Page 34 - MS Year in Review 2020

The late great Abraham Maslow, one of the leading organizational psychologists of

his or any other generation, created the famous and widely cited "Hierarchy of
needs." This model of the "drivers" of human behavior postulates that five different
sets of needs drive human behavior including: physiological, safety, belonging,

esteem, and self-actualization needs. According to Maslow, the needs are organized
in a hierarchy with the lower level needs having primacy until they are relatively
satisfied and then being superseded by higher level needs. Although unstated, what

is also implied is when an individual is faced with a situation in which his or her
lower level needs are not satisfied, the dominant needs will revert to the lower

levels.

THE THREAT POSED BY COVID-19

Such is the situation created by the threat of the Covid-19 virus. Faced with an
existential threat to survival posed by the virus, an individual's physiological, and

safety needs are under direct attack. The pandemic destroys people's illusion of
safety. This triggers the part of the human brain known as the “amygdala,” which is

activated by fear and responds by producing adrenaline in the body. That is a
functional (useful) response to many types of threats. However, if a threat
continues for an elongated period of time, the body responds by producing

“cortisol,” which in turn tends to diminish a person's capacity for rational thought
and can create panic in various forms such as a “panic attack.”

THE SOLUTION OR "TREATMENT"

Although an organizational leader cannot eliminate the threat of the Covid-19 virus
per se, he or she can take steps to increase peoples' sense of safety and enable

them to regain a feeling of control-- at least to some degree. There are many ways
to do this, but among them the act of communication with people who are members
of the organization is possibly the most significant.

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