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Enjoying Your Work Richard Brislin |
Power-holders need
to control their impulses
to be effectiveThe importance of power in the lives of some people is best understood if other motives are considered.
People with a power motive enjoy controlling the behavior of others. When power-holders make a decision, they want to see that people behave in ways consistent with their directives. Affiliative people want to socialize with others and to enjoy their company. They want to be liked by others.
Individuals with an achievement motive want to set and acquire goals that involve their personal efforts. Examples are students who want to receive good grades, surgeons who want to perform difficult operations and writers who want to publish books.
Any of these motives are well served if people can integrate impulse control. If people want to behave in certain ways but recognize they should not, then they are showing evidence of impulse control. Achievement-oriented people need to nurture hobbies and to spend time with their families, or else they may become burned-out workaholics. Affiliative people often need to turn down social obligations so that they can deliver on their promises to complete work tasks by an agreed-upon date. People with a power motive often need to downplay their desire to impose themselves on others.
Successful leaders in large organizations have a desirable combination of the motives together with impulse control. Their power need is high. They must find job satisfaction in directing the behavior of others. Their achievement motive cannot be so high that they become frustrated when they personally do not acquire goals through their own efforts. The job of leaders in large organizations is not to personally undertake all tasks related to company success. Their job is to make sure that others accomplish these tasks.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Given the amount of time people spend at work, job satisfaction should ideally be high and it should contribute to general life happiness. Enjoyment can increase as people learn more about workplace psychology, communication, and group influences.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu
