Leadership and Motivation

You will be reading chapters 12, 13, and 14 from the textbook this week ( Plunkett, Allen, & Attner, 2013 ). You will also be reading a scholarly journal article by Abraham Maslow ( 1943 ). This is a really great article. I know, it is a difficult read, but, this is where the theory all started. It will be good for you to learn to read scholarly journals. You will need to use them throughout the rest of your program.

For this week’s discussion, I am going to focus on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. There are five basic needs, physiology, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization ( Maslow, 1943 ). The most basic of human needs must be met first. Once the physiological (food and water) needs are met, then the human can climb to the next level of needs. See Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s theory is considered seminal. Therefore, his work is still highly cited today. The great thing about the hierarchy of needs is its simplicity. The common person can easily follow Maslow’s train of thought. Think about needs theory like this, once you have one level of needs secure, you can then think about other, less important needs. Maslow calls these higher order needs ( Maslow, 1943 ). Only after securing the lower order needs, can you climb the hierarchy and begin to think about the higher order needs.

For example, you are faced with a survival situation. In order to survive you must take care of your needs. The first need is physiological. You need to find food and water. Once you have been fed and watered, you can think about finding shelter. Shelter is a safety need ( Maslow, 1943 ).

After you have secured food, water, and shelter, now you can think about companionship or love as Maslow (1943) puts it. Love is a need. Survival of the species requires reproduction. You could even consider love as a form of companionship ( Maslow, 1943 ).

After you have secured, food, water, shelter, and love, now you will have time to think about your self-esteem. Everyone needs to feel good about themselves. They crave it ( Maslow, 1943 ).

Then finally, after all other needs are met, you can think about self-actualization ( Maslow, 1943 ). Hmm, think about it. Where are you in the Maslow hierarchy? Could you be at the self-actualization level. You actually have found the time to return to school. You can only do this after securing all your other needs sufficiently enough to better yourself through education.