Group dynamics
Whether you're in a task force working on a project, one of a Board of Trustees/Directors or working with your immediate group or colleagues, you and they will share countless social and interpersonal interactions. In each setting, you will be psychologically aware of yourself and others, and begin to influence each other. The interaction leads to an awareness of interdependence and to the satisfaction or non-satisfaction both of the group's needs and of those personal needs that you each take with you into the group situation.
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Working in a group can satisfy individual needs (re. Maslow), i.e.
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security and safety needs - an individual feels protected within the group;
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social needs - interaction with others either with the same background and experience or working on a common task, can give you each a sense of belonging, identity, and affiliation with the other members;
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self-esteem needs - where a group achieves its objectives and receives positive feedback, this recognition enhances the individual's self esteem. In turn, if you have made a positive contribution to the task and receive recognition for this from the others in the group, a further boost occurs;
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self-actualisation needs - some individuals - though not all - find that they satisfy their needs for self-fulfilment best in a group environment
There's one more need (not actually identified specifically by Maslow), it's the need for power - be it over other members of the group, or by using the power leverage of the group to effect changes in the organisation that individuals, by themselves, cannot achieve.
This is a fascinating area that we could explore 'until the cows come home'. As/when time permits, may I suggest that you seek out Working in Organisations co-authored by Andrew Kakabadse, one of my lecturers at Cranfield. Among many pearls of wisdom in the book is an excellent chapter about power. It resonated with my experience of working in large organisations, especially during the time I was posted to Colombo to seize back control of StanChart's operations in Sri Lanka after a bitter and bloody six month strike (yes folks, just like the miners).
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