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Using Maslow's Hierarchy

Building a happier, more satisfied team

Good leaders recognize that if they're to build productive and highly successful teams, they need to understand and look after the needs and well-being of team members. This is a fundamental part of the "emotional contract" between leaders and their teams: When followers know they're being looked after by their leader, they'll usually give their best in return.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a popular way of thinking about people's needs. Developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow as early as 1943, this theory contends that as humans strive to meet our most basic needs, we also seek to satisfy a higher set of needs.

Maslow presents this set of needs as a hierarchy, consisting of:

1. Physiological/bodily needs;
2. Safety needs;
3. Love/belonging needs;
4. Self-esteem; and
5. Self-actualization (the desire to be “all that you can be”).

The theory argues that the most fundamental level starts with the physiological need for food, water and shelter. This is followed by security and social needs. Maslow believed that the higher level needs, such as self-esteem and self-fulfillment, could only be met after the lower level needs had been satisfied

Understanding the Theory:

Maslow’s hierarchic theory...(Sign in to read more.)

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As such, Maslow’s Hierarchy gives hard-pressed managers “permission” to be “good bosses”, knowing that as such, they’re doing their best to build highly effective, highly productive teams.

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