Communicate Effectively With The Seven Unversal Needs

People are the same around the world

People are the same around the world. We all have underlying needs and values that cause us to behave the way we do. The question is "How do great leaders use this information to get the best results from their team?" The payoff is huge -- goals are met, profits made, services rendered. The price of not using this knowledge is also huge...and costly. Here's an example:

It was another Monday morning meeting. Mary had just presented her project results when John interrupted and started talking...and talking...and talking. Other team members rolled their eyes and mentally grumbled, "There he goes again--another waste of time!"

The answer to the meeting dilemma is running a tighter meeting, right? Nope. There's another, deeper, dynamic of "personal needs" that is often overlooked.

Needs come in two variations. The physical needs of those on your team include air, water, food, shelter. Personal needs are what those on your team must have to be themselves, but often are not able to get "enough of," for example, recognition, power, or security.

People are the same around the world. We all have underlying needs and values that cause us to behave the way we do. The question is "How do great leaders use this information to get the best results from their team?" The payoff is huge -- goals are met, profits made, services rendered. The price of not using this knowledge is also huge...and costly.

The Jim Jones tragedy triggered a research frenzy by psychologists and researchers. Why did more than 900 intelligent people, some highly educated, drink poisoned Kool-Aid? The answer was the same thing that hijacked Mary's Monday-morning meeting: The Seven Universal Needs.

The Seven Universal Needs are the most common of the behavior drivers. They are:

1. To be needed and valued--to belong

2. To be recognized

3. To feel hope

4. To be right

5. To be understood

6. To be important

7. To have power

Tip from the Coach: How do you know what need is important to you? Look for the opposite need that shows up in your life. For instance, John, in the story above, loved attention, and often monopolized conversations. He needed to feel important, valued, right, and recognized. Unfortunately, because his needs ran his life, just the opposite was happening. When we worked with him to get his needs met in a positive manner, he was able to control his need to monopolize a meeting (and irritate his co-workers.)

The Seven Universal Needs often become underlying Values, which are needs that are intensified to the point of being what is most important to the individual, what we live for. Underlying values and needs, such as the importance of recognition, power, and/or wealth, influence a leader's behavior. Lack of awareness can result in poor communication and demotivated employees.

The decisions made by you and your team are impacted by the underlying values. This is where the Tom Petters team ran into trouble. Their need for wealth and power drove them to make self-serving decisions. And their need to be right/not wrong prevented them from admitting their decisions were hurting others and that their company was in trouble.

Four Tips to leveraging Your Seven Universal Needs:

1. Start with your own internal game. What needs are showing up? Tip from the coach: When you see an undesirable behavior it is a symptom. Go back to the Seven Universal Needs and look for the opposite of each need. If this opposite is showing up in your life, then you'll know your driving need.

2. Now think about the highest and best you want to be. How do you want to feel? What need is getting in your way? A simple way to control your life is to recognize when a need gets in your way.

3. It's time to practice your new skill. Choose one person in your life and ask, "What needs are showing up for this individual?Remember that the symptom you see is the opposite of the need.) How can you help this person meet their needs in a positive way? This step is easier than you might think. One executive client told us that once he started looking, it was simple to recognize the need that was showing up. He often found just listening (without multi-tasking!) made a huge difference in the way his people responded.

4. Help each person get what they want by meeting their needs -- and you'll get what you want!

Mary discovered that utilizing The Seven Universal Needs eliminated the "hijacked meetings" and were part of her strategy to create a motivated and engaged team of A-Players. She and John discussed ways to meet his needs and this was time well spent. John quickly eliminated his irritating behavior and stepped into a leadership role; Mary was delighted with her team's improved performance.

by: Kathy Gillen

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