Point

Harvard psychologist, David McClelland (1988), was justifiably famous for his study of underlying motives. McClelland would measure peoples motivation for power from his analysis of how people described pictures (called the Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT). Why didnt he simply ask people how much they wanted power? Because he believed that many more people really wanted power than would admit it, or even consciously realize. And that is exactly what he found.

Why do we want power? It makes us happy and is good for us. It gives us more control over our own lives. It gives us more freedom to do as we wish. There are few things worse in life than feeling helpless, and few better than feeling in charge of your destiny. Research shows people with power and status command more respect from others, have higher self-esteem (no surprise there), and enjoy better health than those of less stature.

Take Steve Cohen, founder of SAC Capital Advisors and one of the most powerful men on Wall Street. Worth $11.1 billion, Cohen buys Picassos, lives in a mansion, has white-gloved butlers, and travels the world first class. People will do almost anything to please him, or to even get near him. One writer notes, "Inside his offices, vast fortunes are won and lost. Careers are made and unmade. Type A egos are inflated and crushed, sometimes in the space of hours" (Burrough & McLean, 2013). All of this is bad for Steve Cohen, how?

Usually, people who tell you power doesnt matter are those who have no hope of getting it. Wanting power, like being jealous, can be one of those secrets people just wont admit to.

Counterpoint

Of course, it is true that some people desire powerand often behave ruthlessly to get it. For most of us, however, power is not high on our list of priorities, and for some, its actually undesirable.

Research shows that most individuals feel uncomfortable when placed in powerful positions. One study asked individuals, before they began work in a four-person team, to "rank, from 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest), in terms of status and influence within the group, would you like to achieve" (Anderson et al., 2012b). You know what? Only about one-third (34 percent) of participants chose the highest rank.

In a second study, researchers studied employees participating in Amazons Mechanical Turk online service (Anderson et al., 2012a). They found that the main reason people wanted power was to earn respect. If they could get respect without gaining power, that was preferred. In a third study, the authors found that individuals desired power only when they had high abilityin other words, when their influence helped their groups.

These studies suggest that we often confuse the desire for power with other things, like the desire to be respected and to help our groups and organizations succeed. In these cases, power is something most of us seek for more benevolent endsand only in cases when we think it does good.

Yet another study, summarized in Kennelly (2012), confirmed that most people want respect from their peers, not power. Cameron Anderson, the author of this research, sums it up nicely:

You dont have to be rich to be happy, but instead be a valuable contributing member to your groups. What makes a person high in status in a group is being engaged, generous with others, and making self-sacrifices for the greater good" (last paragraph).

Oh, and about Stevie Cohen...he pleaded guilty and paid a $1.2 billion fine for failing to prevent insider trading and then had to shut down SAC.

Sources

1. Anderson, C., Kraus, M. W., Galinsky, A. D., & Keltner, D. (2012a). The local-ladder effect: Social status and subjective well-being. Psychological Science, 23(7), 764771.
2. Anderson, C., Willer, R., Kilduff, G. J., & Brown, C. E. (2012b). The origins of deference: When do people prefer lower status? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(5), 1077-1088.
3. Burrough, B., & McLean, B. (2013). The hunt for Steve Cohen. Vanity Fair, 634 (June), 100149.
4. Kennelly, S. (2012, July 13). Happiness is about respect, not riches. Greater Good Magazine.
5. Mcclelland, D. C. (1988). Human motivation. Cambridge University Press.

Activity Instructions

After reviewing the point-counterpoint above, address the following:

1. Summarize the major theories and strategies of leadership.
2. Next, each person on the team should identify a different business leader they believe is very powerful, and describe why they believe this.
   • Identify the similarities among these leaders.
   • Identify the type(s) of power these leaders exert and discuss what your group responses are about these leaders.
   • Discuss which side the of point/counterpoint debate each of your leaders would probably support, and why.