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We all admire leaders. In trying to understand how leadership works, however, we often lose sight of the fact that followers are a crucial part of the equation. Regrettably, they get short shrift in the management literature, where they are described as merely responding to their leaders' charisma or caring attitudes. What most analyses seem to ignore is that followers have their own motivations and are as powerfully driven to follow as leaders are to lead. In this article, psychoanalyst, anthropologist, and management consultant Michael Maccoby delves into the unconscious recesses of followers' minds. He looks closely at the often irrational tendency to relate to a leader as some important person from the past--a parent, a sibling, a close friend, or even a nanny. Sigmund Freud discovered this dynamic when working with his patients and called it "transference." But as important as it is, the concept remains little understood outside the realm of clinical psychoanalysis. This is unfortunate, because a solid understanding of transference can yield great insight into organizational behavior and endow you with the wisdom and compassion to be a tremendous leader. The author explains the most common types of transference--paternal, maternal, and sibling--and shows how they play out in the workplace. He notes that they have evolved as our family structures have changed. Whether followers perceive a leader as an all-knowing father figure, as an authoritative yet unconditionally loving mother figure, or as a brother or sister who isn't necessarily a model of good behavior, the leader can manage transferential ties by bringing unconscious projections to light. Then debilitating resentment and animosity can give way to mutual understanding and productivity--and a limping organization can start to thrive. INSETS: The Different Faces of Transference;Managing Transference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on management in the knowledge economy. According to the author, managerial and governance systems are stuck in the industrial era. The author states that the core assets of the modern business are the intelligence, understanding, skill and experience of its employees. According to the author, managers and business leaders continue to value financial capital over intellectual capital. The author presents a case study regarding the issue involving the leadership of ancient Athens. It is the author's view that the process of policy making should be simple and fair while retaining the passion and emotion of its participants.

The article presents the author's views how to best motivate problem employees. The author suggests that the majority of people who respond to motivational efforts are already up and running. It is the author's view that the only thing that can motivate disinterested parties are themselves. Various fictional case studies regarding the issue of problem employees are presented. The author states that the most common motivational tactics are based on the fallacy that all thought processes are alike. Details related to the author's new theories on motivation are reviewed. INSETS: Decentering: The Art at the Heart of Motivation;Seven Hazards in Handling Problem People.

It's easy to see how it happens. A manager knows something is wrong in the relations between his supervisors and their clerical help. Because he knows "good human relations" are important, he assumes the supervisors need better interpersonal skills. After a training program the supervisors try their new skills, but nothing changes. The manager throws up his hands and concludes that behavioral science is all gobbledegook. The supervisors think so too because the real problem was that they were threatened by the clerical people's new skills and needed some support in dealing with the change, not skills in treating their subordinates better. Thus it is with universal theories. More often than not they do not fit the specific situation in which they are used. The author of this article makes a plea to both academics and managers to consider the price business pays for the simple cure and asks each to take a role in rectifying the situation. Academics need to develop more theories that managers can use, and managers need to recognize that the easy way doesn't work and to act as intelligent consumers in rejecting theories that aren't relevant, in being more diagnostic, and in keeping themselves and their staffs educated in the tools available. The author provides some sources for managers to investigate and compares a number of available theories as to their uses and values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good managers, ones who get the best out of their subordinates and who thereby produce positive results for their organizations, are the keys to an organization's success. It is not surprising then that much research and thought has gone into trying to define just what motivates a good manager and how to describe him so that his characteristics can be objectively measured and identified. In this article, the authors describe a motivation pattern that empirical research has discovered most good managers share. Good managers are not motivated by a need for personal aggrandizement, or by a need to get along with subordinates, but rather by a need to influence others' behavior for the good of the whole organization. In other words, good managers want power. On its own, however, power can lead to authoritarianism, so it needs to be tempered by maturity and a high degree of self-control. The authors maintain that workshops can help a manager discover whether he has the correct motivation profile to be a good manager. If he does, or even if he does not have the correct profile, workshops can help him become a good or better manager. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extroverted, sensitive leader who openly shares decisions and authority with subordinates--this is the profile that emerged when 318 executives were asked their opinions on the characteristics of participative leadership. While there is much discussion--and controversy--among educators and theorists about the concept of participative leadership, managers themselves have not yet been heard. In this study, the author found a surprising consensus among managers regarding the operational characteristics and effectiveness of participative leadership. But he also found some specific and noteworthy differences of opinion between younger and older managers concerning which managerial actions get results. After discussing the findings, he draws their implications for companies, individual managers, and management educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on business leadership trends in the United States. Good business leaders are able to create a work environment that constantly arouses interest and loyalty in employees through a non-emotional, non-personal approach to loyalty, leadership and participation. The author suggests that managers should view leadership as the representation of a company by an individual. Leaders must avoid the temptation of using techniques of manipulation to achieve their goals as they conduct their professional lives.

