In Star Trek, a famous television series, actor Leonard Simon Nimoy played a character named Mr. Spock, an alien from a planet called Vulcan, whose inhabitants guided their behavior by logic, burying their feelings deep in their powerful minds. In the series, these were the first alien people to make contact with our beautiful but also troublesome blue globe. This character had several appointments that marked the show, for example, his greeting, where he wished a “long and prosperous life”; as well as his philosophy for teamwork, saying that “logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or one”. This quote was always contradicted by his superior, Captain James Tiberius Kirk, character played by actor William Alan Shatner and protagonist of the original series. Was this principle challenged because the captain was a human being and descended from today’s earthlings who practice and believe that the will and needs of the few should shut out the needs and dreams of the many?
The American psychologist David McClelland, developed in 1961 a theory that tries to explain the motivation of individuals in their work from the satisfaction of their needs. These requirements correspond to the upper levels of Maslow’s pyramid and Herzberg’s motivational factors. According to him, three types of needs deserve attention: REALIZATION, POWER and ASSOCIATION needs. These requirements are developed by the individual from his life experience and his interactions with others and with the environment. The need for achievement is the person’s desire to achieve challenging goals, to always try to do things better and more efficiently, to pursue excellence and success, and to get recognition for their achievements. McClelland (1961) defines the need for association as the individual’s desire to establish, maintain, or re-establish positive affective relationships with others. This need is closely linked to the desire to feel loved or accepted. Thus, people with a high need for association prefer to work where there is interaction with others and value teamwork, where there is cooperation, support, camaraderie, concord and cohesion among team members. Finally, the need for power is the desire of the individual to control the means to influence others. According to the author, people who have a high need for power try to stand out or impact others in some way, instead of working with something in which they can perform well.
Considering that individuals have different levels of attraction for each of the needs described by McClelland, it is up to the leaders of organizations and work groups to align the individual interests of each employee with the work group and the organization. / A good tool suggestion to achieve this alignment is the Five Basic Rules of Exemplary Leadership, proposed by James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book The Leadership Challenge (1997):
1. Challenge what is established, looking for new opportunities, experimenting and taking risks;
2. Inspire a shared vision of the group that involves people;
3. Allow others to act, fostering collaboration;
4. Lead paths by example; and
5. Stimulate the heart of each staff member, acknowledging each individual’s contributions and celebrating achievements.
Thus, an alignment can be achieved between the needs of the individual (the one), the work group (the few) and the organization (the many), thus justifying the counterpoint that a human from the future, Captain Kirk, put to the Mr. Spock’s famous thought: The needs of the many cannot exceed the needs of the few; They must be based on the needs of the groups, which in turn are the result of integrating the needs of each individual participant.
References:
KOUZES, James M. and POSNER, Barry Z. The Leadership Challenge. Translate Ricardo Inojosa. 9a. edited Rio de Janeiro: Campus Editora, 1997.
McCLELLAND, David C. The Achievement Society. Eastford, MA, USA: Martino Fine Books, 2010.
