When you are driving down a road, you'll sometimes encounter a roadblock, which prevents you from getting to your destination. If you are unfamiliar with the area, you might get lost or go miles out of your way before you get back on track. If you lived locally, though, you would know the back roads and alternate routes to help you arrive stress-free and on-time.



In the business world, you may also encounter roadblocks—which are communication breakdowns or roadblocks that prevent you from meeting your initiatives.

More specifically, when your corporate team doesn't meet a crucial deadline or deliver a desired outcome, it is often considered a sign of a low-performing team or poor leadership on your part. And, these roadblocks are often an impediment to your forward progress, your communication, and your ultimate success.

The roadblock many business leaders encounter is simply the ways in which people interact with other people in order to achieve their goals. Just as locals understand the back roads, wise leaders understand the underlying dynamics of communication, knowing how to effortlessly navigate the potholes and smooth out their ride.

So what is the alternate route, the "back way" around communication roadblocks? Expert communicators understand the power of needs, and the needs of those on their team.

For example, the physical needs of those on your team include air, water, food, shelter. And then personal needs are defined as what they must have to be themselves, but often are not able to get "enough of", for example, recognition, power, or security.

Of all the personal needs that drive us, there are Seven Universal Needs that are found in people around the world:

1.To be needed and valued

2.To be recognized

3.To feel hope (vs. despair)

4.To be right

5.To be understood

6.To be important

7.To have power

The Seven Universal Needs often become Values if we don't think through what is important to those on your team. When executives in the business world come under attack, it is because their underlying values, such as their need for wealth, power, and recognition, were not closely examined.

Without awareness, underlying values will be the driving factor in all your decisions and the decisions of your team. This is where the Enron team ran into trouble. Their need for wealth and power drove them to make self-serving decisions. And their need to be right/not wrong prevented them from admitting the company was in trouble.

Tips to leveraging the Seven Universal Needs:

6. Look closely at the needs list and start working on your own needs/values.

5. Ask yourself, "Who do I want to be?"

"What is the highest and best I can be?"

"How do I want to feel?"

4. Listen to others and ask, "What are their underlying needs?"

3. Find one thing about this person you admire. Now tell them!

2. Recognize when your own needs are surfacing. Ask yourself the questions in #5

And the #1 Tip:

1. Help each person get what they want by meeting their needs -- and you'll get what you want!

When you recognize that others are fabulous just the way they are and look for what their needs are, your life gets easier…and well on your way to leading a loyal, motivated team!