Physiological. Security. Belonging. Self-esteem. Self-actualization. 

It’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs… most of us have at least heard of it, and everyone has lived it. 

Hopefully, those first two items are taken care of for you. 

And the last two? What most of us read and write about on professional social media e.g. LinkedIn. 

The one in the middle? We all care about it, but don’t talk about it all that often.

How come?

Humans are social animals - but, more important than that, there aren’t all that many professional roles that you can do well without a team or community. It takes a village, and so you need and deserve to have a sense of belonging in that village.

On a team, belonging comes from a lot of different places. 

Can you talk the talk with your peers? 

Even if you’re not best friends with everyone, can you at least identify what each teammate does? What's important to them?

Who's the best person around you to approach with a specific question?

Having this knowledge obviously helps you do your job better. But there’s something else here in the realm of Belonging that’s even more important for you excel in your role: trust.

Whether it’s physical or digital, we want to be in a room with people we trust to support and work with us rather than strangers. And strangers cease to be strangers the more shared ground there is - experiences, knowledge and context.

The value of belonging can be tough to quantify, but it’s about how you feel. It can make someone that much more eager to sign on in the morning and that much more excited about what’s to come the next day, week, quarter or year. 

And without it? Attrition. Bad vibes. Totally unnecessary conflict and friction between teammates. Schisms in what should be one team with one shared vision. 

If it’s easy to make someone feel that much better about their job, why wouldn’t you?

That’s the question we ask every day.