping your posture open and direct. Maintain eye contact. Use hand
gestures, head and facial expressions to support the positive nature of your message.

64
3.5 CONCEPTS OF MOTIVATION

Motivation is extremely complex. Different concepts provide different theoretical frameworks
and perspectives. It’s useful for practising managers to have some acquaintance with these
theories. Most training programmes on management will cover all or some of them. The
following are the most important:
• Maslow
• Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
• McClelland
• Herzberg
• Goals
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

In his motivation theory, Maslow argued that people had five innate needs.
1. Physiological needs. These are also called basic or physical needs. They are the
need for food, water and shelter. In an organisational sense they would include a
reasonable wage, and good conditions of employment. In this context a reasonable
wage should at least cover survival needs such as food, water and shelter. Once
these are satisfied the next set of needs kick in.
2. Safety needs. These are also called security needs and include freedom from threat and
coercion. In an organisational sense they would include pension, health insurance, a
safe working environment and secure employment. Once a person becomes secure,
they then become interested in making friends and becoming accepted by those
around them.
3. Love needs. These are also called social and relationship needs. This is the need for
friendship and collaboration in the workplace. People like to be liked and to feel a
sense of belonging. This can be achieved by creating a family type atmosphere in the
workplace. Once socially accepted people like to be loved and respected by others.
4. Esteem needs. People like to have the respect and recognition of their work colleagues.
At work, promotion may win us status and respect in the perception of others. Once
people have won the respect of others they then strive to become self-actualised by
becoming the person they are capable of becoming which is the last and final stage.
5. Self-actualisation needs. This is when you reach your full potential or what you’re
capable of becoming. This is often something you strive for all your life. It’s often
a case at becoming the best at what you do. Lifelong learning and continuous
improvements are part of this philosophy.

65
Peoples’ needs are arranged in a hierarchy as follows:
Fig. 3.8. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow maintained that as soon as one need is met another one takes its place. A need
that’s satisfied no longer motivates an individual. The need for self-actualisation can never
be totally satisfied and is an on-going perpetual search. Many people spend their lives trying
to meet their lower level needs, and never get the opportunity to satisfy their higher-level
needs for self-esteem and self-actualisation.
Maslow’s theory can never be empirically proven but it has intuitive appeal and has stood
the test of time. Obviously, the primary survival needs of water, food and shelter take
precedence over all other needs. It is only when these have been met that a person considers
status or recognition to be issues worth striving for.
Maslow’s theory is of limited practical use but is a good generic concept of motivation. It
cannot be applied at an individual level because different people are motivated by unique
needs. Some people may have little desire for promotion, and the responsibility it brings
with it. One person may seek to satisfy a need for esteem by getting promoted or becoming
the best at doing his particular job. Another person might get active in a trade union and
win the esteem of his work colleagues by challenging authority. Some of these issues are
dealt with by other theories such as Vroom’s expectancy theory.

66
VROOM’S EXPECTANCY THEORY

This theory states that the strength of an individual’s motivation depends on the extent to
which they believe that their efforts will bring about a desired outcome. If employees believe
that their efforts will lead to the rewards that they desire then they will be motivated to
improve their performance.
Effort Performance Reward
E X V = F
expectancy X valence = Force of

motivation
Fig. 3.10. Effort/Performance/Reward Model
Mathematically it can be expressed as:
E×V=F
Where E = Expectancy or the strength of their expectation that their behaviour will bring
about the desired outcome.
V = Valence or the value they place on the outcome.

F = Force of motivation
This theory unlike Maslow’s is not a generic theory. It is a contingency theory taking into
account each person’s unique motivation. For example, an individual’s promotion valence
may be nil, i.e. they place no value on promotion. This might be because they do not want
the trouble of extra responsibility. Therefore, the strength of their motivation would be zero.

67
McCLELLAND’S THEORY OF MOTIVATION

He maintained that three things motivated managers:
1. The need for achievement

2. The need for power
3. The need for affiliation.
MCCLELLAND’S THEORY OF NEEDS
NEED FOR NEED FOR NEED FOR

ACHIEVEMENT POWER AFFILIATION
drive to excel
Achieve in relation to a To control others Friendship
set of standards To get desired things done Good relationship
Strive to succeed
Fig. 3.11. McClelland’s Theory of Needs
He felt that managers were more motivated by achievement and power rather than affiliation.
Power has been described as the greatest aphrodisiac. Managers like to be challenged and
to exercise personal responsibility. The major concern with high achievers is that they are
task-orientated rather than relationship orientated. This is a major disadvantage in team-
based organisations where the ability to get along with others is of prime importance.
HERZBERG’S TWO-FACTOR THEORY
Herzberg’s
Job dissatisfaction Job satisfaction
two-factor principles
Influenced by Improving the Influenced by

hygiene factors satisfier (motivator) satisfier (motivator)
• Working conditions factors increases job factors
• Co-worker relations satisfaction • Achievement
• Policies and rules • Recognition
• Supervisor quality Improving the • Responsibility
• Base wage, salary hygiene factors • Work itself
decreases • Advancement
job dissatisfaction • Personal growth
Herzberg’s two-factor theory

