Maslow's Pyramid Theory and Leadership Essay

Maslow helped in the understanding of human needs by establishing a hierarchical arrangement of basic needs based on their potency. Maslow's hierarchy ranks individuals and concepts from the highest to the lowest. Meeting the requirements at the lowest of Maslow's pyramid is paramount for individuals before they embark on meeting needs highest in the pyramid.

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The needs at the lower level had to be satisfied for individuals to be considered psychologically healthy (Dye, Mills and Weatherbee, 2005). After the psychological needs, the next level of the pyramid entails the needs to survive, security and safety. The third level deliberates on the need for love and belongingness followed by self-worth and esteem. The necessity for acquiring knowledge and understanding is the next need followed by the aesthetics need. The need for self-actualization is at the top which entails an individual's desire to utilize their potential maximally and become who they want or believe to be capable of being. The four levels below the pyramid are deficiency needs while the above three levels are growth needs. Thus, according to Maslow's pyramid, the need for man to have all he desires and perform at his best is only demanded after the satisfaction of most basic requirements such as food (Wininger and Norman, 2010).

Maslow's pyramid has been widely explored, and it informs an extensive range of contemporary situations in organizations and the business world. Maslow's Hierarchy of needs theory has been used to inform the application of customer relations management to the organizational enthusiasm and further acts a guide to explain why monetary motivation is an insufficient tool when it comes to Information system professionals (Dye, Mills and Weatherbee, 2005). Various perspectives of managerial positions about change are also supported by the theory such as the cease of several industries in utilizing specific materials or techniques in their production activities. The theory also shifts from organizational context to demographical factors such as the impact created on a nations labor force as a result of changing immigration character or distinguishing between cultural populations theoretically in psychological research and the various ways that these populations are motivated (Dye, Mills and Weatherbee, 2005).

Maslow's theory contributes to a greater extent in understanding and comparing various literature on cooperate reputation. At the marketing phase, Maslow's approach defines needs of the consumers and elaborates further on how the management can utilize the information as a vital tool of the motivation of their workforce (Dye, Mills and Weatherbee, 2005). Additionally, ethical and moral considerations are also included in the theory's framework due to its mass intuitive appeal to the human nature of individuals. Thus enabling ease in understanding and relating the theory to individuals experience.

However, various research purports that the Hierarchy Theory lacks empirical support, therefore, terming the theory as pseudo-scientific (Dye, Mills and Weatherbee, 2005). The lack of empirical support further makes it hard to determine the correct level of satisfaction that one point of the pyramid has to attain before moving to the next. The theory is also considered to be simplistic as one service or product can serve several needs on different levels of the pyramid. Moreover, the hierarchy is restricted to the western essentialism thought thus making the theory to be culture-bound.

In particular, my school can benefit from Maslow's theory to enhance its leadership as a prerequisite in developing an appropriate working environment attaining the desired results. Motivation is a force responsible for driving voluntary action with the aim of achieving a specific goal. Teachers have specific desires and goals base on their needs which motivates their efforts towards a particular purpose. For effective functioning and expected results are to be attained the administration of the school needs to harmonize the individual goals of the teachers and other staff with the organization goals and objectives. To accomplish the latter as the management of the school, I have to develop a leadership style that focuses on identifying and satisfying the needs of staff members which in turn is their motivational factors. The achievement of schools regarding quality is directly related to the morale of teachers (Adiele and Abraham, 2013). According to Adiele and Abraham, (2013), the highest level of satisfaction based on Maslow's theory is self-actualization- need to achieve something of meaning in an individual's life. As an administrator of a school, this helps in identifying that a teacher's job is the source of self-actualization. Therefore, making his/her job comfortable through factors such as promotions, appreciation, good pay better working conditions goes a long way toward realizing their full potential.

Conclusion

The theory can further enhance the ability of my leadership in understanding the complex relationships between the contribution to staff development, and nurturing of different cultures. Additionally, negative aspects such as leadership dominance due to uncertainty can also be identified and avoided. As a school administrator, the Hierarchy theory can help in educating the staff on better ways of creating a suitable environment for students to thrive. Just like the staff members, students require the satisfaction of their psychological before commencing to the delight of their growth needs such as autonomy in both education and extra-curricular performance.

References

Adiele, E. E., & Abraham, N. (2013). Achievement of Abraham Maslow's needs hierarchy theory among teachers: Implications for human resource management in the secondary school system in rivers state. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 2(1), 140.

Dye, K., Mills, A. J., & Weatherbee, T. (2005). Maslow: man interrupted: reading management theory in context. Management Decision, 43(10), 1375-1395.

Wininger, S. R., & Norman, A. D. (2010). Assessing Coverage of Maslow's Theory in Educational Psychology Textbooks: A Content Analysis. Teaching Educational Psychology, 6(1), 33-48.