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A Few Words to Get Us Started

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Motivating Language Theory

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Abstract

In this chapter, we introduce the inception, foundations, research findings, and current inquiry about motivating language theory. This theory was originally conceptualized by professor Jeremiah Sullivan as a communicative path to enhance follower motivation and related outcomes through mindful and strategic leader speech. These forms of talk are embedded in meaning-making (giving significance and cultural guidance to work), empathetic (sharing human bonding at work), and direction-giving (dispelling ambiguity and transparently sharing work expectations) languages. The three dimensions of ML represent most types of leader to follower work-related speech and elicit the best results when the leader walks the talk, employees accurately perceive what the leader intends, and all ML dimensions are used appropriately.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX, USA

    Jacqueline Mayfield & Milton Mayfield

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  1. Jacqueline Mayfield
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  2. Milton Mayfield
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Correspondence to Jacqueline Mayfield .

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Mayfield, J., Mayfield, M. (2018). A Few Words to Get Us Started. In: Motivating Language Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66930-4_2

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