Fig. 3.12. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

68
Frederick Herzberg in his book, Work and the Nature of Man introduced the two-factor theory
of motivation. This identified the elements causing job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction.
He called these hygiene or maintenance factors, and motivator factors. The hygiene factors
minimise dissatisfaction but do not give satisfaction. For example, we know that good
sanitation minimises threats to health but does not provide good health. Satisfaction with
hygiene factors varies over time and is short-term.
The hygiene factors are:
• company policy and administration

• salary
• supervision
• interpersonal relationships
• working conditions and
• job security.
The motivators are:
• status
• advancement or promotion
• recognition
• responsibility
• challenging work
• achievement and
• opportunities for growth
A lack of motivators will concentrate employee’s minds on the hygiene factors such as pay
and working conditions. However, this is less likely to happen if the work is challenging,
interesting and offers scope for advancement. Herzberg recommended that managers should
concentrate on the motivators to improve motivation. Therefore, it is better to make the
job more challenging than improving working conditions. He specified three methods of
making work more motivational. These are:

69
Three Methods of
Making Work
More Motivational
Job Enrichment Job Enlargement Job Rotation
Fig. 3.13. Three Methods of Making Work More Motivational
1. Job enrichment. This is the process of giving an employee more responsible, demanding
and challenging tasks to do. Typically, this might be delegating more interesting,
empowering and problem-solving type work to an employee. This approach can
increase motivation and improve job satisfaction. Job enrichment provides more
opportunities for achievement, recognition, esteem and responsibility, and can add
meaning to a task by providing a challenge to learn something new.
2. Job enlargement. This gives the employee a greater variety of tasks to do. Typically,
it might be increasing the variety of operations an employee is engaged on and so
moving away from a narrow specialisation of tasks. Herzberg mentioned that this is
more limited in value, since a worker is unlikely to be highly motivated by a variety
of tasks if the tasks are still repetitious, soul destroying, boring and tedious to do.
3. Job rotation. This rotates employees between different tasks within a section or
different jobs between departments. The primary role of job rotation is to improve
employee’s problem-solving and decision-making skills while at the same time
broadening their experience and giving them an overall perspective of the company
and the interface between departments. It’s particularly useful for the training of
junior managers and is used extensively in management succession planning.
GOAL-SETTING
It’s well known that setting goals can motivate people. A manager may influence the behaviour
of employees productively by setting clear achievable goals. Goals that are challenging and
require mental effort are more motivational than goals that require little effort. However,
the goal must not be so difficult that they are unattainable. In this situation the goals

70
would be considered unrealistic and de-motivate employees. Employees often feel elated and
a sense of achievement when they achieve a worthwhile goal, accomplish a task, or solve
a problem. Even making progress towards a goal creates the same sensations. In contrast
employees who are blocked from achieving their goals will become frustrated, unhappy and
de-motivated by their work. However, if managers facilitate and reward progress employees
will be motivated to greater progress.
Reinforcement fosters motivation. In other words, an employee who is rewarded for achieving
a difficult goal is more likely to strive towards the next difficult goal. Goals must also be
specific and capable of measurement if they’re to be motivational. Employees are more likely
to accept and be committed to goals if they participated in setting them, and therefore feel
a sense of ownership. They expect managers to provide the necessary resources, supports
and training to enable them to achieve their goals.
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in
circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and
look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”
– George Bernard Shaw
3.6 SUMMARY
Motivation is complex as evidenced by the different concepts offered by management
theorists. Different things motivate people and what motivates one person will not necessarily
motivate another. The triggers of motivation change over time. There are two sources of
motivation: internal and external. Internal motivation comes from within such as needs,
drives and desires, and tends to be long-term and strong. External motivation comes from
outside such as salary, fringe benefits and promotion, and tends to be short-term and vary
in strength with the person and source.
There are numerous ways of motivating staff. A shared vision, clearly communicated
will energise and inspire staff to achieve goals. People will feel more motivated if they’re
consulted and involved in decision-making. A good way of motivating yourself is to become
a lifelong learner and seek out ways of continually improving performance. Office politics,
bureaucracy and poor systems are some of the things staff find de-motivating. The power
of expectation is a great motivator, as staff like to live up to the manager’s expectations. A
variety of motivational theories of practical use to managers were discussed.

71
3.7 FIVE STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR MOTIVATION SKILLS
1. Use internal motivators such as an inherent interest in the job or opportunities

for personal growth and development to motivate staff. Managers should ensure
that the job is designed to make it as interesting as possible. Job enrichment, job
enlargement and job rotation may be used to make work more interesting.
2. Make sure there is a clear relationship between effort and reward. Reward staff
commensurate with their efforts, and in line with the going rate within the industry.
3. Get employees involved in problem solving and decision-making. Recognise their
achievement by praise and thanks. Employees like to feel that their ideas and work
is appreciated and valued.
4. Motivate yourself by lifelong learning and a desire to continually improve performance.
Act as a role model in this regard so that your staff will be motivated to do likewise.
5. Set high expectations for staff and they will live up to it, as they like to be stretched
by goals that are challenging but realistic.

