The Timeshare Beat: Jerry Sikes; With Regard to Needs, part 1

In order to understand the subject of this 'With regard' we have to search for answers to some of the following questions. What drives us as human beings? Why do we exist? Why do most of us human beings go to work each day, why do we live with a partner, why do we have children? What are we trying to achieve in all of this? What indeed are we striving for? Is it merely to obtain food, to procreate, to purchase as many objects as possible, possess company shares, make careers for ourselves, go down in history, exercise power over others?

Way back in 2000 I wrote about Motivation and identified Maslow's Hierarch of Needs. If you would like to revisit the entire article just click on this link: http://www.thetimesharebeat.com/global/sikes14.htm however, for a review…

This theory establishes five (5) levels of need and operates on the premise that until each level of need has been satisfied the next level will not come into play.

LEVEL 1. PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: Food, shelter, and clothing.
LEVEL 2. SECURITY NEEDS: Physical security and economic security.
LEVEL 3. SOCIAL NEEDS: Acceptance, sympathy, understanding, direction, affiliation and friendship.
LEVEL 4. EGO NEEDS: Self-esteem, status, recognition.
LEVEL 5. SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS: What's best for themselves, creativity, personal development.

There are several other theories about needs.

Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef theory is that "basic needs are finite, few and classifiable" and that they "are the same in all cultures and all historical periods." Rather than the 'hierarchy of needs,' as presented by Maslow, he believes these needs are always present - "what changes, both over time and through cultures, is the way or means by which the needs are satisfied." Max-Neef states that these needs are not substitutable - you can have a lot of one need fulfilled but this doesn't help fulfill the other needs. At the same time, through our selection of satisfiers, more than one need can be fulfilled at once. Max-Neef suggests nine basic human needs: Subsistence, Protection/Security, Affection, Understanding, Participation, Leisure, Creation, Identity/Meaning and Freedom.

Others have modified the Max-Neef nine into what they believe are the Nine Basic Human Needs. Sources: Nine needs material adapted from various workshops by Jose & Lena Stevens, Pivotal Resources, and JP Van Hulle, Michael Educational Foundation.

Security: The need to feel safe, to feel assured that they know what is going to happen, to know ahead of time what the plans are.

Adventure: The need for an adrenaline rush, to have new experiences, to travel, to have BIG experiences, to have drama in their life, to have a sense of anticipation about upcoming events.

Freedom: The need for independence and spontaneity. The need to have choices and to feel in control of making those choices. Freedom does not care for plans or heavy structure.
Exchange: The need to trade information and knowledge with others, not just to mingle or socialize, but to deliver and receive something of value. That something of value may be information, conversation, communication, energy, friendship, services, money, gifts, love, justice, shared experiences.

Power: The need to be in a position of authority and responsibility and the need to explore power, leadership and accomplishment.

Expansion: The need to build something, to add onto, to create an empire, to expand horizons, to go where no one has gone before.

Acceptance: The need to accept yourself and be accepted by others. This includes a feeling of belonging. People with a need for acceptance are usually very easy-going and pleasant to have in a group.

Community: The need to have people around. This includes being highly social and the maintaining of large numbers of relationships.

Expression: The need to be artistic, to be seen, to be heard, to be felt. It is the need to express oneself through words, speech, actions, dress, art and self-creations of all types.

Their thesis is that each of us has three primary needs, meaning three needs that are more important than the other six. When people do not get their needs met, they can become agitated, belligerent or driven to use the negative aspects of those needs. Each person is responsible for seeing that they get there own needs met - this is an inside job, not something that is fulfilled by another person. People who share the same needs will feel a connection or common bond. Close friends, partners and mate relationships will usually share two or three needs. Two individuals who do not share at least one common need will feel little (if any) connection with the other person.

It is thought that each of these needs have positive and negative aspects. Here is a look at both sides:

