Power

Summary of ‘Power the great motivator’

The key to success for businessmen is generally found to be ‘the need for achievement’, the desire to do something better that it has been done before. A good manager focuses more on personal improvement and needs short term feedback on their performance. He must also possess the need for power, that is, concern for influencing people. This need must be towards the benefit of the organization and not for personal elevation. Moreover, his need for power must be more than his need for affiliation, that is, need for being liked by people.

A manager should influence others’ success more than achieve new goals himself, should delegate responsibility to subordinates, reward them for good performance and keep the office well organized. These qualities were lacking in Mr. Ken Briggs and this was revealed from the studies. He tried doing all the work himself and lack of delegation left his staff demoralized. He was high on achievement, as is seen from his success as a salesman, but he was low on power motivation. Such people can be successful and be promoted to a higher position for which they are unsuited.

A manager who can create a high morale among is employees can be said to have high power of motivation. Infact the most important determining factor of high morale is higher power motivation compared to the need to be liked. The manager with a need of being liked is most likely to make exceptions in terms of particular needs. Thus, a person with high need of affiliation does not make a good manager.

Better managers in a corporation tend to score high on both power and inhibition or controlled action. Such managers are more institution minded. Managers motivated by personal power have high power motivation, low affiliation but they are also low on inhibition. They are not good institutional builders and their subordinates are loyal to them rather than the organization. When such personal power manager leaves, disorganization...