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Big Dog's Leadership Page - Human Behavior
by Donald Clark, copyright 1997, revised 1998
Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people
who do the right thing. - Warren Benniss, Ph.D. "On Becoming a Leader"
Introduction
As a leader, you need to interact with followers, peers, seniors, and other
people whose support you need to accomplish your objectives. To gain their
support, you must be able to understand and motivate them. To understand
and motivate people, you must know human nature. Human nature is the common
qualities of all human beings. People behave according to certain principles
of human nature. These principles govern our behavior.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Human needs are an important part of human nature. Values, beliefs, and
customs differ from country to country and group to group, but all people
have similar needs. As a leader you must understand these needs because
they are powerful motivators.
Abraham Maslow (1) felt
that the basic human needs were arranged in a hierarchical order. He based
his theory on healthy, creative people who used all their talents, potential,
and capabilities. At the time, this differed from most psychology research
studies which were based on the observation of disturbed people. There
are two major groups of human needs: basic needs and meta needs.
Basic needs are physiological, such as food, water, and sleep; and psychological,
such as affection, security, and self esteem. These basic needs are also
called deficiency needs because if they are not met by an individual, then
that person will strive to make up the deficiency.
The higher needs are called meta needs or growth needs. These include
justice, goodness, beauty, order, unity, etc. Basic needs take priority
over these growth needs. People who lack food or water cannot attend to
justice or beauty.
These needs are listed below in hierarchical order. The needs on the
bottom of the list (1 to 4) must be met before the needs above it can be
met. The top four needs (5 to 8), can be pursued in any order depending
on a person's wants or circumstance, as long as all the other needs (1
to 4) have all been met.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
8. Self-transcendence - a transegoic level that emphasizes visionary
intuition, altruism, and unity consciousness.
7. Self-actualization know exactly who you are, where you are
going, and what you want to accomplish. A state of well-being.
6. Aesthetic - at peace, more curious about inner workings of
all.
5. Cognitive - learning for learning alone, contribute knowledge.
4. Esteem - feeling of moving up in world, recognition, few
doubts about self.
3. Belongingness and love - belong to a group, close friends
to confine with.
2. Safety - feel free from immediate danger.
1. Physiological - food, water, shelter, sex.
Maslow posited that people want and are forever striving to meet various
goals. Because the lower level needs are more immediate and urgent, if
they are nor satisfied, they come into play as the source and direction
of a person's goal.
A need higher in the hierarchy will become a motive of behavior as long
as the needs below it have been satisfied. Unsatisfied lower needs will
dominate over unsatisfied higher needs and must first be satisfied before
the person can climb up the hierarchy.
Knowing where a person is located on this scale aids in determining
an effective motivator. For example, motivating a middle-class person (who
is in range 4 of the hierarchy) with a certificate will have a far greater
impact than using the same motivator to motivate a minimum wage person
from the ghettos who is struggling to meet needs 1 and 2.
It should be noted that almost no one stays in one particular hierarchy
for an extended period. We constantly strive to move up it, while at the
same time forces outside our control try to push us down it. Those on top
get pushed down for short time periods, i.e., death of loved-one or an
idea that does not work. Those on the bottom get pushed up, i.e., come
across a small prize or receive a well paying job. Our goal as leaders,
is to help our people obtain the skills and knowledge that will push them
up the hierarchy permanently. People who have their basic needs met become
much better workers. There are able to concentrate on fulfilling the visions
put forth to them, instead of consistently worrying about how to make ends
meet.
Herzberg's Hygiene and Motivational Factors
Herzberg developed a list of factors (2) which
are closely based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, except it more closely
related to work:
HERZBERG'S HYGIENE & MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS
Hygiene or Dissatisfiers:
-
Working conditions
-
Policies and administrative practices
-
Salary and Benefits
-
Supervision
-
Status
-
Job security
-
Fellow workers
-
Personal life
Motivators or Satisfiers:
-
Recognition
-
Achievement
-
Advancement
-
Growth
-
Responsibility
-
Job challenge
Hygiene factors must be present in the job before motivators can be used
to stimulate that person. That is, you cannot use Motivators until all
the Hygiene factors are met. Herzberg's needs are specifically job related
and reflect some of the distinct things that people want from their work
as opposed to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs which reflect all the needs in
a persons life.
Building on this model, Herzberg coined the term "job enrichment" to
describe the process of redesigning work in order to build in Motivators.
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGreagor developed a philosophical view of humankind with his
Theory X and Theory Y (3) .
These are two opposing perceptions about how people view human behavior
at work and organizational life.
Theory X
-
People have an inherent dislike for work and will avoid it whenever possible.
-
People must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment
in order to get them to achieve the organizational objectives.
-
People prefer to be directed, do not want responsibility, and have little
or no ambition.
-
People seek security above all else.
With Theory X assumptions, management's role is to coerce and control employees.
Theory Y
-
Work is as natural as play and rest.
-
People will exercise self-direction if they are committed to the objectives
(they are NOT lazy).
-
Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their
achievement.
-
People learn to accept and seek responsibility.
-
Creativity, ingenuity, and imagination are widely distributed among the
population. People are capable of using these abilities to solve an organizational
problem.
-
People have potential.
With Theory Y assumptions, management's role is to develop the potential
in employees and help them to release that potential towards common goals.
Theory X is the view that traditional management has taken towards the
workforce. Many organizations are now taking the enlightened view of theory
Y. A boss can be viewed as taking the theory X approach, while a leader
takes the theory Y approach.
Notice that Maslow, Herzberg, and McGreagor's theories all tie together:
-
Herzberg's theory is a micro version of Maslow's theory (concentrated in
the work place).
