By John Kusolo
The Balunywa Foundation, led by Prof. Waswa Balunywa, conducted its weekly online Leadership Academy session on June 24, 2023. The theme of the session was “How Leaders Motivate Followers,” with a specific focus on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Prof. Balunywa, a renowned scholar, and the driving force behind these online leadership teachings for over three years, emphasized the importance of adequately compensating individuals to bring out their best. He likened leaders to lions, possessing exceptional leadership characteristics, and highlighted the role of motivation in various aspects of life.
Prof. Balunywa asserted that motivation is the driving force behind a person’s initiation or continuation of a specific behavior. He emphasized that leaders should create an enabling environment for their workers to perform their duties effectively. The concept of the hierarchy of needs originated from Abraham Maslow’s observations while working with Harry Harlow. Maslow noticed that certain needs took priority over others, as exemplified by a baby monkey choosing water over food when hungry and thirsty. Prof. Balunywa emphasized the significance of water as a fundamental need, stating that one can go without food for four days but not without water for two days.
Abraham Maslow, a psychologist who lived from 1908 to 1970, presented his paper titled “A Theory of Human Motivation” in 1943, which proposed that human actions are motivated by the desire to fulfill specific needs arranged in a hierarchical pyramid. In his book “Motivation and Personality,” Maslow further studied individuals with poor health to gain insights into their needs. The hierarchy of needs, as outlined by Maslow, includes physiological/biological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love, esteem, and self-actualization. Prof. Balunywa mentioned that Maslow later introduced the self-transcendence need, which is a value-based need, shortly before his death.
To delve deeper into understanding needs, Prof. Balunywa explained that deficiency needs arise from deprivation and recede when met, while growth needs stem from the desire for personal development and growth. He highlighted the benefits of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the modern era, describing it as an original breakthrough idea in motivation. The theory is widely considered to be of practical value due to the innate and universal nature of the needs, serving as a model for dealing with people and improving management structures within organizations. However, Prof. Balunywa also acknowledged the criticisms of Maslow’s theory, including claims of oversimplification, the notion that needs don’t necessarily follow a strict order, unscientific research methods, unreliable sample sizes, and cultural bias.
In his concluding remarks, Prof. Balunywa emphasized that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has contributed to motivating individuals by understanding their needs, which are organized in a hierarchy of prepotency—basic needs must be fulfilled before higher-level needs can be met.
The Balunywa Foundation’s story began with a group of young individuals who had received assistance and guidance from the Balunywa Family. Initially focused on providing career guidance and training, the foundation has expanded its scope to prioritize vulnerable people in society, particularly women, children, and youth. Their vision is to empower the community, ensuring a reasonable standard of living, while their mission is to transform the lives of vulnerable individuals through mobilization, awareness, and training. The foundation has implemented various programs, including the Girl Child Holiday Program, Business Management Skills, Skill Development Program (in areas such as bakery, tailoring, hairdressing, and liquid soap making), Leadership Training Program, Promotion of African Cultural Values, Health and Personal Hygiene, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Kasonet Saving Group. Through these initiatives, the Balunywa Foundation aims to enable vulnerable people to improve their standards of living.