Contrasting different philosophies of leader motivation

Abstract In this series of letters, Avolio and Locke compare and contrast their different views on leadership motivation, considering how selfish and self-sacrificing altruistic behavior influence leaders and follower motivation and performance. Locke bases his main arguments in both letters on the premise that leaders should act and think in a rational way, with selfish interest as the basis for action. By accomplishing their selfish interests, leaders will exhibit their highest principles and performance. Avolio argues that Locke's view on selfish interest is simply too idealistic. Since leadership is seen as being in the eye of the beholder, there is a point where all of the rational decision making in the world does not change the subjective views followers have of their leaders. Moreover, there are numerous situations where everyone's self- or selfish interests cannot be satisfied and it is in those situations that the assumptions of egoistic leadership appear to breakdown. Their debate leads to some interesting suggestions for future research comparing these two divergent views of leader motivation.