Can consideration be an instrument of motivation?

The story is told about an employee who was requesting his boss a consideration if he could give him some days off. Because he will be attending to a personal family matter. After asking a few validating questions the boss said yes!

Consideration is a powerful instrument of motivation, particularly in the context of leadership and other Human Behavior in Organization relationships. Consideration points to the act of showing empathy for an employee’s need and wellbeing. When leaders and managers exercise consideration, it would influence motivation.

For example, Trust, Respect and Obedience are strengthened: When subordinates are listened, understood, and valued, they are more likely to trust, obey and respect the person giving consideration. This positive human behavior dynamics give birth to motivation.

It is a given fact of organization life that when subordinates are given consideration, they become more engaged and committed in their work. They feel a sense of ownership and commitment because they believe their contributions matter and are recognized. This engagement leads to increased motivation and dedication to achieving goals.

Consideration creates an environment of psychological safety. Where subordinates and direct reports feel comfortable taking risks, expressing ideas and being vulnerable without fear of judgment or even punishment. Such an environment encourages creativity, innovation, and intrinsic motivation.

To sum it all, consideration plays a crucial role in enhancing employees’ motivation. Because it creates a positive and supportive organizational atmosphere and it strengthen the leader and employee relationship. But of course, consideration is also subject to abuse by unscrupulous employees. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the leader/manager to carefully evaluate his granting of consideration. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

On positive mindset

The story is told about a mountain climber who desired to climb the highest mountain peak. So, he went to climb it. When he was a few feet away from the peak he saw thick clouds that concealed the highest peak which was already within his reach. 

Thinking that he was still very far from his objective, he gave up. If only he knew that his objective was within his reach; he could have climbed on and achieved his goal. 

In your work environment there would be times when your patience would be tested by your superior/s. You might be given a job that may seem so hard for you to do; don’t refuse it, accept it instead. 

For all you know it’s just a test for you if you could handle bigger responsibilities in the future. Or it could be a test if you are ripe for promotion. If you think that your knowledge on the newly assigned job is lacking, don’t be afraid to ask help from your superior/s.  They are there to help, assist and guide you and not to intimidate you.  Google and ChatGPT OpenAI are there also to widen your understanding about the new responsibility. 

Perhaps you’re just being challenged by your superior, He wants to test your work attitude, patience and motivation. Your success in an organization will always be determined by your persistence, hard work and by your positive work attitude.  

If only the mountain climber in our story persisted and exerted more hard work he could have achieved his objective but he gave up. Life at work is full of challenges that will test your tenacity because this is a given fact of life at work. 

Always have a positive mindset because challenges no matter how difficult are more made achievable when you approach it with a positive mindset. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Are you a Positive Leader?

 

A positive leader is someone who uses humane and democratic methods in the exercise of his/her leadership. For example, when imposing discipline such as verbal reprimand he would always see to it that the reprimand is done in private wherein nobody will be aware of it except the parties involve. And he does not shout to his subordinates he instead talks to them in a civilized manner. He does this to let them know that there’s always a chance for them to straighten up their behavior. 

This is consistently the behavior of a positive leader. His end objective is always to correct and motivate and not destroy the morale of his subordinates/people. He would at all times think of ways to make everyone in his organization a contributor to the growth of the organization. 

Another quality of a positive leader is his infectious positive outlook in life. You would never see him frown even during trying times he would wear that optimistic smile every time on his face. And this is a very good demeanor for a leader because his positive and optimistic character will certainly rub off to his subordinates. 

A positive leader is also very accessible to anyone; he does not create silos and walls that only creates alienation and division in his organization. He is not egocentric nor a power tripper he instead is a model of humility and hard work. 

Just imagine an organization with a positive leader he will certainly bring his organization to greater heights. And he will surely be a positive influence to his subordinates. We therefore have to use positive leadership in our exercise of leadership because this is the only way for us to become good and effective leaders. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Is there a connection between Quiet Quitting and Dissatisfaction at Work?

The smoke of devastation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic is slowly clearing up. Organizations have started once again the engines of their organizations and it seems that it’s back again to normalcy for the majority of the world economy and its related organizations.   

But the issue of quite quitting is coming to fore in many organizations wherein employees are simply going thru the motion in doing their jobs. There is no more motivation to do their assigned jobs they simply do their jobs because they need to earn a living for their families. And while doing the bare minimum in doing their jobs these employees who are into quite quitting are also looking for opportunities of employment elsewhere.       

However, why do employees engage in quite quitting? They are into quite quitting for the simple reason that they are not satisfied with their present employment. Employment dissatisfactions are basically the reason for quite quitting. These dissatisfactions of employment are caused by a number of things. For example, organizational leadership and setup, behavior of co-employees, the issue of salary and benefits to name a few.   

Therefore, when there is dissatisfaction human’s normal reaction is to look for the solution to address the dissatisfaction. And  once they find this magical solution they will now think of resigning.  The prudent ones will not immediately resign they will first see to it that there is already an employment waiting for them before they resign. 

