A Leader's Guide To Why People Behave The Way They Do

Organizational Behavior: Understanding Human Behavior

Good leaders understand people. James Clawson’s article explains how the origin of human beliefs and values can help predict their behavioral patterns. A Leader’s Guide to Why People Behave the Way They Do is a great teaching tool that merges psychology with the science of managing people. The article describes in depth four main categories that fuel human behavior. Those categories include early developmental beginnings, internal versus external motivation, the rational-emotive behavior (REB) model, and the strength of self-concept. Although human beings are complex creatures, all our actions are rooted in core beliefs. The more knowledge we have about these four psychological concepts,

In the beginning of every individual’s life we depend so heavily on the nurture and care of our parents. We ask ourselves five fundamental questions during this first nine months of existence, “When I am cold, am I made warm? When I am hungry, am I fed? When I am wet, am I made dry? When I am afraid, am I comforted? When I am alone, am I loved?” (Clawson, 2) Clawson argues if these questions are not answered affirmatively an individual will develop emotional holes. The individual’s negative perception of the world creates these emotional holes. The Beginnings stage is where we learn our first set of values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations

This approach is called the Rational-Emotive-Behavior (REB) model. Clawson studied researchers like Albert Ellis, who understood that VABEs are directly connected to each person’s behaviors. Human beings experience events, interpret those events based on their own VABEs, draw conclusions about what just happened, and then behave in a manner according to their own VABEs. It is extremely difficult to change someone’s VABEs, but a leader who understands this concept will be less likely to try to force people to behave a certain way. The last theory is the Self-Concept. Clawson describes it as how we view ourselves. While Stephen Robbins and Timothy Judge similarly define self-concordance as, “The degree to which peoples’ reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their interests and core values.” (Robbins & Judge, 190) The Self-Concept is what we think of as are ideal self and it directly effects what we believe we should and should not