In a revolution, a leader’s greatest weapon is the ability to inspire others to act from their own heart. When people act because they believe in something, they are acting from passion which is far more powerful than acting from obligation.

Understanding the color of a person’s brain (as described in part 1 of this article) is the foundation for the awareness and communication that motivate and institute productivity. This is the mental component of the complex matrix of leadership psychology. The emotional component has its foundation in the eight basic human needs.

Every decision you make and every action you take can be linked to at least one of eight human needs. These needs drive your motivation and greatly affect the emotions you have toward anything. These needs and the importance you rank them in will determine parts of your “personality”, they have been influenced by the way your brain processes information (brain color), the culture you grew up in, the friends you’ve had, your family and your experience. Studies have shown that the genetic makeup of your brain will also have an effect on which needs you would rank over others.

While any of these needs will give us a certain amount of drive, the more needs that a particular action or

inaction fulfills, the more pleasure we get from it and the more it becomes addictive. So if, lets say, your job fulfills the needs of security, diversity, achievement, excellence, recognition and growth, you would really love your job. On the other hand if it only met your need for security, you would likely get up every morning and try to find a reason why you shouldn’t go to work. As a leader, if you look at subordinates’ actions from a perspective of the brain color and their needs, their behavior, and how to direct it, become extremely clear.

The problem is that we do not always fill these needs in a positive way. For example, in order to fill the need for belonging; people sometimes have a problem saying “No” when they know they don’t really have time for the request. Or some may put others down in order to make themselves feel more significant. While we will never really be free of this, the awareness of it will make a huge difference in the way we make important decisions. Self awareness of these needs is just as important to a leader as being able to perceive them on others. For example if a leader knows that significance is one of his top 3 ranked needs, the next time he is in process of making a decision, he will ask questions like “What need am I trying to fulfill” and if significance is suspected “Is this really in line with being a good leader, or am I just trying to get a quick fix of Significance?”. The answer will gauge which is the better leadership decision.