"That Is Why We Need You"

Status is pretty close to the God particle of social science. It explains almost everything, and is by far the most powerful and common motivator across human behavior (love and comfort being the primary alternatives). It’s usually identifiable one step past the conscious desire.

Status addresses every category of need in Maslow’s herarchy: physiological (who gets the water first?), safety, connection, esteem, and self-actualization. It has the gravitational pull of the sun. More than anything else, status explains the “why” behind our behavior.

Yet there’s an enormous gap between the role that status plays in our lives and how much we understand it. That’s because status is almost impossible to measure. It’s far too dynamic and context-dependent.

As a result, status gets way less attention academically and in business thought leadership. Which is crazy, because of what we all know intuitively and anecdotally.

Considering how much time organizations spend focused on leadership, motivation, and engagement, it is past time to consider how the drive for status can be used to enhance well-being and performance, individually and organizationally.

But first, let’s figure out what it is, and what it is not.

I Can’t Get No Status Faction

Many people mistake status for high society, but status exists everywhere people interact: Church, bowling teams, classrooms, and teachers' lounges. And it most definitely exists on your team at work. The danger in mistaking status for high society is we fail to consider its implications in all other cases.

Status is a place in line. It describes positioning relative to other people. And there is no known historical context in which it has not played a primary role in human life.

For good and bad, we use status to evaluate how we are doing and to identify who can help us. It is not determined by wealth and power, although they can play a role.

Status is determined by abstractions like the esteem, respect, honor, dignity, and reputation of individuals and the groups with which they associate.

Nor is the highest status always afforded to the biggest stars. In NFL locker rooms, the highest status is usually enjoyed by the offensive linemen, who are also the most anonymous to the public.

Status exists within groups, between groups, and in a state of entropy; anything can happen at any time and completely upend the board.

But there is one mistaken belief about status that is doing real harm, especially at work: that status must be hierarchical. That belief brings out the worst in us, and it isn’t even true.

Status may be a line, but it’s not single file.

Wider Rungs on the Corporate Ladder

It’s a given that the race to get ahead in corporate America is just shy of blood sport, in large part due to ambition and scarcity of positions at the top. From this perspective, status is a zero-sum game. If someone is gaining status, someone else is losing it.

Here’s how we know that’s not true.

The most enduring status you can earn is the result of providing status to others who wouldn’t otherwise receive it. People will love you and work extra hard to build your status, making the status you provide them even more valuable.

If you have ever experienced or witnessed that, you know that status at work does not have to be a single ladder on which we all fight for a rung. It can be a rising tide.

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But how to make it so? It goes a lot further than compliments and confidence building. Providing status means creating a unique place for each person to belong.

You Get a Story and You Get a Story and You Get a Story

It’s widely known that people require recognition at least once per week to remain engaged in their work. Status is recognition on steroids.

Recognition is about the past, status the future. Recognition is awareness, status belonging. Recognition is feedback, status storytelling.

Managers who learn how to turn recognition into status will see monumental increases in discretionary effort. That means shifting focus from achievements to roles, imbued with stories that imply pasts and futures. And ensuring there is status for every role, as with every successful ensemble.

There are two approaches to building status: individually and within the context of a team.

Individual status requires managers to weave the past achievements of each team member into a unique and compelling story.

Recognition: “You contributed in many valuable ways.”

Status: “You’re this team’s Swiss-Army knife.”

Recognition: “Great job as project manager.”

Status: “Our orchestra is lucky to have an amazing conductor.”

Recognition: “You boosted team morale.”

Status: “You’re the spoke of our wheel.”

Status within the context of a team means assigning metaphorical roles based on well-known archetypes, from history, fiction, arts, sciences, the military, or sports teams, to name a few.

Using soccer as the metaphor:

IT person: “You are the goalie. You are the last thing standing between us and disaster.”

Client Success person: “You play defense. You stop small problems from becoming big ones.”

Product person: “You play midfield. Depending on the situation, you may have to focus on defense (client success) or offense (sales). You have to be the best conditioned.”

Sales person: “You play offense. You are how we win, by creating opportunities and converting them.”

Team: “The only way that we win is if each player executes on their particular job. Which means we have to trust each other. I know this is a winning team. Are you willing to prove that I’m right?”

That’s a lot more motivating than a list of last week’s accomplishments. Status boosts self-image and sense of security. It requires more thinking on behalf of leaders, but it has an extremely high ROI.

There is a great test to know whether you are providing status or recognition. When providing status, these six words will always make sense next.

“That is why we need you.”