72
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION Acknowledgements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The artwork in this text was produced by the author with the aid of Microsoft’s ‘SmartArt’
creatively combined with the clipart facility in the word package. Some of the artwork
was accessed through Google. Known copyright material accessed through Google has
been acknowledged. I will gladly acknowledge any other copyright material brought to my
attention in future editions.

73
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION About the author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samuel A Malone is a self-employed training consultant, lecturer and author. He has published
numerous journal articles in the fields of learning, study skills, personal development,
motivation and management. He is the author of 28 books published in Ireland, the UK
and abroad on learning, personal development, study skills and business management.
Some of his books have gone into foreign translations including Russian, Spanish, Danish
and Norwegian, and second editions. Some of his books have been published in India.
He has an M.Ed. with distinction (in training and development) from the University of
Sheffield and is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA), Chartered Global
Management Accountant (CGMA) and a Chartered Secretary (ACIS) and a Member of
the Irish Institute of Industrial Engineers (MIIE). He is a fellow of the Irish Institute of
Training and Development (FIITD).
Previous books published by the author include Awaken the Genius Within (2014). (Glasnevin
Publishing Dublin) Why Some People Succeed and Other Fail (2011) Glasnevin Publishing
Dublin. Learning about Learning (2003) (CIPD London), A Practical Guide to Learning in
the Workplace (2005) (The Liffey Press Dublin), Better Exam Results (2005) (Elsevier/CIMA,
London) and Mind Skills for Managers (1997) (Gower, Aldershot, UK) and How To Set Up
and Manage A Corporate Learning Centre (2003) (Gower, Aldershot, UK). The last two books
became best-sellers for Gower in their training and business categories. Better Exam Results
proved to be a best-seller for Elsevier/CIMA and is still in print 30 years after its earliest
incarnation (Learning to Learn). Most of my published books are available on Amazon.co.uk.
His latest books have been published online by bookboon.com in 2018 namely:
• The Role of the Brain in Learning

• How Adults Learn
• Learning Models and Styles
• Experiential Learning
• Learning with Technology
• The Ultimate Success Formula
• A series of books on People Skills for Managers

74
LEADERSHIP, DELEGATION & MOTIVATION References and bibliography
REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blake, R. & Mouton, J. (1962) “The managerial grid.’’ Advanced Management Office
Executive, 1/9.
Coutu, Diane L. (2004). “Putting Leaders on the Couch.’’ Harvard Business Review, Volume
82, Issue 1.
Handy, C.B. (1985). Understanding Organisations, Third edition, Penguin, pp. 327–8.
Spreier, Scott W. & Fontane, Mary H. & Malloy, Ruth L. (2006). “Leadership Run Amok.’’
Harvard Business Review, Vol.84, Issue 6, p. 72–82.

75

Leadership Delegation Motivation

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Leadership Delegation Motivation

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Leadership, Delegation &

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

About the author 74

References and bibliography 75

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

After reading this book you will be able to:

• Identify the traits and styles of good leaders

Samuel A Malone July 2018

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

1.1 LEADERSHIP TRAITS

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Fig. 1.1. Desirable Traits for Leader

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

“No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or superman

1.2 FUNCTIONS OF LEADERSHIP

Fig. 1.2. Functions of Leadership Model (COMBINED)

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

1.3 STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

Fig. 1.3. Four Basic Styles of Leadership

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

• Democratic. This is a participative style of leadership and is the preferred style of

THE ASHRIDGE STYLES

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

• The autocratic or “tells” style is characterised by one-way communication between

The findings of the Ashridge studies included the following:

Tells, Sells, Consults & Joins Leadership Model

Tells Sells Consults Joins

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

THE SIX STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

Fig. 1.5. Six Styles of Leadership

• Directive. A directive style is strong and coercive behaviour. It is command and

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,

– John Quincy Adams

BLAKES MANAGERIAL GRID

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Concern for People

Concern for Production

Fig. 1.6. Blake & Mouton Managerial Grid (1962)

1.4 TYPES OF LEADERS

Fig. 1.7. FACTS Model of Leadership

• Functional. This is a contingency theory of leadership. The leader needs to adapt

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

1.5 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MANAGERS & LEADERS

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Managers Managers Managers

Fig. 1.8. What managers do

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Leaders Leaders Leaders

Create a Do the right

Fig. 1.9. What Leaders do

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

MCGREGOR’S THEORY X & Y

Work avoiding Work is natural

Need to control Capable of self-direction

Avoid responsibility Seek responsibility

Workers seek security Can make good decisions

Samuel A Malone July 2018