Conversely, they leave groups when they no longer get their needs satisfied. Group members accept influence and direction of a leader only if they regard him or her as a person through whose means they will get their needs satisfied. Acquiring followers through meeting the needs of group members does not tell the whole story of effective leadership. The other side of the coin is that leaders must be successful in getting their own needs satisfied. People seldom seek leadership positions solely to satisfy the needs of group members.
Leaders are human, too.
If they don't find ways of satisfying these needs in their leadership position, they will not want to remain there very long. Even when leaders continue to tolerate a job long after they find that many of their needs are not satisfied, they soon find themselves incapable of putting forth all the effort required to do what they must do to ensure that their group members' needs are satisfied. There is always a limit to one-way sharing of benefits in human relationships. Then, too, one of the strongest needs of all leaders operating in an organizational setting is to look good in the eyes of their own bosses. True, a leader's self-esteem is derived largely from inputs and evaluations of his or her superiors.