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THIS WEEK
There's Nothing Wrong With Being Needy
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
There's Nothing Wrong with Being Needy
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Humans are a bundle of wonderful contradictions. The biggest of them is we all try to pretend we are independent and successful, yet on the inside we have many needs. Some of these needs are being met to lesser or greater degrees, others are crying out for attention. And it is these needs that drive our behaviour and our actions.
Yet, admitting having needs is a society taboo. In fact we talk about "helping the needy" in the same way that we talk about social problems as homelessness and abuse. The word "needy" now has enough baggage attached to it, that we have placed it in a double bind. We are so afraid of our individual needs that we have now made it taboo to even talk about people needing something.
Ok, enough of the psychology lesson. But, what does this mean for business? Well, unless your business happens to be being a religious hermit living in a cave and having no contact with other human beings, then each time you talk with or meet another human being you will be coming into contact with their bundle of needs. And, even if you are a hermit, then you will bump against your own personal needs.
 It can be very easy to focus on meeting surface needs – these often are really just wants in disguise. You know the sort of thing – you are in a performance review with one of your team and you ask them "what do you need to make your job easier". They answer with "a gold plated super widget". You buy them the gold plate super widget, only to find that they are still not happy, satisfied or fulfilled.
That's because you are not providing your employee with what they truly need. At the core of it, every person no matter how rich or poor has the same few human needs. Once the essentials of life - food, water, clothing & shelter are taken care of, then these needs are the ones that surface.
These are things such as:
- Belonging
- Respect
- A feeling of being valued and important
- Dignity
- Self determination – being able to make decisions about things that affect them personally
- Safety
In business, these are the needs that your employees are looking to have filled. These are the needs that your customers want satisfied when they buy from you. These are your needs as a manager and a leader.
People buy to fill a need. People work to fill needs. If your business truly wants to be successful, it needs to work out ways to meet these core needs of your employees, suppliers and customers. Remember, once the essentials of life (money to buy food, water & shelter) are taken care of, the other needs cry out to be met.
How do you do this? You want each and every person who comes in contact with your business to get a sense of "coming home" and belonging, to be safe, to feel important and respected, to be listened to and have their needs valued and taken into account.
You want each piece of your marketing, every element of your management and each strategic decision of your business to be checked against these needs. This has to be more than words – it has to be backed with action.
There is nothing wrong with being needy. It is part of our human condition. We will never have all of our needs fulfilled on this earth. It is how you respond to the needs of the people you meet that will determine your success.
It doesn't matter if you are selling coffee, insurance or gold plated widgets. It is how you make people feel that makes the difference.
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| HR Tip of the Week: Managers Have Needs Too |
 Following on from our main story, as a Manager you have the same bundle of needs crying out to be met. You also want a sense of belonging, of being valued and important, of dignity and respect.
The challenge comes for many managers in how they get their needs met. This is where many managers form friendships within the group of people they are managing - which then leads to accusations of bias and playing favourites by others within the team. It can create problems if the friend suddenly stops performing and can trip over into inappropriate sexual relationships.
Managers need to have these very real needs met from outside their work teams - through peer networks, mentors, their home and even through coaches.
The bottom line is if you supervise a number of managers you need to take an active role in helping to set up support networks for them. If you are a lone manager or CEO, then you need to take action to build your own support network.
| Book of the Week: What the Dog Saw |
Over the holidays I managed to catch up on some reading, and I loved this book by Malcolm Gladwell "What the Dog Saw". Malcolm is the author of "Blink" and "The Tipping Point" - both brilliant books.
What the Dog Saw is a series of essays on a wide range of topics - exploring the story behind everyday things. The essays I most loved were "What do job interviews really tell us", "How do we hire when we can't tell who's right for the job" and "Are smart people overrated".
Each take some great psychological research and apply them to real life situations such as the Enron disaster in a very accessible and easy to read way.
"What the Dog Saw" is a book worth adding to your reading collection, for those times when you feel like something a bit more interesting than a newspaper, but not as intense as a full on business book. Dip into chapters and enjoy!
Affiliate disclosure: Yes, if you buy the book from Amazon via this link, they very nicely give me the financial equivalent of the cost of a local postage stamp. I just liked the book!
Have you ever looked at your business through the eyes of a teenager? During our holidays I asked my teen to describe what she saw when we visited two different tourist attractions.
It makes sobering reading to think that even an untrained teen can pick up which business was struggling and which was profitable just from a few simple things. Want to know what she looked at? Check out the blog post.
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog included a post about "As Dead as a Silent Movie & Fair Work for Business - Brilliant Website".
Legal stuff: This newsletter is intended only a general guideline for Australian businesses. You should seek specific advice for your situation rather than relying only on this newsletter
Earnings disclaimer. Some of the content may include advertorial information, which means I may receive financial compensation for the products I recommend. But - unless I know and trust the product, I will not recommend it..
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