Leadership is the ability to influence others and achieve an organization objectives through them. Leadership is critical for the success of an organization, and it is a crucial determinant of workers’ ability to reach their potential within their working environment. A successful leader has to understand how to recognize and reward his or her workforce to achieve the best out of them. Further, such leaders also must have ways of punishing their workers in case they go wrong. For a good leader, understanding the two elements; that is motivation and punishment are vital to molding a successful team of workers with the capability of achieving success in an organization.
Leaders must understand that workers need motivation for them to give their best in the organization (Allan, 2014). Understanding motivation as a leader help in building a motivated and determined workforce which will ensure that there is a smooth flow of work in an organization and workers share the organization’s mission and objective and hence contribute positively towards achieving the set goals. One of the best ways of motivating workers is rewarded those who have achieved success in the organization. Rewards can be of different forms. Promotions and incentives are examples of awards which are usually used in many organization. The leader has to understand the type of rewards they should give their employees in case they successfully achieve an operation. Rewards also make an employee feel important and appreciated in an organization. It critical to note that when employee feel that they own the company, they give their best as asserted by Allan (2014). Further, it is crucial for the employees to feel that their presence in an organization is essential. One of the best ways to achieve such kind of trust is to recognize their influence and hard work in the organization and reward their work accordingly.
Punishment is also critical for leaders in an organization. In an organization, there are instances where there are conflicts among the workers and, punishment has to be designed to correct such cases. Punishment is used in an organization to instill discipline and order among workers. Punishment can be of different forms which may include issuing a threat or nagging an employee to complete a certain task. These are called intangible forms of punishment. They are less severe than tangible punishments. There are other kinds of tangible punishment such as pay cut, suspension, and demotion. These are used when an employee is engaged in an activity or has made a decision which can jeopardize other employees or the entire organization. As a leader, these strategies must be understood to know the best one which can be used in case a worker is involved in a wrong doing (Paton, Taylor & Peters, 2010). Further, a leader has to understand that punishment can also be one way of motivating the workers. A leader can use punishment for instance threat with a hop that the employee can feel threatened and motivated to do the right thing.
Understanding the two concepts are critical and will help a leader run an organization successfully. Understanding rewards and punishments make leaders form a healthy and well-motivated as well as a disciplined team which has the organization’s vision at heart and is ready and willing to act towards achieving it. Also, Understanding these concepts help leaders create a healthy relationship with workers, these are a kind of relationship which is work oriented and thus will lead to the success of an organization. Lastly, it helps in creating a culture of honesty, justice, fairness, and equity in a workplace and thus enhances the much-needed trust which can propel an organization to a great high.
- Allan, C. (2014).The psychological contract: Unwritten expectations of leaders and followers. ProQuest Ebook Central, 6, 135-167.
- Paton, R., Taylor, S., & Peters, G. (2010). Designing and delivering leadership education and development: The role of corporate universities. ProQuest Ebook Central, 6, 93-113.
