Principle 6

Occasionally, people receive some award, honour, or position that enhances their status or rank in a workplace, community, or society.  They might receive a prize or secure a position on a board, for example.  Because of this increase in status or rank, they might then receive other awards, roles, or opportunities.   Therefore, a modest increase in status, sometimes emanating from a fortuitous award or an unfair procedure, may culminate in a fortunate cycle of additional benefits.  After people observe this cycle of rewards, they recognise the pronounced, and sometimes undeserved, benefits that status and rank can afford.  In these circumstances

• the primary motivation of many individuals is thus to increase their status rather than to develop their skills, qualities, and relationships,
• and this intense motivation to achieve status tends to manifest as narcissism—a quality that often coincides with aggressive outbursts, corrupt behaviour, and many other unpleasant consequences.

So, to contain narcissism, organisations and governments somehow need to diminish the extent to which a modest increase in status culminates in a fortunate cycle of additional benefits.  That is, in some circumstances, individuals or organisations attract status or rewards that are disproportional—significantly greater than comparable individuals or organisations would have attracted.  In these circumstances, governments may need to offset these disproportional rewards.  They could, for example

• impose a windfall tax in response to excessive profits—an initiative that might seem progressive today but was embraced by Margaret Thatcher and other conservative governments in the past,
• oblige companies to disclose the ratio of CEO remuneration over staff remuneration—and perhaps instill some penalty if the ratio is excessive,
• impose fines that are proportional to income, as observed in Finland,
• diminish the degree to which companies and unions can donate to political parties, as observed in Canada,
• split huge companies to prevent oligopolies—similar to the attempt in the US to split the Microsoft operating systems from all other operations—ultimately to encourage competition and investment into productivity.

Rather than offset these disproportional rewards, leaders could instead attempt to enhance the influence and power of individuals who are not high in status—potentially diminishing the obsession with status.  For example

• leaders should deliberately offer reserved or modest workers more opportunities to express themselves—in meetings, in the media, or in other forums,
• bodies that offer grants or other funds, such as governments, could utilise more lotteries to distribute these funds, diminishing the degree to which a few prominent stakeholders can conquer the market,
• media outlets, including social media sites, should prioritise the voices of humble and thus trusted sources rather than individuals or organisations that are high in status but often biased.

Finally, organisations should cultivate a culture in which the practices of individuals do not vary appreciably with status or rank.  For example,

• in many schools, students or even teachers, rather than custodians, clean the school—often regarded in Japan as an opportunity to impart respect, responsibility, and equality,
• in some progressive organisations, leaders often attempt the tasks their staff complete—a practice that has been shown to enhance the capacity of these leaders to accommodate and to evaluate these staff effectively.

These attempts to limit the excessive benefits of modest awards could significantly dent the level of narcissism that pervades society today.