Finding True Meaning at Work: Essential Human Needs

As a leader, do you know your values at work? Are the values of the organization clear to the employees?
Do company leaders ask people what matters to them?

As the executive coach of a company CEO, we are working on him gaining further clarity.  He is gaining a fuller understanding of his values and purpose and how this helps create the company culture. We are both reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth...Awakening to Your Life's Purpose which focuses on being in the now and not driven by the ego. Oprah Winfrey even has a ten week webcast on the book with over 700,000 people world-wide attending!

Are you living in the moment and fully engaged in meaningful work?

    

Human beings require a sense of belonging in the world, of having a place and of making a contribution. For most, this comes through work. Work is as much about spirit or soul as it is about salary. Even when the salary is seen as the biggest carrot, it is often because the money goes toward raising a family and providing a life for others.

Abraham Maslow, the renowned psychologist, defined the human “hierarchy of needs” on four main levels: security, relationship, self-esteem, and self-actualization. As one’s basic security needs are met─ for food, clothing and shelter─ one progresses on to fulfill other needs. This could be applied to the workplace as well. Once one’s salary fulfills the basics, there is a search to fulfill the needs for satisfying relationships, acquiring self-esteem, and realizing one’s full potential.

A 1996 Fortune magazine survey indicated that eight out of ten people would continue working even if they became rich enough that they did not need the money. Why? Most replied to have a sense of service, to help themselves and others grow, and to perfect their skills. Many of course said that they would modify or change the nature of their work to conform more with their spiritual, social or artistic values.

It appears that this struggle – to find true meaning in one’s work – is happening on all levels, from the frontline workers to upper level management and executives. People are searching to unlock their deepest capabilities: a sense of service, being in the moment, true community, personal alignment and artistry.

Are the people in your workplace having their basic human needs met?