Essay Example on Abraham Maslow: A Brilliant Mind Who Defied Adversity

Abraham Maslow was born the first borne child among seven siblings to Russian Jewish parents in April 1st 1908, Brooklyn, New York, and acquired US citizenship by birth. He grew up an unhappy child due to an absentee father-hated mother living conditions. He later dropped law and purse psychology, where he graduated with a Ph.D. in 1934 (Carmichael, 2020). He grew up and studied law in the college of law in New York and later got married to Goodman, and he later died in 1970. He is regarded as the founder of humanistic psychology due to his vast contribution to the field and establishment of the hierarchy of need that has played an important role in enabling human beings to have a list of preferences. This research article focuses on the life and contribution of Abraham Maslow's principles as a neo-classical leader to the current management practices in the contemporary society.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The hierarchy of need emerged from his theory of motives, which highlighted that there are behind motives and intentions as to why people do certain things. He was a great American psychologist who disputed the Skinner's behavioral and Freud's psychoanalytic theories based on the nature of the aspects they are articulating. In his hierarchy of needs, he categorizes the human wants according to urgency and importance hence putting the most basic human wants at the base of the pyramid; the urgency decreases gradually up the hierarchy. He portrays a myriad of neoclassical leadership skills through his theories hence making his invention an all-time relevant.

Abraham Maslow is widely known for his theory and how it has impacted the contemporary society in ensuring that the motives behind working get achieved. The hierarchy of need is essential in human life in ensuring that the most needed items, such as the basic human needs, are given the utmost attention and addressed before other secondary and tertiary aspects get addressed. One of the main inspirations of Abraham Maslow is that he believed in dynamic change and growth in the society with little fear of the uncertainties "Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again" Abraham Maslow (Meah, 2018). His hierarchy of needs portrayed the relationship between the human need and how such needs are dynamic hence requiring people to change how they work towards meeting them. The pyramid of needs, therefore, has beneficial importance in society.

He displayed natural leadership traits that were highly in line with his leadership theory, where he portrayed various aspects unique from other neo-classical leaders. The motivation and dynamism elements in his theory of leadership indicated how visionary he was in mapping out the route map in the leadership sector. His uniqueness is evident through the formulation of a pyramid representation of the human needs, where he placed some of the items viewed by other leaders as less necessary. It, therefore, clarifies how sensitive he was in terms of basic items that affect the human lives directly as compared to other secondary aspects that come later after the satisfaction of primary ones (Carmichael, 2020). Therefore with this major consideration in human wants, he displayed unique leadership values and qualities that distinguished him from other neo-classical leaders.

Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation has greatly impacted positively on the current leadership as most of the current leaders are striving hard to adhere to the motives of working and addressing issues depending on the urgency and intensity of seriousness. Through his leadership, most of the current leadership structure tries to emulate some of the values to enhance the improvement of contemporary society. Human needs, for instance, vary with intensity in which some of the items come as a priority over others hence leading to the creation of a list of preference which enables people to satisfy them according to the most urgent to the least urgent. The current world has moved forward tremendously as a result of the adoption of these aspects in Abraham Maslow's theory.

This list of preferences is highly attributed to his theory of motivation and leadership. Therefore, his theory has promoted the efficiency of leadership in the current society and result in positive transformations. Some of the examples of Abraham Maslow's theory, which are in use in the current society, are the developments of the list of preferences by the leaders in addressing the challenges affecting their subjects (Gossett, 2019). The most sensitive items get the first priorities and addressed with urgency. Abraham Maslow's contribution to social life is significantly evident in the current society where people are embracing the principle of the pyramid of needs where the most urgent and basic items are given better attention than the rest of the items. Therefore, the cases of mistaken priorities that used to waste time and other resources in the past have been avoided leading to proper utilization of both private and public resources by the authorities involved.

Conclusion

To sum up, Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation and leadership is highly effective in the world today due to its steadfast principles and a high level of applicability. It has positively impacted the current leadership and personal way of living hence making tremendous positive contributions in the current society. Most organizations are currently embracing his theory in addressing some of the current trends in the market like poor time and resource management, where Abraham Maslow's theory brings in the concept of prioritization hence minimizing wastes occurring from resource management issues. The theory of motivation and leadership is essential for my personal benefit as it enables me to develop real and genuine principles that guide me in my day to day living. Through this theory, I acquire good management skills, which are a positive aspect of life.

References

Carmichael, K. (2020, March 7th). Historical concepts and theories of leadership 302 Neo-classical management theories. Unit 7 [Powerpoint Slides].

Gossett S. (2019, February 27th). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Why It Still Matters In 2020. (2020). Retrieved March 9th, 2020.

Meah, A. (2018). 35 Inspirational Abraham Maslow Quotes On Success | AwakenTheGreatnessWithin. Retrieved March 9th, 2020, from https://www.awakenthegreatnesswithin.com/35-inspirational-abraham-maslow-quotes-on-success/