-
McGreagor's Theory X is based on workers caught in the lower levels (1
to 3) of Maslow's theory while his Theory Y is for workers who have gone
above level 3.
-
McGreagor's Theory X is based on workers caught in Herberg's Hygiene or
Dissatisfiers, while Theory Y is based on workers who are in the Motivators
or Satisfiers section .
Keirsey Temperament Sorter
David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates based their work on the Myers-Briggs-Type-Indicator
(MBTI - which is based on the work of Carl Jung. There are four temperaments
or characters that our personality is based on. Although we have the capacity
for all four temperaments, we typically develop a basic attitude or predisposition
for one of them. They are described with the names of Greek gods of mythology,
with whom they share preferences and behaviors:
-
Dionysian (Artisan) - This temperament seeks freedom, values spontaneity,
and resists being constrained or obligated. They do things because the
process of doing them is pleasing, regardless of the goal or outcome. They
are action driven, here-and-now, and thrive on situations requiring immediate
response. They are optimists who are not easily controlled. They are the
ultimate troubleshooters and negotiators. They tend to dislike bosses,
policies, and procedures.
-
Epithean (Guardian) - People with this temperament have strong affiliation
needs, a sense of duty, are keepers of traditions, get satisfaction from
giving, and have strong work ethics. They want recognition and appreciation
for they believe is merited, but will not request it. They are pessimists
who elicits conformity to group norms. They like making clear cut decisions
and will follow established organizational protocol without question.
-
Promethian (Rationalist) - This type of person understands, predicts,
explains and harness phenomena. They value competence in themselves and
others, thrive on challenges, and strive to control situations. They are
the most self-critical of all and consistently set higher goals of perfection.
They are almost never satisfied with accomplishments and are embarrassed
by praise. They are imaginative, analytical, and like to build systems
for the future. They will create sweeping changes if they see the need.
-
Apollonian (Idealist) - An Apollonian sets extraordinary goals,
even transcendent, that hard for them to even explain. They strive to "be
real" and are always in the process of "becoming." Work, relationships,
efforts, and goals must be imbued with "meaning. "They are hard workers,
if the cause is deemed worthwhile, and are tireless in pursuit of a cause.
Can be a gadfly in pursuing one goal after another. They prefer the big
picture over details, are centered on people and relationships, and would
rather focus on ideas than tasks.
Leaders need all four types of temperaments on their team to make it well
rounded. All to often, leaders tend to choose people with their same type
of personality, or their favorite. But this makes a team weak, in that
it cannot approach problems and implementations from all sides of the spectrum.
Balance your team and choose people from all walks of life.
Existence/Relatedness/Growth (ERG)
Clayton Alderfer, in his Existence/Relatedness/Growth (ERG) Theory of Needs
(4) , theorized
that there are three groups of needs:
-
Existence - This group of needs is concerned with providing the basic requirements
for material existence, such as physiological and safety needs. This need
is satisfied by money earned in a job to buy food, home, clothing, etc.
-
Relationships - This group of needs centers on or is built upon the desire
to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. Since one usually
spends approximately half of one's waking hours on the job, this need is
normally satisfied at least to some degree by one's coworkers.
-
Growth - These needs are met by personal development. A person's job, career,
or profession provides for significant satisfaction of growth needs.
Noticed that this model is built upon Maslow's.
Alderfer's ERG theory also states that more than one need may be influential
at the same time. If the gratification of a higher-level need is frustrated,
the desire to satisfy a lower-level need will increase. He identifies this
phenomenon as the "frustration­paggression dimension." Its relevance
on the job is that even when the upper-level needs are frustrated, the
job still provides for the basic physiological needs upon which one would
then be focused. If, at that point, something happens to threaten the job,
the person's basic needs are significantly threatened. If there are not
factors present to relieve the pressure, the person may become desperate
and panicky.
Expectancy Theory
Vroom's Expectancy Theory states that an individual will act in a certain
way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome
and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. This motivational
model (5) has been
modified by several people, to include Porter and Lawler: Valence X Expectancy
X Instrumentality = Motivation
-
Valence (Reward) = Is the amount of desire for a goal. (What is the reward?)
-
Expectancy (Performance) = Is the strength of belief that work related
effort will result in the completion of the task. (How hard will I have
to work to reach the goal?)
-
Instrumentality (Belief) = This is the belief that the reward will be received
once the task is completed. (Will they notice the effort I put forth?)
The product of valence, expectancy, and instrumentality is motivation.
It can be thought of as the strength of the drive towards a goal. For
example, if an employee wants to move up through the ranks, then promotion
has a high valence for that employee. If the employee believes that
high performance will result in good reviews, then the employee has high
expectancy. But if the employee believes the company will not promote
from within, then the employee has low instrumentality. Therefore,
the employee is not motivated to perform any harder.
References
1. Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and Personality.
New York: Harper & Row.
Return
2. Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the Nature of
Man. Cleveland: World Publishing Co.
Return
3. McGregor, D. (April 9, 1957). Proceedings
of the Fifth Anniversary Convocation of the School of Industrial Management,
"The Human Side of Enterprise." Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Return
4. Alderfer, C. (1969). Organizational Behavior
and Human Performance, vol. 4, pp. 142 - 175. "An Empirical Test of
a New Theory of Human Needs."
Return
5. Vroom, V. (1964). Work and Motivation. New
York: Jon Wiley & Sons.
Porter, L. & Lawler, E. (1968). Managerial Attitudes and Performance.
Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press.
Return
Notes
Created May 11, 1997. Last update - September 9, 1998.
Return to Big Dog's Leadership Page
Donald R. Clark
donclark@nwlink.com