Quite quitting is actually an organizational problem that is preventable if only organizational leaders would find time to listen to the issues being raised by their employees. Lest we forget, those who engage in quite quitting are normally the competent ones who confidently think that they can easily get employment from organizations who can satisfy the needs and wants of their employment. – Marino J. Dasmarinas       

The importance of Moral Ascendancy in Leadership

The story is told about a leader who had been espousing ethical and good leadership to his people. It was smooth sailing for his leadership during the first year then after his first year his lack of moral ascendancy began to unravel. There were allegations of lavish partying, corruption, womanizing, breach of discipline, abuse of authority to name a few.

What is Moral Ascendancy? Moral Ascendancy is the influence that a leader holds toward his people through his moral, ethical and righteous leadership. A leader who does not have moral ascendancy will not last long in his leadership position.

Sooner or later the people under his influence and leadership will come to realize that this leader has no more moral high ground to lead them. So what they will do is they will protest against the morally deficient leader to let the leader know that he is not anymore fit to lead them.

This protest could lead to the leader’s resignation that is if the leader is sensitive to the pulse of his people. If the leader would decide to cling to his leadership position, power and authority he should be prepared to face the wrath of his people.

Moral ascendancy is very important in leadership be it in government or in the private sector because there is no successful and effective leadership without it. How can a leader effectively lead if the respect that he gets from his people or subordinates is only a façade?

How can he effectively communicate his ideas if he is not anymore being listened too because of his eroding moral authority? How can a leader command discipline and respect if the behaviors that he exhibits are lacking in discipline and respect?

If a leader is aspiring to be successful in his exercise of leadership and if he is attempting to build a lasting legacy upon it. He must see to it that he is not only competent in the exercise of his leadership he must also see to it that he should have the moral ascendancy to lead.

Otherwise his leadership is like a beautiful castle built on sand on the seashore. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

The mistake of knee-jerk reaction

Do you believe that managers are Leaders too? 

Managers are leaders also as such they are called to manage and lead their organization with utmost efficiency and productivity. However there would be instances when their abilities as managers and leaders will be tested by their subordinates. In such instances it is best for them not to react in haste.  It’s best to stay calm and composed under stressful situation. 

For example if an ego-tripper subordinate is challenging your authority to advertise his own ego. Be calm and be patient do not immediately react to his arrogance because the moment you react without careful thought you will be at the losing end. Why? Because you would be dignifying his own arrogance and ego-tripping and you go down to his level which is not good for your image and standing in your organization. 

So how would you address this troublesome situation? Approach it with calm and civility by pretending not to mind it. Then after an hour or two or even a day schedule a personal meeting with the concerned person. Who challenged your authority and tested your patience and during the meeting point to him his mistakes. 

Clearly emphasize your authority and his responsibilities as your subordinate and after you’ve done this.  The concerned individual hopefully will be enlightened and appreciate your civility, humility and diplomacy. 

The mistake of thoughtless/knee-jerk reaction is you will not gain anything from it except another troublesome situation in your organization. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

The leadership styles of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin

Two of the most familiar names right now are those of Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their countries are neighbors in Europe but both are engaged in a destructive war that nobody wants except Russia. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the 6^th President of Ukraine on May 2019, he exercises his presidential power using the democratic style of leadership. He allows free exchange of ideas, there is check and balance in government and everyone has the right to criticize him.  

When a leader uses democratic style of leadership he encourages growth in his organization. For the simple reason that there is free flowing traffic of ideas which benefit the leader and the organization that he/she leads. Leaders of first world countries such as the USA, Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan, France and a lot more are using the democratic style of leadership no wonder why they are rich, powerful and progressive.     

Leaders who employ the democratic style of leadership are leaders who are confident in their practice of leadership. They know how to exercise their function of leadership without using the factor of fear to push their organizational objectives and agendas. And they exercise their leadership with transparency and openness. They also are sensitive to the voice of the people because they recognize that their temporal power to govern emanates from the people.     

On the other hand, Vladimir Putin is an autocratic leader. He became the most powerful man in Russia during December 1999 until this very day. In total he has been ruling Russia with an Iron fist for almost 23 years and counting. Putin is a dictator and when a nation is ruled by a dictator that nation becomes poor. Why? Because there is no check and balance in his/her governance. Hence, the government that he/she leads becomes a fertile ground for corruption and other abuses by those who are in power. The dictator’s word and rule are absolute no one can contradict him except himself.     

In this unprovoked war which was instigated by Russia we see how weak the leadership of President Putin. Despite of him being a dictator and despite of the gargantuan advantage of the Russian armed forces over the Ukrainian armed forces.  It’s a fact that after almost seven weeks now the Russian military might has not conquered Ukraine. This is attributed to poor planning and logistical shortcomings. 

Why did it happen that Russia was not able to plan and execute properly? Because there was lacking of inputs from the lower level Russian military planners. President Putin listened only to himself and to his select generals/advisers who thought that Ukraine will simply cower in fear once they invade. 

Dictators are actually weak leaders. Since they have to resort to their dictatorial/authoritarian powers to command respect and obedience from the people that they rule. They never consult the broad spectrum of their people when making important plans and decisions. Unlike democratic leaders who encourage people participation in their exercise of governance.    

Strong, effective and respectable leaders can easily command respect and obedience. Because they lead by example, they are loved by their people and they know how to respect the rights of their people. And this typifies the democratic style of leadership of Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenzkyy.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas