Send to KindleMotivation and Your People’s Needs
One of the most important concepts to understand about motivation is need. Dr. Abraham Maslow’s extensive study of this concept resulted in the famous Hierarchy of Needs. He identified 5 needs that he felt covered the entire population and he felt those needs drove a person’s internal motivation. Two of the five are essential in understanding your people’s internal motivations.
The first is belonging. As humans we all have a need to belong. In these days of texting and on-line everything that may seem counter-intuitive, but it isn’t. Look around. Notice that most people eventually end up in a group of some sort during the day. Whether work teams, social groups, or just family, we all belong to something. More than that though, people want to be an important part of that group. They want to know their contributions are recognized and appreciated.
That leads to the next level of need; self-esteem. Self-esteem isn’t everyone gets a trophy. It’s the feeling of self-worth and success that comes from contributing to something, acquiring new skills, and setting high goals and standards and successfully meeting them.
These two needs are very strong motivators in most people. As a leader, you’ll achieve much greater results when you learn to recognize these motivators in your people and take action to help them realize those motivations.
