The leadership contradiction: examining leadership's mixed motivations

Individuals who seek leadership positions are driven by a mixture of motivating forces that involve the pursuit of largely psychological needs that are often far more self-serving than altruistic. Because of the personal drives involved, there is ample reason to sometimes conclude that the leaders we do get are not the best, because the truly best ones are not strongly driven to seek positions of leadership. Also, supervisors and other managers frequently make the mistake of judging employees' drives and motivations differently from their own. However, followers follow for the same essential reason that leaders lead--to attain need satisfaction. There are various patterns or styles of leadership, and it is possible to readily identify a particular leader's style and to learn something about the needs that drive the leader simply by observing that person's behavior. Ultimately, the leaders who are most successful are those who are able to make the organization's goals their own and to be genuinely driven to attain those goals.