Understanding Needs from Work Part II

Leading well starts with a strong foundation. Whether getting a start-up off the ground or directing an enterprise organization, we face challenges seemingly beyond our capabilities. We need the inner fortitude to overcome obstacles and lead our team successfully.

A thorough understanding of our Needs and Core Beliefs is essential to good Professional Health and establishes the sound base to lead well. Uncovering Needs and Beliefs requires a journey of self-discovery.  For some, introspection is an anathema.  The pilgrimage through our persona exposes wounds and wreckage we prefer to leave hidden.

Let’s face it, exploring the unfamiliar territory of our core can be unsettling. I was scared about what I might find. However, the self-inquiry ordeal yields enlightenment and in some cases life-changing revelations. Knowing ourselves more fully provides the stability to perform at our best.

There is a hierarchy of human Needs from basic Physiological and Security needs to Psychological needs of love and esteem to Self-fulfillment needs. For many, basic needs are satisfied through personal lives. Some of us are looking to work to meet advanced Needs such as Identification, Validation, Inspiration and Actualization.

Identification addresses the question “Who am I?” Do we define ourselves solely by our career accomplishments or professional expertise? Are we performance junkies because we assigned achievement as the measure of our identity? How do family, community or other relational dimensions fit into who we are?

To explore our Validation needs, strap on the seatbelt and prepare for an illuminating ride.  

When we look for our work to provide Validation, we are seeking answers to

meaningful questions of the heart. Achievements can deliver the affirmation prompted by “Am I worthy?” “Am I valued?” or “Do I count?” These insights have deep roots and unless you are Stuart Smalley, they are tough inquires to answer on our own.

The Need for Validation is foundational to our being. “Where do I stand?” “Do I belong?” or “Am I accepted?” speak to a sense of judgment.  Some feel the verdict will be determined by our father, mother or other key figures in our life. To others, the question is where we stand with God. Regardless, we have an inherent need to make somebody proud and confirm they believe in us.

Seeking vindication from our work rather than Validation is different. If we felt maligned or persecuted in our earlier years, we may be trying to legitimize ourselves to the doubters and pundits. However, proving the skeptics wrong has darker intentions than pleasing supporters. We need to be cautious of moving past passionate leadership to relentless and dogmatic.

Inspiration addresses “Why am I working?” Our profession can deliver answers about our purpose and legacy. Inspiration provides direction, helping us define our destination. Answers to “Where am I going?” and “How will I know when I get there?” are essential when assessing next steps in our career.

Actualization is the outcome of our potential. Our work can bring our aspirations to fruition. A vocation can become a calling. The challenges we choose to conquer enable our dreams to become reality and our destiny to be fulfilled.

Understanding who we are, where we stand, why we are working and what we can become gives us the confidence to risk failure and recover when we stumble. With this foundation, we generate the resilience to break boundaries, to innovate and take others to places they could not imagine.

The final component of our Professional Health is our Core Beliefs, a combination of Core Values and our Philosophy on life. Confirmation of these underpinnings help us resolve the question of “Now What?!?”

Digging deep to understand our Needs

Now what?!?

Organizations follow compelling leaders. They need clear direction in murky markets. They are looking for entrepreneurs and executives with the composure to navigate choppy waters as well as the conviction to overcome insurmountable obstacles.

As leaders, we take on that responsibility. It's not easy especially if we are in poor professional health. 

Without a clear understanding of who we are and what we stand for, the trials of the workplace can drain us.  We lose our mojo. Work becomes less of a joy and more of a chore. Our engagement falters and with it the enthusiasm and conviction we once thought was endless.

So how do we garner the inner strength to stay the course? What provides the purpose and passion to rally the team when all seems lost?  Where do we find the confidence to push our team towards an unseen target over the horizon? 

In a conversation with a CEO friend, he said, “The toughest part of leading today is finding the energy for reinventing your business and yourself to meet changing market demands.”

He is spot on. Nowadays it takes more than just intellectual horsepower or a slick strategy to win. Great leadership comes as much from the heart as the head.  To tap this source of our passion, we must be clear about who we are, where are we going and why.

Re-energizing our leadership starts with an exercise many of us try to avoid – self-reflection. 

Surprisingly, few leaders take the deep dive required to understand our Needs and Core Beliefs. This depth of introspection can be frightening, opening old wounds or digging through unsavory experiences. Exposing vulnerabilities or broken relationships is painful. Who wants to volunteer for that?!