Security: Positive aspects: Whatever makes you feel safe, balanced, grounded, connected, safe, secure, trusting that things will be OK in your life. Negative aspects: Overly cautious, fearful, paralyzed, indecisive, frozen in place, unable to function due to insecurity, retaliation against someone who they believe destroys their sense of Security.
Adventure: Positive aspects: Sense of higher self-confidence, independence, risk-taking, optimism, excitement, enthusiasm for living. Negative aspects: Reckless regard for life and limb, irresponsibility, cutting themselves off from people (hermit), judgmental of others who are less adventurous, creating crisis or drama inappropriately.
Freedom: Positive aspects: Independence, self-confidence, high self-esteem, teaching others, clarity, a way out of martyrdom (feeling stuck, trapped or sorry for yourself). Negative aspects: Relationship avoidance, fear of commitment, separation and distancing from others, inability to understand others and be understood, manipulative (imposing on people's freedom).
Exchange: Positive aspects: Positive role model for relationships; maintaining an equal balanced flow of <whatever> in a relationship; keeping things moving (knowledge, information, communication, energy); promoting equality in all interactions; working with money, contracts, justice, ethics, integrity, wholeness, balance. Negative aspects: Keeping secrets, withholding communications, engaging in inappropriate communications (gossip, lying, criticism), cynicism, general negativity, stinginess, not participating with others in an equal or balanced way, unethical behavior or treatment of others.
Power: Positive aspects: Self-empowerment, leadership, accomplishment, success, organization of others and things, responsibility. Negative aspects: Viciousness, abuse of power, dictatorship, inappropriate control and manipulation, anger, violence against others or things.
Expansion: Positive aspects: Growth and expansion; recognizing the value of others; recognizing the value of art, science, nature, physical and spiritual laws; working with cosmology; recognizing a connection with great spiritual teachers, working with the study of intuition and psychic interests; understanding how the Universe works and how they fit into it; understanding themselves and others. Negative aspects: Indiscriminate growth (cancer, huge weight gains, hoarding things, large collections of odd things), confusion, loss, abandonment, betrayal, loss, suicide, atheism, evil, sin, spiritual separation.
Acceptance: Positive aspects: Understanding and participating in love and loving situations, romance, bondedness, sense of family or tribe, self-esteem, self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, altruistic, humanitarian. Negative aspects: Rejection, jealousy, prejudice, guilt, shame, hate, xenophobia (group prejudice, fear of different classes of people)
Community: Positive aspects: Need to be around other people; highly social; need to be tribal; ability to have and relate to children, grandchildren, distant relatives; need for family; need for bonding at a wider level; political and ecological participation; responsibility as a citizen; sense of one's own importance and dignity in relation to the rest of humanity. Negative aspects: Indiscriminate contact, neediness, clinging, dependence, irresponsibility, criminal behavior, short-term thinking.
Expression: Positive aspects: Demonstrating individual creativity, showing balance, getting in touch with creativity, promoting understanding (by revealing self) through art, words, behavior; being a living expression of "who I am." Negative aspects: Invasion of other's space (too much self-expression), self-centered, temperamental, blind to other's value, lying, creating or expressing a false image.

There are many reasons that we must be aware of the needs of others, as well as our own. All of the theories place the needs for survival/security at the very forefront of all human needs. Human beings initially set their priorities according to their existential needs such as food, clothes and shelter. If the existential needs are not met survival is threatened and life itself is in danger. If the existential needs are satisfied the need for safety is awakened: The desire for protection from the risks to life such as war, sickness, accident, environmental catastrophes etc. takes center ground.

In the workplace, people who have a need for security will be more deeply affected by sudden changes, unforeseen events, real or perceived threats to their job, their livelihood, or their sense of self. Their fears will keep them from functioning in times of crisis or potentially cause them to react strongly to someone that they feel is threatening their sense of security. People who have a high need for security will be drawn more to working in government or public sector jobs than to entrepreneurial enterprises.

Some time ago I wrote of W. Edwards Deming in 'With regard to Fear' and how one of his 14 points of Total Quality Control was to 8. Drive Out Fear. If you would like to revisit that entire article simply click here: http://www.thetimesharebeat.com/global/sikes60.htm

The Deming theory was to assure better quality and productivity, it is necessary that people feel secure. It encouraged effective two-way communication and other means to drive out fear throughout the organization so that everybody may work effectively and more productively for the company. Many employees are afraid to ask questions or to take a position; even when they do not understand what their job is or what is right or wrong. They will continue to do things the wrong way, or not do them at all. Deming believed that the elimination of fear was necessary to create an environment of trust and cooperation, essential ingredients to initiating and sustaining a total quality effort, pursuing continuous improvement, encouraging innovation, and achieving customer satisfaction.

Building on Deming's #8, Dr. J. Gerald Suarez developed his thesis on fear and later on authored the book MANAGING FEAR IN THE WORKPLACE. Dr. Suarez believed that the removal of fear should be one of the first of Deming's 14 management obligations that top leaders address because of its impact on all the other obligations. At the time, there was little guidance in the literature and in training courses to help managers deal with fear in their work environment. In his book Suarez stated that fear was an emotion that could never be completely eliminated, however, it could be managed. He describes the impact that fear has on the individual as well as on the organization, and why fear is a barrier to improving the workplace. He also describes events, actions, and behaviors that cause employees to experience fear at work, and set forth examples of the effect of fear in an organizational setting. Finally, Dr. Suarez offers alternative strategies that managers could use to manage fear and some partial solutions to this complex organizational phenomenon.

