Manager's 'toolkit' The manager's main task is to motivate his or her team, both individually and collectively so that they can deliver the 'goods' and also derive satisfaction from it. This may appear somewhat contradictory, but it seems to work. Let's look at a couple of examples taken from real life situations. We read that the Swedish shipbuilding company, Kockums, turned a 15 million dollar loss into a 100 million dollar profit in the course of ten years due entirely to a changed perception of the workforce brought about by better motivation. Again, at Western Electric there was a dramatic improvement in output after the supervisors and managers started taking greater interest in their employees.
Persuasion is far more powerful than coercion, just as the pen is mightier than the sword.
Managers have a much better chance of success if they use persuasion rather than coercion. The former builds morale, initiative and motivation, whilst the latter quite effectively kills such qualities. Once convinced, the person is so motivated as to deliver the 'goods'. The manager will have achieved the goal quietly, gently and with the minimum of effort. It is, in effect, an effortless achievement.