This was written in September 2004, when I was in the process of settling down in a new job, unlearning & learning t the same time. .

NEEDS & STAGES.

The different types of Human Needs enumerated by Abraham Maslow can in fact be related with the different stages seen in one's life.

Physiological and Security Needs  -  DEPENDENT stage
Social & Esteem Needs  -  INTERDEPENDENT stage
Self-Actualisation Need  -  INDEPENDENT stage

Arindam Chaudhari narrates a story in his 'Count your chickens before they hatch.'

This guy is walking on the streets, somewhat distraught because he has no employment or means of living. [ ALL NEEDS ARE ACTIVE, PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS ARE PREDOMINANT ]

He helps in catching a thief who was running away with some valuable documents. [ BEING PRO-ACTIVE ]

The owner of those documents offers him a peon's job on a temporary basis. [ MEANS TO SATISFY PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS ] [ DEPENDENCE ]

Once this guy takes the trouble of climbing down ten floors to retrieve some papers for his boss when there was no power in the building. [ BEING PRO-ACTIVE ]

Boss impressed, his job is confirmed. [ MEANS TO SATISFY SECURITY NEEDS ][ DEPENDENCE ]

Soon he enrols in the workers' union [ BEING PRO-ACTIVE ] and then becomes their leader. [ MEANS TO SATISFY SOCIAL NEEDS ] [ INTERDEPENDENCE ]

There is a strike and he is invited to sit & negotiate. [ BEING PRO-ACTIVE ] He works out a mutually acceptable solution. [ MEANS TO SATISFY ESTEEM NEEDS ] [ INTERDEPENDENCE ]

He remains as a workers' representative for a long time. When he retires, he writes a book  [ BEING PRO-ACTIVE ] about the relationships and mechanisms within an organisation, and  dedicates the same to the man who first offered him the job. [ MEANS TO SATISFY SELF ACTUALISATION NEEDS ] [ INDEPENDENCE ]

One basic observation is, this man chose to be pro-active all along, as he progressed from one predominant need to the next higher need. We will also see the progression from being  DEPENDENT through INTERDEPENDENT finally being INDEPENDENT.

In reality, the above needs do not always occur in the same neat sequence. A person who is busy attending to his Esteem Need does feel hungry - occasionally it may be put off for a while but not always nor forever. We can also see that there is no way to satisfy any of these Needs once and for all ! You will feel hungry tomorrow, your house needs maintenance & taxes are to be paid, you will have to change your car and one foreign trip is not enough. So we go on satisfying them as and when they occur.

What is more important is to identify which of these needs are taking most of our time, how are we keeping ourselves busy ? Many of us can see that the unwritten rule is to start with the Physiological Need, reach the Self-Actualisation and try to maintain it so. STAY INDEPENDENT !

Everyone likes to be independent if you were to ask him/her, do they understand the requirements ? The responsibility of a mentor is to give them a fair picture, not impractically ambitious, nothing scary. Tell them where they stand now, how good the chances are, what they need to do better - yes, a simple SWOT Analysis. And the unstated assurance that we as mentors are with them through their journey.

You will never lose them by the way.