There are eight fundamental Emotional drivers and motivators. Each of these is based on a human psycho-emotional need developed through environmental factors such as family, culture and stage in life. While each of these drivers is present in each individual, they do not have equal importance. They are also achieved in different ways by different individuals in different environments. Every individual has a different order of importance for these eight drivers. We are constantly filling these as emotional gratifications; sometimes in positive ways, sometimes in neutral ways, and sometimes in negative ways. But we are constantly filling them.

The ranking of these drivers can change with time, based on our environment, our experiences, and especially our traumas or strong relationships. They are also affected by loss. These drivers can also be cultivated either positively or negatively by our environment, our culture, our parents, our teachers, and our peers.

The eight Emotional Drivers are:

By understanding an individual’s primary emotional drivers, we know their ultimate motivations. When you ask someone if they want more money, while they may say yes, it is not the money they want but what they believe money can buy, whether it be security, significance, or achievement, revealing foundational drivers can help you identify how to fulfill and motivate yourself and others at deeper levels with available resources. A series of “WHY” questions would reveal the real reasons for buying, saving, investing, traveling, etc….

Here are some questions you can ask to determine your partner’s primary emotional gratifications (top 3 drivers)

• If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? Follow up would include “why” questions to gain more clarity
• If you could go anywhere on a trip where would you go? Follow up would include what kind of place you stay at, who would you
• go with (if any one), what kind of things would you do. These questions can be summarized into “describe your ideal vacation”
• What would be your ideal project to work on? And why? What has to happen for it to stay ideal?

Emotions of Interaction

When we work with others, whether it is in our job or in our family, we are dealing with people that are driven by emotional drivers that may be different than ours. We are also often dealing with people who have different colored brains. This diversity, while powerful when harnessed, can easily cause frustration, misdirection and lack of productivity.

Understanding how people with specific drivers act and react in a group, enables the ability to influence or lead that group. We should also be aware that different people with different rankings of drivers will affect us differently. Each person satisfies his or her drivers in both positive and negative ways. The color of each person’s brain also enters into the equation, because it influences an individual’s perception of the task at hand, but emotional drive and colored brain are not directly related. There is no correlation between colored brain, and what a person’s emotional drives are.

Each individual has specific ways to satisfy each of his or her own drivers. The top ranked drivers or “primary drivers” determine to a large extent how a person acts or reacts in a particular situation with another person. Actions and reactions to your surroundings differ with different primary drivers.

Motivations are determined by a number of different factors. One is the color of a person’s brain and the perceptions that are inherent from each different color. Another factor is the environment the individual grew up in. This environment affects how that person satisfies his or her drivers.

Sometimes it is in very useful and positive ways, sometimes in very unproductive ways that don’t serve the individual well, and also don’t serve the group. Understanding these factors becomes a simple process when you know what you are looking for and can observe the actions and reactions of those around you from a new Directive Communication perspective.

When we feel negative emotions like sadness, despair or frustration, it is usually because something or someone has taken away our emotional gratifications. This dynamic is called Need Sucking and the identification in the HDMA psychometric tool of emotional gaps, identifies potential areas where Need Sucking may take place and undermine management and leadership potential.