In 1943 Abraham Maslow developed what many of us know as “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.” His theory is that human psychology revolves around a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. As you may know, lower level needs in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization.
The truth is that in your organizations there exists a hierarchy of behavioural needs of your employees. Our research at The Frisina Group and The Center for Influential Leadership has identified that within all organizations employees want to be treated with respect by their leadership in behaviour that communicates physical and emotional safety. When leaders fulfill the fundamental needs for trust and safety, the brains of people are readily able to move from the security part of the brain physiologically to the performance part of the brain.
This is brain biology not psychology. Once people are able to focus on work from their performance brain, they become more engaged and connect to the meaning and value of their work at higher levels of performance. The ability of a leader to communicate trust and safety to their team members creates an upward spiral of performance potential. The opposite of this brain biology fact is equally true. Create a toxic work culture — behave as a leader in ways that undermine the tenets of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and you do so at your own performance peril and the performance outcomes of your team.
Grasping the aspects of communication that translate to trust and safety is different for each individual. It requires a special skill that lies within each of us. You will never achieve effective communication without honing the skill of Positive Presence — the ability to adjust and create a positive and energized mindset within yourself through conscious thought processes.
Catherine is the President and CEO of CORPORATE HARMONY, providing virtual solutions for leadership development and organizational culture change. Her leadership and coaching experience as a Project Manager in an ever-changing, fast moving technological organization with unrelenting demands drove her to the realization that a positive mindset and strength-building behaviors are essential for today’s complex and chaotic organizational systems. CORPORATE HARMONY’s virtual platform of programs, coaching and performance measurement, is an innovative online technology of tested proprietary content. The world-class content of CORPORATE HARMONY’s Positive Presence Program develops the skill of ‘Positive Presence’ and the necessary ‘Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies’ for maintaining a positive and energized mindset and increased performance in today’s complex work environment, and leading to a culture of collaboration and connection. Catherine’s vision for Corporate Harmony is to bring the skill of “Positive Presence” to the corporate world as it becomes more complex, ambiguous and chaotic. Catherine is uniquely positioned to impact organizations’ productivity and long term success, with her powerful vision of eliminating bad stress from every workplace around the globe, bringing purpose into the people equation to promote healthy, productive and meaningful work cultures and turn the tide on the neglect of mental health on a global scale. Catherine is author of the book: “CORPORATE HARMONY – The Performance Link for Today’s Modern Organization” Catherine can be reached at: Catherine.Osborne@corporateharmony.ca or go to ‘contact us’ on our website www.corporateharmony.ca. Catherine is available for consultation, and can be reached by 519-695-3407.