Every Company Needs a Good Map

I once heard Steve Harvey, the comedian, TV star, and radio personality, give a nit of advice to young women on his radio program. He said something to the effect:

If you are approached by a young man who wants to spend time with you. Ask him if he has a plan for his life. Ask him if he knows what he wants to do and why. If he can't answer, won't answer, or gives a lame answer; run away as fast as you can. He has nothing you want and you don't want to give him what he wants.

I believe he was saying that you should not want to be with someone who does not know who they are, or does not want to admit that who they are is not the kind of person you want to be around.

It is more difficult to apply these needs to marketing or management as we explore the last two levels. Maybe that is why most people lump them together. As I said in the previous post, I do not believe that these needs are as sequential as the Deficiency needs are. Perhaps they cannot be used as a marketing tool but they certainly can be used to build a great manager, leader, or entrepreneur.

My understanding of self-actualization is this: to be who you want to be. To be the kind of person you aspire to be. The person you admire, that you worked to be, not just settling for what you can get by with. The previous level was being honest about who you are, faults and all. This is going beyond that.

I think these last two levels are very difficult. They are incredibly rewarding but few achieve them to any significant degree. There are many public examples; Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, and Gandhi come to mind. Certainly there are religious figures like Jesus, Mohammed, or Buddha but I risk offending or stirring up controversy so I will just leave those alone.

I believe that a person who is not only comfortable with who they are, but is the kind of person they want to be, will be less intimidated by bullies, cheaters, and crooks. They will do the right thing because it is the right thing to do and not worry about image, politics, or money.

This is not to say that people at this level are perfect. The difference is that a person who has adequately filled this need does not crumble when they make a mistake. A self-actualized person has confidence, not because they have a false sense of self, but because they have a real sense of self.

Am I wrong; is there a way to use this need for marketing purposes?

Maybe that is what Dr. James Dobson of "Focus on the Family" or Michael Josephson of the Josephson Institute of Ethics with his "Character Counts" crusade, use to promote their products, materials, or agendas. Is this used to encourage people to sacrifice their lives for a cause - even if we do not agree with the cause or method - as a suicide bomber?