First Level Leadership

According to Maslow, An Inner Demand of Unrealized Needs Usually Competes For Influence

Maslow's Theory: Once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator.

Imagine you have missed your morning breakfast

and you are feeling hungry. You receive two requests from two different colleagues – one asks you to join him for a mid morning snack, while the other requests you to put the final touches to the routine report.

No doubt, you want to respond to both,

but intrinsically you might first gravitate towards a quick bite to restore your dipping sugar levels. Then, you may choose to move towards putting the final touches to the report. The outcome of your behavior normally agrees with a hierarchy of needs.

What is hierarchy of needs?

The enlightened view of human motivation arising out of need and satisfaction has been with us for many years. Though it has been criticized, but performance managers have tested it repeatedly and proved that it works effectively.

Whether it works effectively or not,

I leave that for you to decide. The topic of motivation is not complete without having talked about Maslow. So let us examine the matter of human needs more closely to see what possibilities a manager has for eliciting a desired behavior.

Coming back to the Hierarchy of Needs

Psychologist Abraham Maslow asserted that all human behavior originates from unsatisfied needs. According to him, an inner demand of unfulfilled physical or psychic appetite usually competes for influence.

Maslow says that a system of needs follows a hierarchy

on an ascending scale of priority. He arranged these needs according to five categories:

Level 1- Basic Needs: these are the most basic human physical needs including food, water and shelter. In the organizational setting, this translates into adequate air conditioning, salary to ensure survival, etc.

Level 2 - Safety Needs: These are the needs for a safe and secure physical and emotional environment free from threats. In the organizational workplace, this translates into safety, which reflects the needs for safe jobs, benefits and job security.

Level 3 – Social Needs: these needs reflect the desire to be accepted by the peers, have friendship, be a part of the group and be loved. In the organizations, it translates into relationships with coworkers, participation of work group and positive relationship with the supervisor.

Level 4 – Self-Esteem Needs: This is a need for a feeling of significance by an individual. Within the organization, this translates into recognition, increases in responsibility, high status, and credit for contributions to the organization.

Level 5 - Self Actualization Needs: This represents needs for self-fulfillment. This is the highest need category. It concerns with developing ones full potential, increasing ones competence and becoming a better person. Self-actualization needs can he met in the organization by providing people with opportunities to develop themselves.

According to Maslow,

Level 1 needs (basic needs) demand satisfaction before other levels of needs. Once basic needs and safety needs have been reasonably met, the individual begins to experience the pressures of other levels of needs.

One of the most important features of the Maslow theory

is that once a need is satisfied it is no longer a motivator. The person must have the opportunity to strive for a higher need if he or she is to continue to be anything more than passive.

Therefore, as a practical example,

the manger who feels very hungry having missed his break fast will probably respond more enthusiastically to a mid morning snack than to a sense of achievement associated with putting the final touches on a routine report.

No doubt the patterns of needs vary considerably

from person to person and the Hierarchy of Needs model of Maslow does not suggest this pattern very strongly.

However, Maslow’s theory allows us to look at another angle -

an employee does not solely work for money. We may easily overlook some important and inexpensive satisfiers, which are at our disposal.

People have very good reasons for working,

other than simply acquiring money. These include simple human interactions such as giving praise, encouraging employees, or giving them a challenging assignment etc. These are psychological need satisfiers offered by the human interactions, which are all unique.

In this respect, it matches up to Herzberg theory

There is much similarity between the two theories even if expressed in different ways. They both talk about growth, achievement, relationships and recognition.

When you transit through your managerial ranks,

do not undergo a short memory syndrome. Your behavior has a direct impact on the employee morale, attitudes and reactions.

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