The CPR of Office Dynamics: Competition, Purpose, Reward. (October 4, 2009)

The CPR of Office Dynamics: Competition, Purpose, Reward. (October 4, 2009)
By Maria Carolina Cruz

Have you ever taken a personality and career test?. My test results indicate that I am a very non-competitive person, but I am very reward oriented, and though I can succeed at almost any task given to me, it seems I can only engage in tasks that I absolutely love. Most of the people that know me will say that I am very competitive, and they think that I can perform in many tasks regardless of the topic and result. It is nothing farther from the truth. I am absolutely non-competitive and I am definitely motivated by the subject of my efforts and the associated reward.

When I first took my personality test several years ago, the human resources advisor that helped me with the interpretation of my results highlighted that my motivation to act upon reward scored the highest in the scale of my personality traits. Her advice was simple. She said to me: in the workplace, men are not accustomed to deal with women who are reward oriented. Do not bring the subject of reward to your boss, or you will seem pushy. Male bosses are not accustomed to deal with female subordinates who talk about pay raises, bonuses and promotions. So highlight your other attributes but keep this one under control because you will not be understood.

Oh, I get it- I thought- no wonder why men make more money than women in jobs where men and women are equally qualified. Perhaps since we are little girls we are taught exactly what the HR advisor told me. It is not correct for girls to ask for more money or a deserved promotion or a bonus for a great job. No, that is just reserved for men. That is why they get all the big bucks, because they are not afraid to ask for rewards. If a man asks for a reward, his male boss will understand and most likely give it to him, but if a woman asks for the same, very likely not only will she be seen as pushy but also not get the reward she is looking for. It may all, in fact, work against her.

Well, you are who you are. I am a reward oriented woman, and it scores so high in who I am, that it is difficult to hide.
This is an example of CPR office Dynamics.
You are a boss and you have a team of three people.
C: A very competitive man,
P: A very purpose oriented cross gender individual
R: A very reward oriented woman.

Let's assume you are a very old fashioned and Machiavellian boss who thinks that “divide and conquer” is the best way to have your team performing at its peak. You assume in your limited managerial intelligence that if your team members compete one against the other, they will all do their best, trying to outperform the other, and you will end up with a team that is performing so good that you will by transitivity law perform good too.

However, here comes the big problem for you as the boss in my example:

C is not going to love it, because he does not have anybody to compete with since his colleagues are not up to for the competition.
P hates the job at hand because most likely you never thought about his-her strengths, and you have given him-her a job that absolutely does not engage him-her.
R is not very happy because most likely she is working for you day and night with the best of her abilities every day of the year, and you will never promote her, give her a bonus or a pay raise.
Then poor you, you wonder why your team is performing so badly.

This article works under the assumption that you (as the boss in this example) have a limited managerial intelligence. It does not make you a bad or limited person. In fact, you will have much other incredible intelligence, but, unless you recognise that your team is not made of clones and robots but of people with different intelligence and personalities, your success may be compromised or your success will happen at the expense of the frustration of your employees.
If you are not the boss, but the guy in the team, it is important that you are able to recognise and understand your main strengths and those of your colleagues.

If you are C. Many competitive women are called names that truly belong to the female dog animal kingdom. But we would not have Dara Torres and Serena Williams if competitive women were wiped out of the planet. Competitive people have been great change agents in our world by catalysing the process of change.

If you are P. What would be of the world without women with a purpose. Just see what the world would have missed if Zainab Salbi and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi would have not driven her purpose to a mission. Purpose oriented people have been great contributors to social causes.

If you are R. Do not make the mistake of assuming that Reward is only monetary. More responsible and complex tasks, appreciation, praising, a dinner for two, a corporate gift for your child, there are countless ways to reward a person. Reward oriented people can drive companies and businesses to the top very fast and are excellent at rewarding the good work of people around. Only have a look at Diane Von Furnstenberg and Megan Smith and all that you can learn from these women.

Have a look at your best traits and do not be afraid to show your true colors. I used to think that the political game was very hard to follow, but I do think that following the political game is the easy way. The less political you are (meaning the more you try to follow the general trend), the more you will have to challenge yourself. However, we are brave and incredible people right? We are not afraid of challenges.