If you want to lead people, you need them to want what you want.

Iris H was an MBA student at IESE a few years back, today a senior figure in Investment Banking. I recently discovered her blog. A recent post struck a chord with me: You can’t want it more…

3 Psychological Needs

Self-Determination Theory is a psychological framework developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. People need 3 psychological needs to be fulfilled:

• Autonomy: to feel in control of one’s actions
• Mastery: to feel effective and capable
• Relatedness: to feel connected to others

If you are to lead, to teach, to parent… it is much more important to help people see why the tool is important than to teach them to use the tool. In the words of a wise Malaysian friend of mine, George Gan “if you want to teach maths to John, it is more important to know John than to know maths”.