Leadership and motivation: how to be a good leader

When carrying out any project, and especially when it comes to projects involving teams of many people, leadership and motivation are two of the most important aspects of a project. key elements that guarantee the success and smooth running of a company. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that both leadership and motivation must go hand in hand, so, although the former is very broad and involves many different facets, motivation is one of those that cannot be absent when it is exercised. 

What is leadership?

Leadership are the set of skills and characteristics that enable a person to influence how other people are or how they do things. This is especially important in work that is done in a group or with a team behind it, since the leadership of the group leader will be the one that will enable the group to coordinating the way the team works and executes its tasks, This will ultimately affect the overall work performed and, consequently, the company's profits. 

Relationship between leadership and motivation

One of the elements most closely related to leadership is motivation. Despite the fact that when thinking about leadership, the first thing that is usually associated with it is motivation. people and task management skills The motivation of the team is also one of the skills that a leader must work on the most. 

This is because leadership and motivation always go hand in hand. The leader of a team is responsible for the success of the work that is executed together. However, beyond certain objective and perfectly tangible elements (such as the objectives and goals of the project, as well as the concrete data obtained on income and expenditures associated with the project), there are others less visible elements that also affect the development of the project and each of the tasks involved, and motivation is one of the main ones. 

Motivation refers to the ability of the leader to encouraging and influencing an individual or his or her team as a whole to perform as efficiently as possible in their work. In other words, it is the capacity that allows work to be carried out with enthusiasm and excitement, which allows it to offer much better results than when it is carried out in a purely mechanical way. 

How to exercise leadership to motivate employees

In this way, leadership and motivation are two related elements. The former must include the latter in its exercise, which will improve the results of the team and the company as a whole. 

Some of the most important ways to motivate individuals or teams in charge are as follows:

• OrientationGuidance refers to the leader's ability to direct colleagues and subordinates in the tasks they carry out. A successful orientation, direct to the objectives to be achieved, will save time and be much more efficient at work, which leads to greater motivation on the part of the workers because they will feel useful and effective in their tasks. 
• Empathy: Empathy refers to the ability to put oneself in the other person's place. In this sense, leadership and motivation are elements that coincide when the leader has the ability to put himself in the place of the worker or team in charge, which makes him see the situation from the same perspective. In this way, the leader takes into account the needs and preferences of the worker, so that he/she will feel more motivated when feeling that he/she has a leader who understands him/her and is attentive to his/her interests. 
• CommunicationAnother of the fundamental aspects of encouraging employee motivation is that there is good communication between the leader and the employees. In this way, workers feel that their leader, despite his or her status and leadership, is a person who is accessible to them, which will improve the motivation with which they will approach their work and tasks. 

Employment benefitsLast but not least, the benefits that an employee gets for his or her work is another key element of motivation. In this sense, salary is the most common benefit that is usually taken into account. However, there are also other benefits that can help to increase employee motivation. Some good examples are the so-called social benefits, such as the Ticket Restaurant, Childcare Ticket o Transport Ticket, among others. These benefits complement the employees' basic salary and increase the feeling of satisfaction obtained from their work, improving the motivation they have in their job without the company needing to spend more money on their salaries.