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, this was 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 wanted a “long and prosperous life”; in addition to his philosophy for teamwork, he says that “logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few or one”. This quote was always contradicted by his superior, Captain James Tiberius Kirk, character of actor William Alan Shatner and protagonist of the original series. Was this principle contested because the captain was a human and descended from the earthlings of today who practice and believe that the will and needs of a few must close out the needs and dreams of the majority?
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 highest levels of Maslow’s pyramid and Herzberg’s motivational factors. According to him, three types of needs deserve attention: needs for ACHIEVEMENT, POWER and ASSOCIATION. 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 a person’s desire to achieve challenging goals, to always try to do things better and more efficiently, to pursue excellence and success, and to gain recognition for their accomplishments. McClelland (1961) defines the need for association as the desire of the individual to establish, maintain or restore positive emotional 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, harmony and cohesion among team members. Finally, the need for power is the individual’s desire to be in control of the media to influence others. According to the author, people who have a great need for power try to stand out or make an impact in some way on others, rather than working with something that they can perform well at.
Given 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 the establishment, seek new opportunities, experiment and take risks;
2. Inspire a shared vision of the group that involves people;
3. Allow others to act, fostering collaboration;
4. Lead by example; Y
5. Foster the heart of each staff member, recognizing the contributions of each individual and celebrating accomplishments.
Then, 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 famous He thought of Mr. Spock: 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 of the participants.
References:
KOUZES, James M. e POSNER, Barry Z. O Desafio da Liderança. Trad. Ricardo Inojosa. 9a. edição. Rio de Janeiro: Campus Editora, 1997.
McCLELLAND, David C. The Achieving Society. Eastford, MA, USA: Martino Fine Books, 2010.