Leadership Challenge #16: Meeting Your Team’s Needs as a Leader

As a leader, if you are not focused on the needs of your people, you’re completely missing the boat! Leadership, as a practice, has evolved considerably over time, and modern leadership theories take followership into account. Modern employment contracts provide us with a much healthier relationship with work, however, engaging followers isn’t usually part of the "new leader onboarding" for most. Today’s Leadership Launchpad will introduce (or reintroduce) you to two important theories, and provide useful suggestions on how to implement them to create powerful and holistic relationships with those in your care!

Building a Foundation of Safety in Your Workplace

When I think about human needs, two names leap to the top of my mind: Abraham Maslow and William Glasser. Maslow, the more recognizable of the two names, taught us that there is a hierarchy of human needs, and suggested that needs must be met from the bottom (foundational needs for survival) before higher-order thinking can occur. A person who is running from a bear in the woods does not have the capacity to metacognitively think about their predicament, they focus all of their mental and physical resources on survival. Your team will (hopefully) not have the experience of running from a bear in your office, but survival and safety are priorities that all leaders must ensure for their teams. 

A person who is operating in fear, will only summon the energy to avoid what they fear, not achieve what they are capable of.

In thinking about human needs as a sequence toward higher order thinking, here are some prompts that can help during one-on-one check-ins with your team:

• Tell me about a mistake you’ve made in the past 6 months and what you’ve learned from it. (Teammate willingness to discuss mistakes speaks directly to their feelings of safety in the office, as well as feeling that they can take risks and try new things)

• Can you identify a time when your feelings were validated by me or another member of the team? (Validation is an important part of feeling a sense of belonging and mattering at work and in life)

• Are there people on the team (or in the greater organization) that you can go to to get support when you need it?

• What have you learned about yourself in the past few months?

Creating a Holistic Workplace

Similarly, much of Glasser’s work was focused on basic human needs, however, he considered them to be commingling - simultaneously present in a person’s quest to achieve the life that they’ve “pictured” for themselves. Glasser identified 5 basic needs, which are: 1) Survival; 2) Love & Belonging; 3) Power; 4) Freedom; and 5) Fun. While Maslow’s hierarchy acts as a sequential roadmap for leaders to comprehend the needs of their teammates, Glasser’s Choice Theory, provides a model for creating a holistic work experience for members of your team. Here are some prompts that can help you understand if your teammates needs are being satiated from a Choice Theory perspective:

• What have you worked on at work this week that you have really enjoyed?

• Do you feel like you have the autonomy to choose your direction or actions enough at work? Do you feel micromanaged at this job?

• Do you feel that when you talk on this team people listen? Do you feel heard at work? Does your message feel important for our team’s success?

• Do you have time at work to take care of your basic needs? How often have you worked through lunch this week? How often have you brought work home with you this week?

• What work have you been involved in this quarter that you are proud of? Are you recognized for that work? Is your work elevated by me and others on the team?

Human needs are complicated and always changing, but hopefully these prompts will get you thinking and talking about your teammates’ needs. Needs check-ins are incredibly important, and must be revisited often. The best time to course correct (if needs are not being met) is always right away. Best of luck this week, and if these work for you, or if you have suggestions to offer, please share them in the comments!