The workplace is a familiar sanctuary for literary clichés. Here we have the picaresque hero, fervently dashing between new jobs, careers, and countries searching for some intangible sense of self. Here we also have the Panzas, chasing after delusional Don Quixotes – their bosses – on quixotic quests against windmills, all in the name of career advancement. On another level, we have the Cerberus, gatekeepers of the empire dutifully screening calls. But as students and employees, we rarely analyze the psyches of our superiors. What drives a leader? Perhaps it is simply predicated upon external appearance, a love of status or wealth – material indications of power. Or perhaps the leader is driven by internal forces, searching for respect and self-fulfillment. Others may be led by an obsession with control, unable to place their manifest destinies into the designs of others.
The leadership style may shed some clarity on the leader’s motivations. Though there varying combinations and strategies, most leaders fall into one of three distinct styles: authoritarian, participative, or delegative. Authoritarian leaders crave control. They seek no input from their employees, instead setting their own expectations and goals. An example for such a leader might be our former President George W. Bush, who stayed his courses of action disregarding the opinions of other politicians and the American people. But in his defense, he was The Decider. One can only imagine this as the least motivational of the leadership styles, but there are situations in which strict guidance is necessary (cf. Machiavelli). Participative leaders garner information from their teams, and make decisions based on the available data. They may encourage discussion of the issues, and choose the consensus decision, or overturn it in light of their own experiences. Finally, the delegative leader expends the least amount of personal involvement with the decisions of his team. This leader literally delegates a task to the employee and allows him to self-direct the accomplishment of the goal. As the hopeful leaders of our own future enterprises, we are served well to keep these styles in mind, and evaluate their effectiveness in motivating our employees to perform at their peaks.