The article describes effective and ineffective control in management. The "Captain Queeg" management style is characterized by excessive control, which can lead to a sense of futility, dishonesty, conflict among executives, loss of initiative, and higher employee turnover. The "Will Rogers" method illustrates insufficient control and a democratic approach that fails to provide leadership, assign tasks, or set performance measures. An effective system of control that is an integral part of every function in the organization is called "functional control." Topics include the job of controller, the idea that control is action taken by those who have the authority to act, and the purpose of budgeting and planning.

The article discusses the use of verbal compliments in relation to management of workplace teams. Topics include the role of verbal praise in employee motivation, the psychological effects of verbal praise, and the need for specific and frequent verbal compliments that are strategically aimed at developing teams.

The article presents the author's perspective that Generation (Gen) Y, meaning the generation of people born in the 1980s and 1990s, is a challenge and an opportunity in the workplace. He says Gen Y is skilled in collecting information, making sense of it, and responding in real time which can trump experience. He also says Gen Y is not satisfied with the status quo and can be positive change agents if they are motivated enough to make a difference. The author then focuses on management's role in building organizational commitment in Gen Y employees by appealing to their sense of connectedness with the world and by placing trust in them to do the right thing. He also notes HCL Technologies firm's Power of One program that lets employees participate in social cause activities.

The article presents leadership and management advice from Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Legend Group Ltd. of Beijing, China. Particular attention is given to the concept of motivation in management. Liu discusses the challenges of motivating distinctly separate entities within one organization. Details related to how best motivate managers, mid-level managers and line employees are reviewed. Liu suggests that executives want a sense of ownership, midlevel managers want more responsibility and line employees want a sense of stability.

The article presents leadership and management advice from Robert D. Ballard, president of the Institute for Exploration in Mystic, Connecticut. The author reviews how Ballard led the dive teams that discovered the Titanic and the Bismark. Ballard focuses on the concept of motivation in management. According to the Ballard, motivation is not about persuasion. Details related to one of Ballard's explorations at the Galápagos Islands are reviewed. Ballard explains how we able to pull of a student-based expedition on schedule despite having lost a barge filled with necessary equipment one week before.

The article presents leadership and management advice from Herb Baum, president and CEO of the Dial Corp. in Scottsdale, Arizona. Baum concentrates on the concept of motivation in management. It is the author's view that if a leader can make the people at the bottom of an organization feel they are card for, the entire company will feel inspired and motivated. The author suggests that executives must draw a visible line on their own greed. Details related to Baum's management experience are reviewed.

The article presents leadership and management advice from Mario Mazzola, chief development officer at Cisco Systems Inc. in San Jose, California. Mazzola focuses specifically on the concept of motivation in management. According to Mazzola, the hardest thing about motivating bright people is offering them a challenge that is stimulating but also keeps them grounded. The techniques Mazzola uses to encourage his 13-year daughter's penchant for mathematics are reviewed. Details related to Mazzola's management philosophy are also reviewed.

The article presents leadership and management advice from Susan Butcher, four-time winner of the 1,150-mile Iditarod sled dog race. Butcher pays particular attention to the concept of motivation. According to the Butcher, when competing in a self dog race, she is responsible for motivating each individual dog. Details related to Butcher's experience at the 1983 Iditarod are reviewed. The author reviews how she learned from her 1983 experiences of having her dogs loose faith in her to becoming the champion of the race in 1986.

The article discusses gamification, a management theory based on the psychology of video games, and the book "For the Win" by Kevin Werbach and Dan Hunter. The work ethic of video game players, the correlation between earning points and employee rating, and employee motivational projects are also discussed.