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