What are some of the kinds of fear that are prevalent in today's workplace?

Fear of reprisal or receiving poor appraisals. This type of fear generates "please-the-boss," "look-good-at-any-cost," or "just-do-what-you're-told" behavior. Fear of being disciplined or receiving poor appraisals can lead to behavior that pleases the boss but at the expense of others, even customers.

Fear of success. Success brings enemies. People are afraid that success may damage their relationships with their peers. People are afraid of the repercussions of success (e.g., being ostracized as a "rate buster"; jealousy; envy; higher expectations; fear of failure following a promotion).

Fear of change. With it, comes resistance to change and the attitude that "We've always done it this way, why change now?" People resist change, because they are generally content with what is familiar. Change may cause employees to fear that they are going to lose something; they feel that their power may be diminished. Change is seen by many as a threat to their security or some highly valued beliefs.

Fear of speaking up. If you are the messenger of problems you soon become the target of criticism. You are associated with complaints and problems. It is common to find people afraid of speaking up because of management's tendency to kill the messenger.

Dr. Suarez proposed the following questions to assist managers in identifying the level of fear in their workplace.

Expectations - Do you know what your peers and subordinates expect of you? Has the organization published a statement of vision, mission, and guiding principles? Was it understood? How do you know?
Assessment - Has the organization conducted an assessment to identify barriers that inhibit performance? If yes, has anyone taken action? Do you know what people in your organization fear?
Perceptions - Do your peers or subordinates fear you? How do you know? Do you feel that your boss perpetuates fear? If yes, what are you doing to help him/her? Do you perceive that your people have to do things on the job that are against their better judgment?
Trust - Do you trust your suppliers? Your customers? Do you believe that your subordinates trust you? Do you trust them?
Communication - Are you asking for feedback? Are you listening? Are you killing the messenger? Do you paraphrase or restate what someone has said if it is not clear to you? Do you believe that your subordinates have all the information needed to carry out their jobs?
Training - Do you believe that your subordinates are not fully qualified to handle their jobs? What have you done to make sure that your peers and subordinates acquire new knowledge and develop new skills? Do you inform them of opportunities for individual development and advancement?

Dr. Suarez indicated that these questions provide some basis for assessing the presence of fear in your organization, your workplace. However, thinking about fear and collecting data about it does nothing if those things are not followed by action.

Final Thought

Managing fear in the workplace requires several essential traits.

The first of those traits is that of leadership that understands human needs. Never is this more apparent than with the need for survival/security. Workplace leaders can do little (outside the workplace) with respect to food, shelter and clothing that are the basic survival needs except by simply providing a job and reasonable pay. Leaders can do something about survival/security on the job. According to W. Edwards Deming: "The job of the leader is to understand that the system is composed of people" To minimize and manage fear, leaders must create an environment where employees can share information without concern about repercussions. Leaders must respond to employees' concerns and ideas quickly. A lack of response sends the message that nothing here will change. A lack of response makes employees wonder about their own credibility and competency. A quick response is the best incentive to keeping people communicating their concerns and their thoughts regarding a better way to do things. Leaders must reward cooperation, innovation, efforts as well as outcomes.

The next of those traits is that of developing trust. Fear will diminish as leadership improves and as employees develop confidence and trust in that leadership. Creating trust is not easy. Trust is a delicate construction that takes many years to build and just one act to destroy. Trust is a necessary condition for cooperation and for real communication. It is the foundation necessary to improve and encourage communications. People will be confident that their ideas will be dealt with responsibly, will not be rejected without careful consideration, and will not result in repercussions to them or others. In general, the higher the trust, the more open the communication, and the more stable and predictable the cooperation.

Another essential trait is having a vision and interpreting that vision into a statement. Many leaders have underestimated the value of developing a vision statement. The process of developing a vision statement is as valuable as the outcome, because it forces leaders to take a broad look at themselves, their organization, and its future. The process of visioning provides the forum to initiate long-term thinking and planning. A vision statement provides guidance to employees as to what and where the leaders of the organization perceive the organization will be in the future. It also gives employees the sense that the leaders of the organization are planning and taking action to be in business for many, many years, which in itself helps to reduce fear. Finally, a vision can serve as a fear buster. Visions provide consistency of purpose, which can reduce uncertainty and fear.

If/when the key elements necessary to manage fear; Leadership, Trust, and Vision are part of the workplace environment; a win-win dynamics will be noticeable throughout.

In Part 2 we will explore some of the other needs such as Acceptance and Power.