Power Is the Great Motivator

Abstract

Most Harvard Business Review (HBR) articles on motivation speak to managers about the people whose work they oversee. David McClelland and his colleague David Burnham found that managers fall into three motivational groups. Those in the first, affiliative managers, need to be liked more than they need to get things done. Managers motivated by the need to achieve–the second group–aren't worried about what people think of them. They focus on setting goals and reaching them, but they put their own achievement and recognition first. Those in the third group–institutional managers–are interested above all in power. This chapter uses the technical terms "need for achievement," "need for affiliation," and "need for power". The terms refer to measurable factors indicating motivation in groups and individuals. Institutional managers are more organization minded; that is, they tend to join more organizations and to feel responsible for building up those organizations. Furthermore, they believe strongly in the importance of centralized authority.

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