1. Running head: Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 1
Essay Three Assignment
Influencing, Motivating and Leading the Knowledge Worker
Ardavan A. Shahroodi
Northeastern University
LDR 7980---Master’s Project Capstone
Professor Courtland Booth
Sunday, May 29, 2015

2. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 2
Introduction
In an eternal search to promote organizational viability and market based
competitiveness, companies are incrementally altering some aspects of their employee relations
strategies. Here, cutting edge and not easily imitable knowledge and those workers who hold
such increasingly scarce commodities are regarded as direct sources of competitive advantage
offering the rationale to gradually discard or revise age old command and control organizational
processes. In spite of such inclinations, the underdeveloped science of estimating the value of
human capital casts a shadow of uncertainty on the exact direction and nature of such efforts.
Analysis
Knowledge workers are described as those “employees who contribute to the company
not through manual labor, but through what they know about customers or a special body of
knowledge” (Noe et al, 2013, p. 21). These employees are also observed as possessing “the
intellectual means of producing a product or service” (Noe et al, 2013, p. 21). In this light,
“knowledge workers are highly educated and motivated by the prospect of being engaged and
making a difference” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013) and are increasingly regarded as “the main source
of competitive and economic value” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013). Drucker (1988) envisions that in
the still evolving “information-based organization” (Drucker, 1988), knowledge workers will
potentially be those “specialists who direct and discipline their own performance through
organized feedback from colleagues, customers, and headquarters” (Drucker, 1988).
Normally, the basic ingredients of a “company’s value” (Noe et al, 2013, p. 20) are
comprised of “three types of assets that are critical for the company to provide goods and
services” (p. 20). These are “financial assets (cash and securities), physical assets (property,

3. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 3
plant, equipment), and intangible assets” (p. 20). Here, intangible assets “include human capital,
customer capital, social capital, and intellectual capital” (Noe et al, 2013, p. 20) that are
increasingly “more valuable than financial and physical assets but they are difficult to duplicate
or imitate” (p. 20). In some estimates, “up to 75 percent of the source of value in a company is
in intangible assets” (Noe et al, 2013, p. 20). Nevertheless, as Davidson (2013) asserts, in
relation to human capital that strongly influences and is strongly influenced by other intangible
assets, “we have no idea how to measure the financial value of ideas and the people who come
up with them”. As one economist has observed, “compared with the mid-1900s, goods
production is not as important a part of our economy, but we continue to devote about 90 percent
of our statistical resources to measuring it (as cited in Davidson, 2013).
In essence, contemporary organizational processes and structures are woefully ineffective
in understanding and evaluating and thereby competently mobilizing/energizing, empowering
and rewarding the deep reservoir of their human capital embedded in the “productivity”
(Davidson, 2013) rates and innovation oriented creativity of their knowledge workers.
Principally, this is a question of leadership where classically organized institutional procedures
and practices inhibit the recognition of the “Whole-Person Paradigm” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013)
acknowledging “individuals as being made up of body, heart, mind and spirit” (Vaughan-Smith,
2013) and ensuring that “leaders see them as whole people and manage and lead accordingly”
(Vaughan-Smith, 2013). This also implies a transformational leadership movement from
“industrial age shackles” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013) to an organizational mind set where “leaders
are guided to spend more time and effort creating an environment where people want to stay and
are enabled to give their best” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013).

4. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 4
A perfect example of an archaic practice and indeed a debilitating influence on the
potential contributions of knowledge workers is the traditional “performance review” (DiDonato,
2014) (PR) process in the overwhelming majority of organizations. The PR system may have
been initially created in order to positively incentivize employee behavior by “stamping out
mediocrity, motivating employees, and boosting performance” (DiDonato, 2014) in addition to
“the legal necessity of creating paper trails” (DiDonato, 2014). However, in reality, the PR
process leads to the creation of a “blame-oriented culture…reinforce [s] hierarchy, undermine
collegiality, work against cooperative problem solving, discourage straight talk, and too easily
become politicized. They’re self-defeating and demoralizing for all concerned” (DiDonato,
2014). Here, in an alternative PR model occurring during “quarterly sessions” (DiDonato, 2014)
where “employees talk to their supervisors about their past and future work, with a focus on
gaining new skills and mitigating weaknesses” (DiDonato, 2014) there exists “no connection to
decisions on pay” (DiDonato, 2014) and “high performance” (DiDonato, 2014) is promoted and
facilitated “through honest feedback” (DiDonato, 2014).
In describing the characteristics of an information-based organization (IBO) employing
numerous specialists or knowledge workers, Drucker (1988) observes that “information is data
endowed with relevance and purpose. Converting data into information thus requires
knowledge. And knowledge, by definition, is specialized”. In this light, an IBO “requires far
more specialists overall than the command-and-control companies…specialists are found in
operations, not at corporate headquarters” (Drucker, 1988). This is precisely why Drucker
(1988) proposes that an IBO “is far more likely to resemble…the hospital, the university, the
symphony orchestra” and similarly “knowledge-based, an organization composed largely of

5. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 5
specialists”. In a brilliant analysis of the needed leadership approach in an IBO, Drucker (1988)
argues that,
“Because the players in an information-based organization are specialists,
they cannot be told how to do their work. There are few orchestra conductors
[leaders] who could coax even one note out of a French horn, let alone show the
horn player how to do it. But the conductor can focus the horn player’s skill and
knowledge on the musician’s joint performance [leadership]. And this focus is
what the leaders of an information-based business must be able to achieve”.
Specifically, Vaughan-Smith (2013) holds that the aforementioned knowledge
worker focused approach to leadership must be able to “inspire trust, clarify purpose,
align systems [and ] unleash talent”. Here, trust is incumbent upon the “credibility”
(Vaughan-Smith, 2013) of the leader and her or his ability to “make a promise and keep
it” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013) and “a willingness to follow through with commitments”
(Vaughan-Smith, 2013). A second quality of this type of leadership is in placing
emphasis on defining “a clear and compelling purpose that knowledge workers will want
to achieve” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013) and clarifying “its link to the wider mission and
strategy” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013).
In addition, knowledge worker focused leadership endeavors to establish “robust,
enduring systems that successfully support the purpose and goals of an organization,
enabling people to do their best work and operate independently” (Vaughan-Smith,
2013). Furthermore, such an approach to leadership recognizes that “knowledge workers
respond to those who lead by example” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013) where “leaders establish
and reinforce culture…through individual conversations in which they help individuals

6. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 6
understand their potential, clarify expectations or provide support to enable people to
succeed” (Vaughan-Smith, 2013).
Personal Observations
Professor Booth has observed, “Manual laborers are more than two hands. When
they are informed and included in the enterprise they do bring their creative abilities to
the job”. I have always believed in the aforementioned assumption and practiced
leadership according to its basic tenets. As I stated in my first essay in this course, I
whole heartedly accept the premise that “All humans have a capacity for leadership”. In
that spirit, I also accept the premise that “All humans have the capacity to be knowledge
workers”. This indeed must be regarded as one of the most fundamental organizing
principles that form the character of organizations in a democratic and egalitarian
society. This is a God-given capacity for greatness that has been inculcated in the soul
and persona of all human beings.
Our attempts to enlighten employers as to the limitless untapped potential
embedded in the intellectual capacity of their knowledge workers must be balanced with
a deep recognition that all employees, properly motivated, sufficiently empowered and
adequately nurtured possess the ability to travel far beyond the call of duty. As I have
always reiterated, the leadership model that I followed during my years in the Hospitality
and Tourism Industries was based intrinsically on the three attributes of honesty, fairness
and service. On the basis of a continuous and ceaseless application of those leadership
characteristics, I accumulated the type of credibility that would allow me to promote team
work, empowerment and quality.

7. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 7
In this understanding of leadership, all employees are considered as knowledge
workers beholding of the potential to learn and excel in the performance of their duties.
Relatively speaking, those who are employed in the Hospitality and Tourism Industries
may not be considered as knowledge workers in comparison to other more specialized
professions. However, these so called unskilled or less skilled potential knowledge
workers (a probable contradiction in terms) could make an incredible difference in the
life of the guests, customers and patrons of the organization. In the final analysis, we
may be poised to enter an era when organizations will learn to treat all stakeholders
including knowledge workers as custodians of good will and sustainable value. In such
an environment, knowledge workers must not be the sole beneficiaries of an
organization’s support and respect.
Conclusion
The so called rational organization of the modern era has been constructed on the
ability to evaluate, measure and understand the capacity to improve its “productivity”
(Davidson, 2013). This may have been a sufficient mantra in an era when “goods
production” (Davidson, 2013) remained an “important…part of our economy”
(Davidson, 2013). However, the existing competitive environment is increasingly
influenced by highly elusive concepts such as human capital and their accompanying
knowledge workers. The resulting uncertainty and complexity embedded in the inability
to thoroughly evaluate the contributions of knowledge workers as a source for upholding
the prosperity of the firm has resulted in the evolution of the type of organizational
modalities not characterized by resiliency and institutional longevity.

8. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 8
Resources
Davidson, A. (2013, July 29). What’s an idea worth? It’s The Economy. The New York
Times Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2015 from
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/magazine/whats-an-idea-
worth.html?pagewanted=al&_r=1.
DiDonato, T. (2014, January 10). Stop basing pay on performance reviews. Harvard
Business Review. Retrieved May 26, 2015 from https://hbr.org/2014/01/stop-
basing-pay-on-performance-reviews.
Drucker, P. F. (1988, January). The coming of the new organization. Harvard Business
Review. Retrieved May 26, 2015 from https://hbr.org/1988/01/the-coming-of-the-
new-organization.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2013). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: The McGraw-
Hill Companies, Inc.
Vaughan-Smith, K (2013, July 19). Leadership for the knowledge worker age.
HRZone.com. Retrieved May 26, 2015 from
http://www.hrzone.com/perform/people/leadership-for-the-knowldge-worker-age.

9. Influencing, Motivating And Leading The Knowledge Worker 9