Motivation, leadership, governance and ethics

Motivation is what makes people act: a need creates tension, behaviour aims to satisfy it, and satisfaction relieves the tension. Maslow arranged needs in a hierarchy — physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualisation — claiming lower needs dominate until satisfied. Worked example: a bonus motivates a worker worried about rent (a lower need), but the same bonus means less to a secure, well-paid employee who now wants recognition and growth — the same incentive, different need level, different effect.