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The Goal of Dominance

+ Leadership
– Dictatorship

10% of the
population

Action

BY PHILLIP WITTMEYER

The goal of Dominance in a personality usually means a desire to initiate events. In its ultimate expression, the person wants to let no happening transpire which is not caused by himself. In terms of people, he regards those who behave independently from himself as disrespectful, disobedient, and perhaps even treasonous. In terms of events, he regards occurrences that arise apart from his instigation to be "insurrections" that need to be quelled. Consequently, it can be difficult for other people to freely exhibit independent behavior in the presence of a person with this Goal. To do so usurps his prerogatives as the leader.

The Dominance Goal is the Complement of the Submission Goal. Both Goals in people cause a need to understand where they stand with respect to strength of purpose. However, Dominance is the opposite of passivity. A person in Dominance cannot let things be — he must make things behave as he wants them to. People in Dominance tend to see themselves as too passive, however. They notice the times they let things happen which are out of their control, and this bothers them. They want to avoid this happening too often.

The Dominance Goal is the Counterpart of the Aggression Mode. Dominance wants what Aggression has, a forceful and energetic influence over events. A person in Dominance does not easily yield to outside influences. The person is, in effect, a "law unto himself". He makes his own rules as he goes along, and tends to want to make rules for others to follow. Few others have the right to tells him what to do. He tells most others what to do. The person does not readily give in to circumstances, but rather insists on things happening his way. He refuses to let things get the better of him. He exercises will to master whatever challenge he faces. If he can't control events, he avoids the situation.

Whenever he meets a new person, one of the first things a person with this Goal must work through is, "Who is calling the shots here, him or me?" Life is viewed in terms of strength of personality. People with other Goals may be aware of this factor, but to them it is not such an issue. Sociologists call this "pecking order" because it was noticed that chickens in a hen house establish a hierarchy of who pecks whom and who doesn't peck whom. The most dominant chicken could peck all the others but none could peck him. The least dominant could peck none but all others could peck him. The remaining chickens found their places in the pecking order based on the passive/aggressive ratio's inherent in their personalities. So it is with humans. Often there is the makings of a power struggle here if both persons have a need to dominate. Both will want to "peck" the other and not be "pecked" back.

In employment situations, a person with the Goal of Dominance will be given leadership positions. He will rise until he becomes the boss. If he cannot do this in someone else's company, he will often start his own, since people with this Goal find it uncomfortable to work for someone else — they do not like to take orders, but do like to give them. Another way to say this is that they like to be autonomous. Such people are not receptive to suggestions.

One of the problems inherent in this Goal is that people with it tend to take upon themselves responsibility for the behavior of the people around them. They naturally take charge of the situation, so they regard it as their fault if things do not happen as they plan. If something bad happens to someone they have charge of, they take it very personally, blaming themselves. Often they do this for people for whom they have no legitimate responsibility, people for whom they have simply assumed the prerogative to make their decisions for them, unasked. This they often do because they think it is their job to watch out for others.

Another problem in people with this Goal is that they have difficulty being consistent. Because of their need to initiate action, to others it often seems they are changing things just for the sake of change. Actually it is for the sake of exercising Dominance — the person wants to stay ahead of the group, to lead it his way, rather than to merely maintain the present course.

In the Positive Pole of +Leadership, the person puts himself forward as an example worthy of being followed. He earns the right to lead by proving himself respectable and capable. People in this Pole look for opportunities to exercise their leadership. They try to organize things, and they enjoy giving instructions. Such people often become teachers, bosses, coaches, directors, captains, supervisors, overseers, managers, instructors, and the like — any capacity where they can practice their desire to rule.

In the Negative Pole of -Dictatorship, the leadership is distorted into mere domineering. The person is afraid he will lose control of the situation, or lose the initiative, so he insists that things happen as he commands, rather than offering himself as an example to be followed. "Do as I say, not as I do" is an excellent expression of this Pole. He issues orders which he expects to be obeyed without question. He has little respect for the rights of others, but insists that his rights be respected. He regards others as his subjects and demands their loyalty. He seeks to subjugate others, to put them under his control. He resists receiving instructions or advice from others. The way to overcome this is to consider and apply the Positive Pole of the Submission Goal, which is +Dedication. Learn to defer to other people, to submit to the rules of the situation, to attend to one's own duty rather than trying to tell others their duty, and to have respect for the actions of others.

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Phil Wittmeyer is a longtime Michael student and scholar of the teachings. He can be reached at: wittmeyer@hotmail.com