Yet uncovering what is at our core can be cathartic. A client described the outcome of his journey as "liberating and redemptive".  Clarity about our Needs and Core Beliefs provides the foundation to lead well. Actions & Behaviors become more consistent and we develop a better grip on our Emotions & Attitudes.

As humans, we have a series of basic Needs from Physiological (i.e., food, water) to Safety to Social (belonging, acceptance). 

The Needs we look for our work to provide fall in four primary clusters; Identification, Validation, Inspiration and Actualization. Each of these clusters addresses a fundamental question we are trying to resolve; Who am I? (Identification), Where do I stand? (Validation), Why am I working? (Inspiration) and What can I become? (Actualization).

While the exploration of Identification starts with “Who am I?”, the path continues with How does my work define me? Is it by my C-level role or Partner title? My area of expertise? My list of accomplishments? Or am I defined by the people I have mentored and developed? Am I a leader? A diligent doer? A fair and empathetic teammate? Is my reputation (how others see me) aligned with my reality (who I truly am)? Is who I am today who I want to become? If not, what can I do to change?

In our quest for Identification, Validation, Inspiration and Actualization, unpacking these fundamental questions is critical. When we understand who, what and why we are as individuals, we become healthier professionals and better able to leverage our leadership gifts.

Needs and Core Beliefs are the last piece of our foundation. Without understanding these fundamentals, we will be perpetually asking “Now What?!?” with no answer in sight.

Surfacing our Wants & Needs

To solve for “Now What?!?”, we need to be healthy professionally, highly engaged, passionate and purposeful. When examining our condition at work, we find visible Actions & Behaviors are only symptoms of deeper issues manifested in our Emotions & Attitudes as well as our Wants & Needs.

Understanding our Wants & Needs requires richer reflection.

Wants are our desires, the benefits we expect work to deliver for the efforts we exert.  These motivations are the impetus driving us to compete, achieve and capture the rewards. Wants can be Extrinsic returns such as money, status and recognition or more personal Intrinsic rewards like professional growth, building something new or developing others. 

While wants and needs are used interchangeable in some contexts, with regard to our Professional Health, Needs are different from Wants.

Needs are deeply important questions we seek to answer through our work. "Who am I?" "Where do I stand?" and "Why am I working?" are questions of the heart and common to all of us. While Wants may be obvious, Needs can be unfamiliar territory, hiding below the surface or in some cases, undetected. Yet make no mistake, Needs are foundational, the core of who we are and what we will become.

Wants are entirely personal and change over time. New circumstances generate fresh motivations. What drove us up the ladder may not be the same as when we reach the top. Motivators during our single-in-the-city stage may vary from our family-in-the burbs period.

With experience, Implicit motivators can carry added weight. Acknowledging the impact of mentors, many seasoned leaders increasingly value relationships at work. Investing in less experienced colleagues can become an energizing dynamic in our career.

There is a competitive nature to Wants. Comparing ourselves to others is human nature. In achievement-oriented culture, surpassing our peers is a common ambition. We want a bigger bonus than colleagues on our desk or to be the first of our friends to take a company public. Egos are tough to control. I continue to measure myself against the accomplishments of my B-School classmates from years ago.

There are no judgments with Wants. 

I find leaders unwilling to disclose money or status as motivations for fear of being perceived as shallow. Problems arise when we are not sincere about our Wants. If our work motivations are material rather than noble or driven more out of envy than purpose, so be it. Candidly, the objective at the onset of my career was to get my picture on the cover of Fortune magazine (no dice!).  Our Professional Health will improve if we are working from true motivations rather than a politically correct fabrications.

Our Wants impact how we act and behave. Both Explicit and Implicit drivers undergird our feelings and points of view. As leaders, we try to avoid an “agenda” but it’s foolish to deny the influence of a quest for our bosses job or desire to leave our mark with a memorable innovation.  If our Wants clash with our morals, a deeper dive into Needs and Core Beliefs is warranted.

Take a moment to write down your primary motivators, both Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Be honest. 

Understanding our Wants & Needs will give us better insights on the derivation of our Emotions & Attitudes and the potential impact circumstances or interactions will have on our Actions & Behaviors. This knowledge leads to more robust wellness at work and paves the way to answers for “Now What?!?”