Following are the notes I took from Leadership: Practical Leadership Skills by Chris Croft. The purpose of this summary is to help my future self.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow came up with this theory in 1950s. He was originally researching for what makes an ordinary person happy. But this theory was used in many different companies to motivate people at work.

Maslow says there are 5 things that humans want. They are in order and each one builds upon the one before.

1. Physiological / Survival Needs

If you landed on Mars by mistake, the first thing you will look for is things that you need to survive - Air, Water, Food, Shelter. If you don't have even any one of this, you won't think about anything else.

Most of us don't really have problems with this survival needs ever. We hardly think about these things. But when we do, it's the only thing that we will be thinking.

What should you learn from this as a leader

As a leader, you need to make sure that your people have their survival needs. That is, they should be fairly rewarded. With the financial support that you or your company gives, they should be able to afford the most fundamental needs.

2. Safety / Security Needs

Right after finding the survival needs, you will look for ways to store these things in a secure place so that you can extend your survival as much as possible. You don't want to keep it in an open place, because others who are also looking for survival needs will steal it.

This is again not a big problem for most of us, because we've got the laws, courts, police, etc. But when it is a problem, like someone stole your money, you will be concerned about that a lot.

What should you learn from this as a leader

As a leader, you need to make your people feel secured. Have lots of communication with your people (weekly 1 on 1 meetings), telling them about the bigger picture and as well as how they are doing. Having clear rules (goals), so that everyone can understand where they stand on their own. Offering help and support - giving them space to experiment something, make mistakes and learn from it (Trust).

3. Belongingness / Social Needs

We are all social animals. Being lonely is the worst punishment we can have. That's why prisons are designed that way.

What should you learn from this as a leader

Making everyone feel part of the team. Having a nice environment where people can meet and have a cup of coffee. Offering free stuffs, so that people can go and help themselves. Conduct social events - games, activity, team lunch etc. These things don't cost a lot of money, but certainly make everyone feel part of something.

4. Esteem / Status Needs

People want to be noticed. To be noticed in a way that they are better than the other in certain things. They would like to be important occasionally. The interesting thing is that social needs come first for most of the people before status needs. That means, people don't want to rise up by pulling others down. They would like to be level up but at the same time they don't want to destroy their social connections.

What should you learn from this as a leader

Making them feel like they are important to the team. Giving them recognition, thanking them. Also giving them ownership of something, so that they can say that this is my area, I'm in charge of that. Just spending the time with them will also make them feel important because as you are the leader, they know that how important your time is.

5. Self Actualization

This word was invented by Maslow. Self-Actualization means self fulfilment - for being the best you that you can be. Discovering your potential. That's what human beings really want - we want to build something useful, do work that makes a difference. This last stage on Maslow's hierarchy is the internal motivator, all the other ones are external motivators.

What should you learn from this as a leader

Give them trainings, mentorship to get to the top. Give them opportunities, challenges so that they will get a satisfaction of success. Let them set their own objectives. Creating an environment where people can flourish, a place where they are trusted and given important works.

The ultimate goal of a leader is to inspire their people and make them to give their best at whatever they do.