Aiming high: the challenging path to the CIO's position

Power motivation and achievement motivation are two essential social motives identified by psychologist David McClelland. These motives influence behavior in various personal and professional contexts, shaping how individuals interact with others and pursue their goals.
Power motivation is characterized by the desire to influence, control, or have an impact on others. It is shaped by an individual's experiences, social environment, and cultural context. People with high power motivation are...

The motivational cycle is a key concept that explains how individuals are motivated to meet their needs. At its core, the cycle revolves around four distinct stages: need, drive, goal-directed behavior, and goal achievement. These stages respond to imbalances in the body or mind, prompting actions that restore balance.
The cycle begins with a need. This need can arise from various conditions, such as hunger, thirst, or temperature changes. For instance, when an individual feels cold, their body...

One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.

Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation, introduced in 1943, is widely known as the "Hierarchy of Needs." This theory posits that human needs are arranged in a hierarchical structure, starting with basic survival needs and progressing toward more complex psychological and self-fulfillment desires. The hierarchy is typically a pyramid, and the lower needs must be satisfied to reach the next level.
At the pyramid's base are physiological needs, including food, water, and shelter — essentials for...

Cognitive bias results from limitations in thinking and information processing, leading to systematic errors in judgment. Conversely, motivational bias stems from personal desires or emotions, causing distortions in perception to align with self-interest. Motivational bias influences how individuals perceive and attribute causes to events, often shaped by personal needs, goals, and self-esteem preservation. This bias can distort judgment, leading to inaccurate assessments of success, failure,...

Maslow's hierarchy is described with the help of a pyramidal shape. The most fundamental needs, physiological needs, are at the bottom of the pyramid.
Physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, sex, physical comfort, and survival are at the bottom of the pyramid. These are the components that are necessary to sustain life. Once the first level of needs has been met, the second level arises.
Safety needs include stability and predictability. Protection and freedom from danger are all a part of...