Most of us studied Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in college. His insight is intended to make us better managers and leaders by recognizing and responding to the evolving needs of our co-workers. If we understand that the lower level needs are prerequisites for moving up the pyramid, it is a leader’s responsibility to assure that unsatisfied lower level needs are not obstacles to higher levels of performance.
It seemed like good stuff back on campus. But how much have you considered or applied it since?
How many of today’s leader’s have abandoned Maslow’s wisdom in favor of the next managerial shiny new object?
At author Simon Sinek’s May 5 presentation in Naperville, Simon stated that until 1988, mass layoffs were rare events in the US. But with the encouragement of a 1976 Journal of Financial Economics article on Supremacy of Shareholder Value, the pursuit of that single metric (shareholder value) prevailed. That single minded approach led to leading by numbers at the expense of leading people. Mass layoffs became a validated management tactic. Job security became a causality. Workers everywhere lost that lovin’ feeling about their leaders.
What would Abraham Maslow say about that? Good luck getting the people responsible for generating your numbers to stop looking over their shoulders long enough feel the sense of belonging needed to reach level 3 and beyond.
To what extent have you created an atmosphere of empathy where your people don’t have to fear for their security and can gain a feeling of belonging?
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