Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970) was an American psychologist who, during the 1940s, developed the concept of a hierarchy of human needs. He, along with Frederick Herzberg (1923- 2000) introduced the Neo-Human Relations School in the 1950’s, which focused on the psychological needs of employees.
The needs, listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complex (highest-latest) are as follows:
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Physiology (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc.)
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Love (belongingness, friendship)
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Esteem (self-esteem, recognition, achievement)
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Self actualization (potential)
All of the needs are structured into a hierarchy and only once a lower level of need has been fully met, would a worker be motivated by the opportunity of having the next need up in the hierarchy satisfied. For example a person who is dying of hunger will be motivated to achieve a basic wage in order to buy food before worrying about having a secure job contract or the respect of others.
Edgar Schein, widely acclaimed as one of the founders of the field of modern organisational psychology, suggests that every one of us has a particular orientation towards work with a certain set of priorities and values. He calls this concept our “Career Anchors”
A career anchor is a combination of perceived areas of competence, motives and values relating to professional work choices.
Often people select a career for all the wrong reasons, and find their responses to the workplace are incompatible with their true values.
This situation results in feelings of unrest, discontent & lost productivity.
To help people avoid these problems, Career anchors helps people uncover their real values and use them to make better career choices. Credit - Mike Morrison.
Footnote:-Completing your motivational map can help you to see if your motivators are being met in your career and/or help you determine what types of work might suit you best.
The Enneagram goes back to time of Homer – c.800 BC
There are 9 basic personality types as shown in 3 groups of 3, describing patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions
Each personality type is defined by a particular core belief about how the world works. This core belief drives your deepest motivations and fears and fundamentally shapes a person’s view of the world and the people around them.
Our core beliefs are not necessarily incorrect, but they can be limiting and operate as “blinders” for people.
All personalities are within the human psyche.
Footnote:- Like Motivational Maps, the Enneagram makes visible the invisible our desires our motivations and in the case of the Enneagram, our self. Credit, James Sale, Creator of Motivational Maps.