The Real Reason Your Team Is Struggling (And What Great Leaders Do Differently)

I've been studying the Six Human Needs framework by Tony Robbins and exploring how it applies to today’s leadership scene. What I discovered shifted everything for me, and it might shift how you lead.

We talk a lot about leadership, strategy, execution, and high performance. But here’s what we don’t talk about enough: the invisible needs driving human behaviour at work and what happens when those needs go unmet.

At first glance, Tony Robbins’ Six Human Needs framework sounds like something you'd hear at a personal development workshop. But the more I sat with it, the more I realised, this is the missing layer in so many leadership challenges.

It’s not culture, not performance, not toxicity, but misaligned needs; unspoken, unmet, and completely misunderstood.

The Six Human Needs 

Tony Robbins identifies six core human needs that drive all human behaviour. Every person has all six, but two usually dominate our decisions and reactions.

1. Certainty: I need to feel safe, grounded, and secure.

2. Variety: I need a challenge, novelty, surprise.

3. Significance: I need to feel seen, important, and valued.

4. Love & Connection: I need belonging and relationship.

5. Growth: I need to learn, stretch, and evolve.

6. Contribution: I need to matter beyond myself.

   
   

These needs shape how we lead, how we follow, how we communicate, and how we shut down.

And when they are unmet,  we don’t always rationally explain it; we act out. Sometimes in ways that look like underperformance, aggression, or withdrawal.

But at the core, it’s about needs.

The Hidden Misalignment That Kills Teams

Yes, leaders and teams often have different dominant needs. And when those needs are unspoken, unconscious, or unmet, they clash. Not because people are difficult, but because they’re trying to survive or feel fulfilled in different ways, often without realising it.

Let’s break it down with a few examples:

Leader's Dominant Need	Team’s Dominant Need	The Clash
Certainty (control, stability)	Variety (innovation, challenge)	Leader resists new ideas; team feels stifled.
Significance (results, being right)	Connection (being heard, belonging)	Leader focuses on performance; team feels unseen or undervalued.
Growth (big vision, scaling)	Certainty (clear roles, job security)	Leader moves fast; team feels anxious or left behind.
Contribution (purpose, legacy)	Significance (recognition, visibility)	Leader talks about mission; team says, “What about me?”

Most people don’t have the language to name these needs. So instead of talking about the real issue, we talk around it:

• “This place is toxic.”

• “They just don’t listen.”

• “They’re micromanaging me.”

• “No one here takes initiative.”

• “They’re slow and lazy.”

  
  

All of these are protection or protest behaviours, but underneath each is a human need not being met.

A Real-World Picture

Picture this:

You’re a team leader or founder, driven by Growth and Contribution. You’re thinking about expansion, impact, and long-term positioning. You want the team to be adaptable, to run with things, to share your hunger.

But your team is driven by Certainty and Connection. They’re craving clarity, direction, consistency, and psychological safety. They’re unsure where the ground is, and they’re doing their best to hold things together while the environment keeps shifting.

Here’s what happens:

You interpret their caution as resistance. They interpret your pace as chaos. You feel unsupported while they feel unseen. And everyone walks away from the week feeling misunderstood.

No one is broken or underperforming. They’re just operating from two different internal engines.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

We are in a time where people are questioning everything. They are rethinking what work should feel like, whether it’s worth staying, what they’re willing to give, and at what cost. They’re reconsidering what kind of leaders they want to follow, and what kind of work environments they’re willing to be part of.

As we move deeper into complex, hybrid, purpose-driven workplaces, the surface-level tools of leadership simply won’t cut it anymore. Performance dashboards won’t reveal when someone feels disconnected. Team engagement surveys won’t detect when someone’s deep need for growth is being quietly ignored.

This is the soft stuff that shapes hard results. The teams that thrive in this new landscape won’t just be technically skilled, they’ll be deeply understood. The leaders who rise won’t just know how to build strategy, they’ll know how to meet human needs. They’ll know what truly drives people.

Three Ways to Lead Through Human Needs

1. Know Yourself First

Start with your own dominant needs.

• What’s running your leadership right now?

• Do you thrive on growth and start pushing for speed, even when your team’s not ready?

• Do you crave certainty and over-control your team when things get unpredictable?

• Do you need significance and get frustrated when you’re not acknowledged?

  
  

You can’t lead what you don’t understand in yourself.

2. Get Curious About Your Team

If you don’t know, ask. And if you think you know, ask anyway.

• What makes them feel safe?

• What makes them feel valued?

• What makes them feel like they’re growing?

  
  

Have this conversation regularly. You’ll be surprised how much is beneath the surface, waiting to be named.

3. Design for Both

Great leadership is the ability to hold multiple truths at once: the need for pace and the need for clarity. The desire to innovate and the importance of consistency. The push for results and the power of recognition.

What does that look like in practice?

It starts with designing environments where fast-moving projects are supported by clear structure. Where people aren’t left guessing, but instead know where they’re headed and how their role fits into the bigger picture.

When we as leaders build an environment of trust and support, performance doesn’t need to be forced. It becomes a natural outcome.

When Leadership Meets Human Needs

When leaders begin to understand and meet the deeper needs of their teams, things start to shift. Conflicts become doorways. Tension becomes insight. 

This is the real work of leadership today. Not louder. Not faster. But deeper. More human.

AMI’s Leadership Development Programme and Management Development Programme are built for leaders who want more than quick fixes. They’re designed to develop winning behaviours, tools, and habits needed to lead through complexity and connect with teams in a way that lasts.

Because leadership isn’t just about knowing what to do. It’s about becoming the kind of person others want to follow.